Ford getting out of the car game (basically)

[cobraclone71]

https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/25/f...rth-america-but-the-mustang-and-focus-active/

"Ford today announced it will phase out most cars it sells in North America. According to its latest financial release, the auto giant “will transition to two vehicles” — the Mustang and an unannounced vehicle, the Focus Active, being the only traditional cars it sells in the region."

 

[ArgentCy]

Great, that pretty much guarantees we are in for high gas prices about the time there are no smaller cars available. Only the gas guzzlers.

 

[Sigmapolis]

The Japanese finally ran them out of the mid-sized game.

Not like you cannot still buy a Camry or a Civic if that your need, though.

 

[3TrueFans]

Mid-size and full-size sedans just don't make sense when you can buy a crossover or small SUV and get comparable MPG with more utility. I imagine the Fiesta market was pretty niche as well.

 

[ArgentCy]

The Japanese finally ran them out of the mid-sized game.

Not like you cannot still buy a Camry or a Civic if that your need, though.

This is certainly true, it's not like I was ever going to buy a Ford. The Japanese are really good at making small iterative improvements. The continually weak Yen also gave them some advantages.

 

[BoxsterCy]

Pickups, because everyone who doesn't really need a pickup for any cargo needs loves driving around in pickups for some reason.

 

[Sigmapolis]

This is certainly true, it's not like I was ever going to buy a Ford. The Japanese are really good at making small iterative improvements. The continually weak Yen also gave them some advantages.

Nice of them to give us stuff in exchange for paper.

 

[kingcy]

I didn't realize they sold so many models currently. Not too many new cars on the road with so many crossovers and SUVs being sold.

 

[kingcy]

Great, that pretty much guarantees we are in for high gas prices about the time there are no smaller cars available. Only the gas guzzlers.

The problem is given the choice time and time again people chose against the good gas mileage cars.

It also crazy with all the technology we have today they cannot improve gas mileage. My high school car got 32MPG and it as a 1986. My uncle claims he had a Honda, I think, in the early 70s that got 40MPG.

 

[BCClone]

How will this affect fuel economy standards? The little death trap cars got their standards where they needed them to.

 

[herbicide]

I just bought a Civic. I shopped around in that class and the surrounding classes. Obviously my opinion is subjective, but Ford simply isn't competitive in most car classes. I am pretty sure they know this, and decided to cut bait. Most of their car models are rated towards the bottom of their respective classes.

 

[HFCS]

The problem is given the choice time and time again people chose against the good gas mileage cars.

It also crazy with all the technology we have today they cannot improve gas mileage. My high school car got 32MPG and it as a 1986. My uncle claims he had a Honda, I think, in the early 70s that got 40MPG.

I average about 42 mpg total on a non-hybrid Hyundai rated 37mpg highway. It was the best MPG for the money when I purchased and just about the only criteria I used. Can't imagine how much $ I would have flushed with most other cars including plenty of hybrids during the same 3 years and 80k miles. Cheap insurance class too.

Other than being an ideal commuter car I also use it for plenty of outdoor adventures where it's equal or better than most SUVs people drive. I strap surfboards on it and take it to remote beaches, actually much easier to strap stuff to than my wife's midsize VW SUV which is too small to fit most surfboards inside yet also tall enough to be a pain to strap things to. I've driven it to national parks and up mountain roads about as high as you can drive in the US with no problems. Any dirt roads that look too iffy also look too iffy for our SUV (because like most SUVs it's not really an off road vehicle at all).

I say get a real legit off road vehicle or get an economy car. I can't understand the appeal of the stuff in between that most people chose.

 

[herbicide]

The problem is given the choice time and time again people chose against the good gas mileage cars.

It also crazy with all the technology we have today they cannot improve gas mileage. My high school car got 32MPG and it as a 1986. My uncle claims he had a Honda, I think, in the early 70s that got 40MPG.

They have increased gas mileage in many vehicles and generally overall. My 2017 turbo civic is averaging 42mpg, has 180ish hp. Those hondas that got 40mpg in the '70s had around half that hp.

With that said, while counter-intuitive I've read I some of the emission standards have lead to higher fuel consumption. I'm not going to dig up links or anything, but I believe it has something to do with optimum combustion temperatures and catalytic temperatures.

Edit: I did dig for a link, here is one:
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/energy/2015/11/151114-can-you-hack-your-car-for-better-mileage/

There's another, counterintuitive effect, one the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency noted in its comments to the Copyright Office: Tuning an engine to use less fuel results in higher emissions, because it hampers the catalytic converter's ability to clean the exhaust.

"Fuel economy does not equal better for the environment, always," Lavrinc says. "If you change these very carefully crafted parameters, yeah, you might eke out a few extra miles per gallon, but you don't know what kind of emissions you're spewing," or what kind of wear and tear you're creating.

 

[BoxsterCy]

I average about 42 mpg total on a non-hybrid Hyundai rated 37mpg highway. It was the best MPG for the money when I purchased and just about the only criteria I used. Can't imagine how much $ I would have flushed with most other cars including plenty of hybrids during the same 3 years and 80k miles. Cheap insurance class too.

Other than being an ideal commuter car I also use it for plenty of outdoor adventures where it's equal or better than most SUVs people drive. I strap surfboards on it and take it to remote beaches, actually much easier to strap stuff to than my wife's midsize VW SUV which is too small to fit most surfboards inside yet also tall enough to be a pain to strap things to. I've driven it to national parks and up mountain roads about as high as you can drive in the US with no problems. Any dirt roads that look too iffy also look too iffy for our SUV (because like most SUVs it's not really an off road vehicle at all).

I say get a real legit off road vehicle or get an economy car. I can't understand the appeal of the stuff in between that most people chose.

What Hyundai has done to improve their brand in such a short period of time is simply amazing. Impresses the hell out of me.

 

[Sigmapolis]

What Hyundai has done to improve their brand in such a short period of time is simply amazing. Impresses the hell out of me.

I bought a 2013 Elantra new. Best car I have ever had.

It has given me less trouble than a 2002 Camry gave me/my father.

 

[mywayorcyway]

This is a big deal and will be interesting in the next few years. Why compete in every class when people don't want them? Make what people want, sell those cars.

I'm not and never have been a Ford guy, but they've done a nice job of making cars people want since the bailout nonsense. Looks like they're doubling down on that. A make or break move, but I think this put them at an advantage over the "we'll please everyone somehow" automakers.

I love old Chevy cars and even a lot of modern ones, but the pandering commercials work really hard to drive me away.

 

[dmclone]

Mid-size and full-size sedans just don't make sense when you can buy a crossover or small SUV and get comparable MPG with more utility. I imagine the Fiesta market was pretty niche as well.

Except this is all wrong. Look at any SUV that costs around $35k. For the same price you could have a loaded Honda Accord that had more features, faster, handled better, got a lot better gas mileage, more reliable, quieter, rides better, and on and on.

This is at a time where the loans are getting longer and longer. I think at some point this is going to hurt Ford but who knows, the SUV market just seems to be getting bigger and bigger. I think the biggest reason for this change is profit margins. Ford makes a lot more every time they sell an Edge compared to selling a Fusion or Taurus.

 

[CyJeans]

This decision has actually been in the works for a while. In terms of volume, there top two sellers are F-150 and super duty (which is about 1/3 of the F-150 volume). The next highest all being their SUVs/cross overs. The market for sedans and compacts has many more competitors so the volumes are not great and the margins aren't very high. Really has nothing to do with Japan specifiically running them out of the market, its more a shift in their focus knowing that they can make more money dominating a less diluted market. They are also working on hybrid and or electric versions of all their vehicles. Also launching the ranger late this year/early next and the bronco a year or two from now. They intend to go after the Jeep market with the bronco.

 

[dmclone]

The problem is given the choice time and time again people chose against the good gas mileage cars.

It also crazy with all the technology we have today they cannot improve gas mileage. My high school car got 32MPG and it as a 1986. My uncle claims he had a Honda, I think, in the early 70s that got 40MPG.

It's all about. power. safety, and size.

A 1985 Honda Civic CRX HF got about 50 mpg.
It weighed 1,700lbs
It had 60 horsepower
It did 0-60 in 14 seconds

A 1990 Honda Civic LX got about 28mpg with the auto
It weighed 2,300lbs
It had 92 horsepower
It did 0-60 in 11 seconds


A 2018 base Honda Civic LX gets about 34 mpg
it weighs 2,900lbs
It has 158 horsepower
It does 0-60 in less than 8 seconds

 

[KnappShack]

The problem is given the choice time and time again people chose against the good gas mileage cars.

It also crazy with all the technology we have today they cannot improve gas mileage. My high school car got 32MPG and it as a 1986. My uncle claims he had a Honda, I think, in the early 70s that got 40MPG.

I had an early 90's Nissan that would get over 40 on the highway.

Of course you could run faster than that car and it was roughly the same size as a Pepsi can.

It had more in common with a Model T than today's vehicles