I was liking the looks of the new Focus too. I think it's sad, and I am surprised as many Fusions and Focii I see around CA.
On the flip side, maybe it will mean more market share for Mazda's cars, which would be helpful for keeping them around (they are fun to drive), even if they make most of their money on the CUVs.
I'm so far past "Get off my lawn" that this is the only response I can muster to current events that displease me.
CyberEric said:On the flip side, maybe it will mean more market share for Mazda's cars, which would be helpful for keeping them around (they are fun to drive), even if they make most of their money on the CUVs.
This was one of my first thoughts too.
There's a similar article in Money.cnn, FWIW. I am also bummed. If you think about it, every car was once a new car.
This upsets me greatly. Three first-class cars. Cars of a caliber that we once doubted that America was even up to the task of producing. And now that we do it well. Now when I can cross shop a Honda and a Ford and not have it be a joke. Now Ford embraces the bloat. My first thought is that my 55 years of allegiance to Ford is over.
I take some solace in the thought that Ford will continue to make international cars, and as such could gear up for reintroduction into this market pretty quickly. But I'm still pissed. They are flushing a lot of good will down the drain.
Seems like a bad move. Is there a newish CEO at ford? Just seems like a move someone might make to “leave a legacy.”
Keep in mind: Ford was sued over the transmission problems with the Focus, so this has left a bad taste in the mouths of buyers who Google Ford Focus.
The fact that they never had a sedan that could go after the likes of the M3 or AMG, meant they could never lure the enthusiasts that help generate excitement for the rest of the line.
If you look at the industry as a whole, there just isn’t a demand for sedans anymore, outside of the people who buy/lease a new Camry, 3-series or Accord every few years. I mean BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Jaguar, Maserati and Lamborghini all make CUV’s or SUV’s. They used to be where you’d go for a great sedan/sports coupe and even they saw the writing on the wall for sedans and the like.
While it stings, the fact is they should focus on what they can actually sell. Perhaps they’ll regroup and come out with some truly innovative products to get people out of their useless trucklettes and into the sedans and wagons they really should be driving. I wouldn’t hold your breath though.
Being a toolmaker that’s been primarily working in the automotive sector, this will have huge spinoff effects, good and bad.
My current 9-5 job is a supplier, and makes parts for some of these models. Unless there are other models of crossovers/suvs that we get some work for, there will definitely be job losses. On the other hand, if Ford is doing well, there’s always the possibility that some of that is re-invested in r&d, new technology, etc.
There’s definitely some wait and see on this one.
Stefan said:The fact that they never had a sedan that could go after the likes of the M3 or AMG, meant they could never lure the enthusiasts that help generate excitement for the rest of the line.
Neither has Mazda, or Subaru, or Toyota... Among others. GM does with the Caddy V's, although it doesn't actually seem to do much of anything for helping their Malibu or Cruze sales either. Heck, it hardly seems to help their Caddy sales.
Specifically having a high priced luxo-sport sedan is not required for enthusiast driven excitement...Let alone appliance sedan sales. The FiST, FoST,FoRS, and Mustangs should be, or should have been, more than sufficient, as that's already more enthusiast models to generate excitement than the vast majority of other brands.
^ I think that's a good point about the Focus and Fiesta transmissions. From a marketing perspective, they've somewhat poisoned the well for those names.
I don't know that Ford has been devoid of vehicles which appeal to enthusiasts. Not a sedan, but the run of the mill 2011-2014 Mustang GT had pretty impressive performance vs. the E90 M3. The current GT350 is pretty impressive. The FiST, FoST, FoRS were well received by enthusiasts. I think the Taurus SHO and Fusion Sport were decent for their segment.
The F-150 Raptor is probably the most relevant enthusiast vehicle for the customers Ford will generate the most profit from. It's simply a different type of enthusiast. Vehicles like the Edge Sport and the Explorer Sport might cause eye rolls from the likes of us here, but Ford has had had a special, more performance oriented variant for most of their vehicles. That's something most manufacturers can't say. ...just saying
Greywynd said:Being a toolmaker that’s been primarily working in the automotive sector, this will have huge spinoff effects, good and bad.
My current 9-5 job is a supplier, and makes parts for some of these models. Unless there are other models of crossovers/suvs that we get some work for, there will definitely be job losses. On the other hand, if Ford is doing well, there’s always the possibility that some of that is re-invested in r&d, new technology, etc.
There’s definitely some wait and see on this one.
Ford's not saying they're going to stop selling vehicles, just that the vehicles will take a different shape. Assuming their annual sales stay the same overall, they're still going to need parts. You may not be making Taurus bits anymore, you'll be making Edge bits.
Meh, can't say I'm shocked.
To me, a car is completely useless.
I can't understand all these homeowners who own two cars and work on their house.
Every day I see folks shoving lumber, drywall, fertilizer and assorted crap into a car or minivan and thinking that this is how it should be.
If you have two vehicles, one should be a truck, period.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
It doesn’t quite work that way. As somebody already makes ‘edge’ bits, they’ll continue to do so. They may make more if volumes increase.
The company/supplier that makes Taurus bits will switch from production parts to service parts. If that company only does Taurus bits, it could be in trouble, especially if it’s a low volume service part. In that case, the service may be moved, say to a sister plant, or I’ve also seen companies that have lost too much work go into bankruptcy and the ‘bits’ service stuff ends up elsewhere being made.
Trans_Maro - not everyone wants a boring truck just so I can do some home projects every now and then. On the flip side the only CUVs that I've driven that have been fun are produced by Subaru (manual Crosstrek and wife's FXT).
I believe this is very short sighted on Ford's behalf. I was really looking forward to a second generation Focus ST. My hopes were that they would have a better turning radius a updated interior design. That's out the door. It's a shame. The Fusions I've had as rentals in the past few years have been awesome and this recent one was leaps and bounds better than the first gens.
I suppose the writing on the wall should have been when Ford/NASCAR announced that the Cup cars would be Mustangs next year.
This has a parallel in the gaming industry (the gambling one); a whole host of properties decided they no longer needed to cater to Ma & Pa fanny pack and went down this exclusive route. Problem was the business model was not sustainable, there aren't enough high end customers to go around. It took a couple of years for the companies to figure out they need a certain volume to justify the mega resorts needed to bring in the profitable customers.
SUVs by their very nature are loaded up with extras and tend to be more expensive and how does one plan to get new buyers on the lot?
If your dealer network doesn't have a certain volume, you'll have fewer dealers and eventually a smaller footprint in the market.
I get you have to build cars that sell and they need to make a profit but unless Ford has some entry level model waiting in the wings this seems shortsighted to me.
They're giving away a lot to Dodge in the police market. Not every municipality wants or can afford an SUV, when you can get 3 cruisers to 2 SUVs. It bit Chevy in the ass when they stopped the Caprice in 1996 and everyone switched to P71s.
Just as gas prices are moving on up they decide this? Nice!
I understand not wanting to put all of your eggs in one basket, but modern CUVs and SUVs get pretty decent fuel economy compared to similar vehicles from 10+ years ago. I don't think they'll be hurting quite as much when gas prices climb as some people seem to.
2018 Focus: Starting MSRP-$18k (sedan) $20k (Hatch), 30mpg city/40 hwy (40mpg only for the 1.0L Ecoboost with manual trans which nobody buys. Most models get mid 20s in the city and mid 30s on the hwy), max cargo volume of 44.8 cu ft
2018 Escape: (which is just a lifted Focus): Starting MSRP- $24k, 24mpg city/30mpg hwy, max cargo volume of 67.8 cu ft
Now of course as a bunch of cheap enthusiasts, we decry the more expensive vehicle with no manual trans option and poorer dynamics. But most of the people handing out actual dollars for these things don't seem to care about those attributes as much as they care about an upright seating position, better visibility, better loading/unloading height and more versatility.
grover said:Is there a newish CEO at ford? Just seems like a move someone might make to “leave a legacy.”
Yep. New guy came in a few months ago, mostly to appease Wall St and bump the stock price as investors weren't happy with stagnant profits. He's mostly an industry outsider. He's been CEO of an office furniture company and Athletic Director for University of Michigan. Looks like he's been on Ford's board of directors for awhile now but no real car industry experience to speak of. He does however have a reputation for being a "visionary" and "Innovator" and other buzzwords.
So we only get the crossover version of the new Focus? That would be disappointing since the new generation of international Foci looks promising.
The big deal to me is that Ford appears to be moving out of the "first new car" market. Unless the Focus active is cheap and inspiring (possible) you have the tiny Ecosport SUV at $20k and prices go way up from there.
If nearly everything you sell starts above $25k that seems to take a lot of buyers off the table.
No more short cars, just tall cars.
Maybe they'll make a sport truck again?
Oh wonderful. So now, instead of cars that are actually fun to drive, such as the FoST and the FiST, Ford can focus their SVT performance on trucks that will only go off road when the paved part of the soccer field parking lot is full, and yet still manage to take up 4 spaces, such as the F150 Raptor. So excited to look forward to an Expedition Raptor...and who wouldn't give their left nut for an Escape Raptor. 
Also, why is Ford advertising pronouncing it echo sport instead of eeko sport?
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
Tall cars = cars you can’t autocross, right? I will say that the new little Ecosport, dumb name aside, looks like something I could live with. It would be even more appealing if it could be had with a manual but I don’t think that’s a thing.
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