Ford announced plans today to discontinue selling all cars in North America with the exception of the Mustang and the new Focus Crossover (set to debut in 2019 as the “Ford Focus Active”).
Their plan is to either fix or eliminate unprofitable portions of the business while also drastically cutting costs. Which means bye-bye to the Fiesta, Taurus, Fusion and the current generation Focus. Instead say they will focus on their Trucks, SUV’s, and Crossovers.
Models saying goodbye.
In their press release earlier today they stated “by 2020, almost 90 percent of the Ford portfolio in North America will be trucks, utilities and commercial vehicles," They went further to say “The company is also exploring new 'white space' vehicle silhouettes that combine the best attributes of cars and utilities, such as higher ride height, space and versatility."
For those confused by what a “white space vehicle” is, so were we. But apparently it's a type of vehicle that doesn't quite fit into an existing category (though I though that's what a cross over was).
It will defiantly be interesting to see how things shape out over the coming years, they have not set exact dates but given that most of these cars were close to the end of their design lifecycles we expect it to happen sooner than later.
Ford also isn't the only company doing this, Fiat Chrysler did away with the Dodge Dart and Chrysler 200 more than a year ago. And General Motors decided to scale back production of the Chevy Cruze, Chevy Impala, Buick LaCrosse and the Cadillac ATS and CTS.
But what does the mean for you? Well unless you were part of the Ford Taurus fan club I think most car people are okay with the decision. I cant remember ever being excited for any of the discontinued cars besides the RS models of the Focus and Fiesta. I only really see upside, for once, I won’t get stuck with a for Fusion at the airport Rent-a-car. But now that Ford isn't really selling many cars anymore, do we still call it a Car Dealership?