https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/25/ford-to-stop-selling-every-car-in-north-america-but-the-mustang-and-focus-active/

Ford anticipating 90% of sales in trucks? Will move to a lineup of trucks and the Mustang + a version of the Focus that sounds like a crossover.

Makes perfect sense to me

No more GT?

1agswitchin4lanes said:

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There's a 3rd model coming out that I'm not supposed to talk about.

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Ford finally making a 2 door coupe corvette competitor that doesn't cost half a million dollars or god forbid a rwd V8 sedan?

Do they need more SUV/crossover models? They're already indistinguishable from one another, and half of them from a minivan.

Withdrawing from markets and putting everything in one basket... What could possibly go wrong?

4 door mustang?

Chevy tried with the SS and not enough people bought them. It was one trim level with a few different options. Everyone thought it was a Malibu. I think Chevrolet has too many cars in their line up. If they marketed the SS as maybe an impala at different trim levels (like a charger) then it would of been more successful. And maybe done a bit more advertising.

I think a Taurus SHO with an eco boost is a good idea, but it still looks like a regular Taurus. It doesn't seem different until you drive it.

Granted, they don't really advertise either of them at all like Dodge does with the charger base/R-T/396/SRT/Hellcat/Demon

Corps_Ag12 said:

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Chevy tried with the SS and not enough people bought them. It was one trim level with a few different options. Everyone thought it was a Malibu. I think Chevrolet has too many cars in their line up. If they marketed the SS as maybe an impala at different trim levels (like a charger) then it would of been more successful. And maybe done a bit more advertising.

I think a Taurus SHO with an eco boost is a good idea, but it still looks like a regular Taurus. It doesn't seem different until you drive it.

Granted, they don't really advertise either of them at all like Dodge does with the charger base/R-T/396/SRT/Hellcat/Demon

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Herein lies the problem. They are only produced in low volume and expensive trim levels and then never advertised. I don't think either company wanted to sell many of either car.

I bought a Flex for my wife with the powertrain from the SHO and it was fun to drive but unreliable. At the end of the day, the SHO still isn't the same as a V8 rwd sedan. It may be quick, but doesn't have the raw feel of a V8 with rwd. A transaxle made of glass made the modification options very limited. I never saw any marketing for the SHO after launch and rarely see any on the road.

The SS was hard to find in a manual and would have been much more attractive if you could have gotten a base model in the high 30s. Price it $5K more than the equivalent Camaro, not $10K for two more doors. They sold well during the GM employee discount period when the pricing was right. The look was also a problem as you mentioned as well as their lack of power train updates after the Camaro and Corvette had already switched the LT1. The marketing was almost non existent and as you mentioned it looked like a Malibu.

Both companies could make a successful rwd V8 sedan if they build one that looks and performs good, isn't priced substantially higher than the equivalent pony car, and they market the hell out of it.

I recently picked up a used 2016 Charger R/T road and track edition for my wife's daily. It already has some of the Chrysler quality bugs, but is a blast to drive. It's the slowest vehicle I own, but it's no less fun than the other two. The 8 speed plus the torque and sound of the 5.7L just give it a real muscle car feel. If Ford had an equivalent car I would have bought it instead. Unfortunately I couldn't find an SS for the price point I needed to keep her at.

Rumored Ford Torino

Quote:

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The press release also talks about a new type of vehicle, though it sounds like a crossover. This so-called white space vehicle will "combine the best attributes of cars and utilities, such as higher ride height, space and versatility."

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The AMC Eagle is making a comeback

I love that the argument is profit margin. This can't possibly go wrong

Even when the cars were selling well, there was no margin in the vehicle. Even if gas goes up and SUVs and trucks stop selling as well, the low margin vehicles wouldn't add more to the bottom line than discounted SUVs and trucks.

I see that VW is pulling a car from the US, GM is looking at axing many, including some Caddies.

With Ford's global vehicle concepts, I'm sure that they could bring back models that sell elsewhere pretty quickly if needed.

I get that. Granted I would like to see the actual accounting behind those numbers.

But this just reeks of the same arrogance/laziness that almost destroyed the us automotive industry in the 70's when they got their asses handed to them by the Japanese when the oil market and consumer preferences changed.

This is so lol

The profit margin on Ford pickup trucks is crazy and even those who think they got a great deal are typically still leaving at least $10K of profit in their purchase price. The target profit margin for NA is 10% and Ford is still below that level (8 and change). That is what the owners of Ford are expecting and this is the strategy they will employ to get there.

In the US that means trucks and SUVs which command a price that will allow for the required profit margins. Ford has ceded the luxury sedan market to others. The cars they are giving up are the entry level hooks that then should result in a repeat buy down the road, but Ford sees those sales going to the Japanese and German manufacturers who actually can earn a healthy profit margin on their cars in the US. Tough to get a healthy pipeline from Ford to Lincoln when there are so many better available options. Different picture in Europe, as an example, since they really don't sell pick ups there and they have passed on bringing over Lincoln and gone with their Vignale concept. In Europe Ford is basically a seller of small and medium sized cars with no large car or luxury offering. I think the target profit margin in Europe is 6% so there the focus going forward will be on crossovers.

BurnetAggie99 said:

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Rumored Ford Torino

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I thought this was a Firebird with a snake on the grill.

So are they relying on hybrids to meet the epa fleet fuel consumption standards vs smaller, more fuel efficient cars?

Mr. Dubi said:

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BurnetAggie99 said:

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Rumored Ford Torino

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I thought this was a Firebird with a snake on the grill.

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Whatever it is, it's terribe.

Duncan Idaho said:

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I don't see this back firing once gas inevitably goes back up.

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yeah, because anyone on this site has ever recommended a ford car to get better mpg's and save money...

The Lost said:

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Duncan Idaho said:

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I don't see this back firing once gas inevitably goes back up.

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yeah, because anyone on this site has ever recommended a ford car to get better mpg's and save money...

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Quote:

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Suggestions on a great mileage car

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1agswitchin4lanes said:

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Buy yourself a used Lincoln MKZ with the 2.0L Ecoboost.

I have the lolpoor version of it (2017 2.0L Ecoboost Fusion) and just returned from a 1000 mile road trip, averaging 32.0 mpg with the cruise set at 76mph.

Or if you're not hung up on luxury brands, get a nice preowned loaded Fusion Titanium and roll on.

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Cutting all sedans cause obviously wagons are the better choice. Oh wait....

Quote:

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Ford's board ousted its chief executive officer last year and replaced him with Jim Hackett, a cost-cutter who's prepared to make the sort of audacious gambles that Wall Street thinks have been missing.

"The passenger car rationalization plan is just the sort of bold and decisive action we believe investors have been waiting for," Ryan Brinkman, an auto analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. wrote in a report Thursday. "It is indicative of a management team for whom there are no sacred cows and which seems increasingly likely to pull other such levers to aggressively improve earnings and shareholder value."

Ford shares rose as much as 3.8 percent, the biggest intraday gain in six weeks, and were up 2.1 percent to $11.34 as of 11:38 a.m. in New York.

The Marchionne Route

Hackett, 63, is choosing a route similar to the one Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV used to pass Ford in North American profitability. Sergio Marchionne, CEO of the Italian-American automaker, killed off the Dodge Dart and Chrysler 200 sedans and retooled the factories that had been assembling them to build Jeep SUVs and Ram pickups instead. Marchionne now wants to surpass General Motors Co.'s margins in North America before his retirement in 2019.

While scrapping several sedans continues to pay off for Fiat Chrysler -- the Italian-American automaker almost halved net industrial debt in the first quarter -- the move wasn't devoid of risk for Marchionne. It won't be for Ford's Hackett, either. Both are counting on gasoline prices remaining low and supporting demand for Ford Expeditions and Jeep Wrangler SUVs, and the F-Series and Ram truck lines.

In the long-term, abandoning car segments could turn out to have been the wrong move if the Trump administration's plans for weaker mileage standards don't last long after his presidency. Japanese automakers also are likely to welcome less competition for some of their best-sellers, including the Toyota Camry and Honda Civic.

"For Ford, doubling down on trucks and SUVs could be just what the brand needs," Jessica Caldwell, an analyst for Edmunds.com, said in an email. "But this move isn't without risk: Ford is willingly alienating its car owners and conceding market share."

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What do dealers think about this?

The 25% tariff on imported light trucks actually incentivizes this approach. This is why there is such a large profit margin on trucks for Ford, GM, and Chrysler and why Toyota and Nissan built truck production plants in the US. The tariff has been in place since the early 1960's.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20180426/OEM01/180429818/toyota-invests-170-million-in-miss-plant-for-next-corolla

htxag09 said:

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So are they relying on hybrids to meet the epa fleet fuel consumption standards vs smaller, more fuel efficient cars?

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This is my question. I thought all manufacturers had to build (and have a hard time moving) at least a few ****ty econo-boxes to meet the bogus fuel standards.

Also, seems like Ford is giving up a bunch of rental car units. Soon I'll have the choice of Malibu, altima, or another Malibu on the emerald aisle.

This is a huge roll of the dice by Ford. Much like investing, you don't know the forces in play in 5 to 10 years, and deversifying your portfolio is a bad idea.

May work out, but a another Firestone/Explorer kind of event will kill them. Especially if it involves the F150.