Ford to stop selling sedans in North America

[WildaBeast]

Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday said it plans to stop selling all Ford brand sedans in North America and that it is nearly doubling its cost-cutting target by 2022 from the plan it laid out only six months ago. The automaker said it will either fix or eliminate unprofitable global operations.

Ford said the only cars it will keep in North America beyond their current generations are the Mustang and the Focus Active arriving in 2019.

http://autoweek.com/article/car-news...able-crossover

There goes that Ford plant that Trump "saved" last year, I suspect. I remember at the time Ford's CEO explained that their reasons for wanting to move small car production to Mexico was more complicated than just cheaper labor, although that was part of it. Americans just aren't buying as many of those types of cars as they used to, but they are still selling in Latin America. It just makes more sense to build the cars where they're actually selling them.

[overyonder]

All of this while the price of gas is creeping up. Am I the only one that sees a similarity to 2007?

OY

[WildaBeast]

In all fairness most "crossovers" now achieve fuel economy pretty close to that of a comparably sized car. These aren't the truck-based SUVs of a decade ago; they're more like station wagons with lifted suspensions. And all the models they canceled have seen sharp declines in sales over the past few years. And it's not that people just didn't like the sedans Ford was making; from what I've been reading all sedans are seeing declining sales in North America, even perennial best sellers like the Accord and Camry. I'm still surprised that Ford did something as drastic as this, though. I would have expected them to maybe drop the slowest selling models and maybe just offer one sedan, like maybe an updated Focus or something.

[DawnStorm]

What'll the nation's cops drive?

A cursory look at county police cruisers show that many of them are Chevys with a few Dodge Rams thrown in.
Don't know about MD State Police. Guess they'll have to look at other models.

[WildaBeast]

Originally Posted by DawnStorm

What'll the nation's cops drive?

Around here, Ford Explorers, mostly.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Ford was preparing us for this shocker when they stopped making Crown Victoria's for the various cops all around the country. That was how they softened us up.

Seaboe

[overyonder]

Originally Posted by DawnStorm

What'll the nation's cops drive?

Lots of Dodge Durango's, Ford Explorers, Chevy Tahoe's, etc.

A few pony cars (Mostly Dodge Challengers) for high speed pursuit.

OY

[mbravo]

Originally Posted by overyonder

All of this while the price of gas is creeping up. Am I the only one that sees a similarity to 2007?

OY

No- I've been thinking of this lately, too. I don't need to fill my tank often though so I might just be catching the numbers at weird times.

[kitap]

Originally Posted by mbravo

No- I've been thinking of this lately, too. I don't need to fill my tank often though so I might just be catching the numbers at weird times.

I think of it every time my co-worker, who bought a ginormous truck for the "cool factor", whines about how much he spends on gas.

I waste no time reminding him I don't have that problem as I have a Hyundai Accent.

[RichardM]

I may not sell my Prius. I bought it well used when gas was almost $4 a gallon and I was commuting 60 miles a day across Dallas. Since I paid slightly over $5000 for it (paid for by a credit card), it paid for itself over the next 4 years in gas savings alone. Then I got rear ended and the insurance company came within 50 cents of totaling it. I got a check for $2500 and fixed the trunk with a hammer.

ETA: The pickup is still more comfortable to drive and its air conditioner works.

[DrRocket]

Get ready for a little bit more pain at the pump this summer.

Crude oil prices are at the highest level in more than three years and are expected to keep climbing, pushing up gasoline prices along the way.

http://www.startribune.com/get-ready...ars/481229411/

People do indeed have short memories. I still remember when gas prices were creeping past $4 a gallon. Some were selling their big crew-cab trucks and SUVs for cents on the dollar