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The entire auto industry is moving away from sedans, as they are slow sellers, and the demand is drying up, as another recent thread pointed out.
Auto industry is following the sales trend, as slow sales and smaller margins of profit are making it to a disadvantage to the company. An old axiom for building anything no matter what it is, when sales fall below a certain point for one product, and the demand is increasing for another product, cut loose the money loser and go with what the public wants to buy.
Times are changing, and Ford is simply going with the times. Watch as this spreads through the auto industry.
Do you think that a billion dollar company is just doing this on a whim? I love all the people on here who know better than a company that’s been in business longer than anybody on here has been alive.
Same could be said of GM and look what happened to them.
The Baja is a niche vehicle for sure. But an actual small pickup, as opposed to the ones they call mid-sized now (which are as big as 90’s full sized trucks), would sell. A four door not much bigger than the old Ranger would be my ideal vehicle.
If they would sell, why isn't anybody making them?
Quote:
Originally Posted by HouseBuilder328
I'm upset that this means no Focus RS. Although I understand that nobody else cares. Everyone and their SUVs who thinks they need all the space all the time. You don't need trucks and SUVs for those DIY projects that you go to Home Depot for every now and then.
The Focus hatch is the one car besides the Mustang they will continue to sell here, so the RS isn't officially dead yet. That said, they had already stopped production of the RS before this announcement was made, and it has nothing to do with this announcement. It has to do with the fact that they have already completed their planned production run. The revised Focus platform is due out next year, and as with most platform revisions, the high-performance will come last if they come out at all -- in some cases they need to evaluate the business case for adapting them to the new platform.
I have a 2014 Murano and a 2002 PT Cruiser. Pretty sure neither is a "sedan" but they get us and friends around town just fine. Eventually will replace the PT Cruiser with a Rogue for consistency of interface.
Just read it. Stunning! What's left of the company then? Saying that there is no market for sedans is nuts. Look at the Japanese and Korean imports. How many workers do you need just to build F-150s?
Hopefully another American auto maker can take advantage of that decision, and build some really nice sedans.
A bold move from Ford, but in all honesty, probably a very smart one from a business standpoint. Americans love SUVs, trucks, and crossovers. A focus hatchback makes sense to keep for those wanting a gas-saver, and of course the Mustang for the driving enthusiasts.
It really does seem that the market for sedans is shrinking these days. And it's easy to see why - you get much more utility with a hatchback or crossover design, without really sacrificing much (if any) in the way of things like driving dynamics or mpg versus that of a sedan - making them far more practical for most folks who don't want a larger vehicle. At this point, I've lost track of how many times I've managed to successfully cram a surprisingly large amount of cargo into my Mazda 3 that would NEVER fit into a sedan.
I will say though, that it is too bad they're getting rid of the Focus RS - seemed like a solid alternative to cars like the WRX and Golf GTI.
You realize the Mazda3 comes in a sedan version. I have one. Works great. Don't want a hatchback. (In the bay area hatchbacks are magnets for smash-and-grab robberies.) Also, I like my manual transmission, so probably no SUV for me. Ever.
Last edited by SocSciProf; 04-28-2018 at 08:31 PM..
Reason: Clarified whats a magnet for robberies.
Same could be said of GM and look what happened to them.
What happened to GM and Chrysler also happened to the big banks remember they got bailed out also. People stopped buying cars and trucks because of the recession not because of what they built. No one was buying and you can’t survive without sales. How many people lost their homes because of the bad bank mortgages, but all people remember is GM and Chrysler but forget about lehman brothers and Chase and the other banks that received a government bailout.
What happened to GM and Chrysler also happened to the big banks remember they got bailed out also. People stopped buying cars and trucks because of the recession not because of what they built. No one was buying and you can’t survive without sales. How many people lost their homes because of the bad bank mortgages, but all people remember is GM and Chrysler but forget about lehman brothers and Chase and the other banks that received a government bailout.
So you think there was nothing wrong with the business model by the big 3?
Only thing that save Ford at the time was that they had gotten over 20 billions just before by mortgaging their assets.
History has proven that many large companies have gone under in the past due to stupid management decisions and they'll still do it...it is reality.
It's too many. US manufacturers need to focus on ONE fuel efficient vehicle and they need to build it well. Until then Toyota, Honda and Hyundai are going to keep cleaning their clock by churning out superior vehicles.
Not everyone drives an obnoxious gas-guzzler and my masculinity isn't wrapped up in driving a squeaky clean $70,000 pickup truck to an office job.
You have to look at it like this. I used to have an Elantra. That Elantra is low to the ground. My office is kind of on a hill with another office building on another hill. The road between them is in a dip. It was easy to bottom out the Elantra in the lot. My girlfriend is in a wheelchair. Try getting a folded wheelchair into the back of an Elantra - the trunk doesn't fit it and the back seat is a wrestling match.
I hike, kayak, and occasionally fish. You can barely take an Elantra onto a well-kept gravel road, even with new all-season tires. My nearest Costco is about two hours away. I have a 61 qt. cooler specifically for that purpose. It had to sit in the back seat - cannot fit in the trunk of the Elantra. Need to haul anything fairly tall? It's rare that it fits into the sedan. I bought a 50" TV a few years ago. I had to cut it out of the packaging to fit in the Elantra in the Costco parking lot.
I bought a 2015 Cherokee Latitude today. 4WD, several modes depending on circumstance. 8.1" touchscreen for multimedia. Heated seats and steering wheel, nav, the works but a sunroof and leather. Decent amount of cargo room. Wheelchair slides in the back without any hassle. I'm planning on taking it to Rocky Fork State Park near my residence where the Elantra just couldn't go.
I was out the door for roughly $16k tax and fees included. 56k miles.
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