Personally, if they didn’t discontinue the whole sedan lineup, we would’ve gotten the newer models that they sell overseas. But I can’t blame them for discontinuing the whole lineup because consumers nowadays want SUVs, trucks, and EVs.
I just wish the Vic would have stayed. Imagine a modern Vic with the twin turbo 3.5 and 5.0.
I know it was safety that really did it in, but damn if those cars weren’t the best tank Ford ever made.
They would still be dwindling. Even the top sedans today are still outperformed by SUVs.
They’d be a less profitable company than they are today.
I understand their reasoning, but not everyone wants an SUV or pickup. I for one would have liked them to find a way to bring over some of their European cars so we’d actually have an option rather than having to buy from another manufacturer.
I might buy one.
Personally, I wish they would have kept them. I owned 2 Fusions and now I would own an MKZ. But, I am the minority. People buy SUVs and CUVs, so that’s where the profit is. Time will tell if they were right or wrong.
They wouldn’t have lost sales to the guys across the street who still sell a couple million sedans a year.
Barrett said:
They wouldn’t have lost sales to the guys across the street who still sell a couple million sedans a year.
They were doing well at that while still building sedans.
Barrett said:
They wouldn’t have lost sales to the guys across the street who still sell a couple million sedans a year.
They were doing well at that while still building sedans.
Not really. The sales of their sedans haven’t gone to their own models, which means they’ve gone across the street.
@Barrett
Yeah, I’m saying that while Ford was building sedans, they were already losing sales to other OEMs.
It is nearly impossible to speculate what would have happened.
They probably would be stuck platform sharing with another company to share development costs to justify its existence.
The bottom line is that companies have largely sold out American consumers to chase higher profit margins.
@Kenzie
While I don’t necessarily disagree, if they were selling sedans at anywhere near the rate they were selling SUVs, they wouldn’t have stopped production. They’re making higher margins on SUVs and trucks in part because they can source the parts cheaper due to larger orders from the high demand of those vehicles.
We would have had the opportunity to own the Fiesta ST Mk8, which was a fantastic little car.
They’d still be selling the Powershift automatics in the Focus and Fiesta. They’ve proven to be a disaster for Ford financially.
They are great cars…if you’ve got a manual transmission. And not the 3 cylinder Ecoboost. Get an ST or the base 4-cylinder with the 6 or 5-speed manual.
Unfortunately, the profit margin on smaller cars is very thin. The last couple they made were made in India and Mexico. SUVs and trucks are where they make their money on lower volume sales. One just had to look at the problems facing European car makers—material costs and low profit margins aren’t cutting it.
Prices would have gone up a lot. Not counting the fact that consumer interest went down, a big reason to get rid of them was the EPA restrictions on small wheelbase vehicles. Since MPG wasn’t high enough to make the EPA happy, they would fine Ford heavily for selling them.
Just like many other BS things, the EPA is to blame.
Ford would be more like VW right now. Spread too thin with all the profits subsidizing the sedan investments. Ford would likely be unprofitable or at least wouldn’t have made as much as they have since Covid. We wouldn’t have the Maverick and I imagine their ability to play the long game in EVs wouldn’t be viable.
Blame Biden. They have those cars and smaller in the Caribbean and the UK.