Back in January, my retrospective on the current generation Fusion pondered the idea of the vehicle being Ford’s last midsize. Today Ford confirmed that they plan to eliminate every car from their lineup save the Mustang and one variant of the Focus. Ladies and gentleman, the sedan apocalypse is truly upon us.
How often does an automaker announce the cancellation of four models simultaneously? Almost never. The last time anything remotely similar happened was during the recession, when GM and Ford killed off several divisions within their respective companies. But times have changed, and the increasing popularity of crossovers puts a target on the back of any unprofitable passenger car. Obviously, Ford feels that market has shifted permanently, and presumably CEO Hackett has enough confidence in the company’s future products to walk away from three segments.
| Year | Ford Focus | Ford Taurus | Ford Fusion | Ford Fiesta |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 234,570 | 79,960 | 295,280 | 71,073 |
| 2014 | 219,634 | 62,629 | 306,860 | 63,192 |
| 2015 | 202,478 | 48,816 | 300,170 | 64,458 |
| 2016 | 168,789 | 44,098 | 265,840 | 48,807 |
| 2017 | 158,385 | 41,236 | 209,623 | 46,209 |
All four models experienced sharp declines in sales over the last several years. Blame lower gas prices, increasingly refined crossovers, and an economy that allows more people to open up their wallets for the death of sedans. And the lack of all wheel drive too, although the Fusion did offer it.
Of course this news only applies to us North Americans. International markets currently have the option of picking up the new Fiesta, which was completely redesigned for the 2018 model year. And while North America isn’t getting most versions of the Focus, we will be receiving the Active trim level, which is most likely an all wheel drive competitor to something like the Subaru Crosstrek.
It’s especially strange that Ford decided to kill the Fusion since it received another refresh for 2019. But nothing is certain in this world, is it? And as long as Ford develops a plan to bring their future cars to America in case conditions change they’ll probably be fine.
I don’t fully understand why this is really such a big deal. Generally, a CUV is merely a passenger car with a more upright shape, better to get older folks and child seats in and out, at slightly higher price point. If tastes change, retool sedan bodies for the same platforms.
$3.50 average regular gas prices here in California dont appear to have changed retail car and truck buying habits too much. $4 diesel and the VW “dieselgate” have killed off most diesel car and some diesel light truck sales, but that was relatively small volume anyway. There has not been a surge in hybrid or electrics, either. The electric market here is mostly luxury buyers who want “green” or “tech” cred. Free access to toll lanes for “zero emission” vehicles is ending in June.
Meanwhile, in Mississippi, Toyota is spending $170 million on their plant for building the next Corolla. IIRC, Toyota sold almost 800,000 Camrys and Corollas in the U.S. last year.
There’s also one more factor going on…Let’s call it the AMF Sunfish problem. All manufacturers are finally starting to build their products so well that they are fully competing with used versions of their vehicles from a few years ago. AMF built their Sunfish boats so well that they saturated the market and couldn’t compete on price with the old product in the marketplace. I’d take a used Fusion or A4, let alone a Camry or Accord, over a new one any day, and keep $10K-$20K in my pocket.
Don’t forget that back in 1996 (during the first SUV boom), General Motors retooled their plant in Arlington TX (that used to build RWD full size cars like the Chevy Caprice) to build Chevy Tahoes,Suburbans and GMC Yukons.
Ford is making a huge mistake! Crossovers and SUVs are hot now, but gas prices are fairly low. When they go up, and they will sooner rather than later, these gas guzzlers will be unsellable. This is an incredibly short-sighted decision and will come back to bite Ford in the ass. Crossovers are a fad and like all fads, they will eventually end and the good old sedan will come back in style again. Fiat is making the same mistake by concentrating on Jeep and the Ram brand. They discontinued the Dodge Dart and the Chrysler 200. Fiat still makes the 500 but it is a “boutique” car that is never going to sell in large numbers. Both companies will wish they had kept more fuel efficient cars in the lineup when gas prices skyrocket. At least Chevrolet still sells the Spark and Sonic.