Ford USA stop all cars except Mustang and one Focus model

[croyde]

I spent a month or so in LA doing a lot of commuting from the northern suburbs and being my first visit since the early 90s I was shocked at the amount of Japanese and other small cars on the road.

It was actually rare to see any US muscle old or new. I was stuck driving my girlfriends VW CC, she thought it exotic, and couldn’t wait to get back to my Mustang in the UK lol.

[anonymous-user]

Klippie said:

The UK is getting that way as well there are lots of SUV's and the like on the roads now, I can't understand why anyone would need an SUV in the first place they should be taxing these horrid things off the road.

I have no need for either a SUV or a pick up truck, but posts like this make me want to buy one, just to spite you and your ilk.

Ideally a truly obnoxious rolling coal version to really annoy people like you.

[forzaminardi]

The Donald will be all over this now that North Korea has been sorted out.

[Captain_Chaos]

I'm surprised they're phasing out the Fusion. I see quite a lot of them over there. Certainly enough to make it worth producing.

[MaximumJed]

captain_cynic said:

Clivey said:

The Hilux is much smaller than the F-Series trucks; Ford’s rival is the Ranger. Toyota sell the Tacoma and Tundra in the States to compete with domestic pickups from the “Big Three”. ??

Its not that much smaller than an F150, but the Hilux has a 2.4L I4 turbo diesel that can carry and tow as much as an 6L V8 petrol F150 for much less MPG, lower purchase price and it wont fall apart within 2 years. The emissions laws are used to keep Japanese turbo diesels out because they know that if they were permitted to be sold there, it'd be all over for American pickups.

Just for a laugh, look up a water pump gasket for a 2006 Tacoma... and simply describe the part for me.

I agree that the smaller euro-pickups, Ranger, Navara, Hilux can do almost as much as an F150, as I've been cross-shopping them recently. However from the stats and from what owners are saying, a 3.5 turbo F150 isn't far behind a 3.2 Ranger auto or is compatriots for real world MPG.

As far as I'm aware, the main thing keeping the smaller diesel pickups out of the US is the chicken tax and the fact that running a petrol equivalent over there is usually cheaper as diesel is more expensive, while not providing the added efficiency gains. Ford are now going to relaunch the Ranger in the US to compete in that space as the F150 has become so big that people are starting to reject it. It's also expected that next year Ford will bring the new F150 3.0 diesel to Europe and put it in the updated Ranger.

[captain_cynic]

MaximumJed said:

I agree that the smaller euro-pickups, Ranger, Navara, Hilux can do almost as much as an F150, as I've been cross-shopping them recently. However from the stats and from what owners are saying, a 3.5 turbo F150 isn't far behind a 3.2 Ranger auto or is compatriots for real world MPG.

As far as I'm aware, the main thing keeping the smaller diesel pickups out of the US is the chicken tax and the fact that running a petrol equivalent over there is usually cheaper as diesel is more expensive, while not providing the added efficiency gains. Ford are now going to relaunch the Ranger in the US to compete in that space as the F150 has become so big that people are starting to reject it. It's also expected that next year Ford will bring the new F150 3.0 diesel to Europe and put it in the updated Ranger.

US emissions regulations expressly forbid the Japanese 2L and above turbo diesels. The Isusu D-Max is bought to the US as a Chevy with a Chevy engine in it (GM did the same with Australia, the Holden Colorado was an D-Max with a woeful VM motori engine) and the closet thing to the Hilux is the Tundra, again with a bunch of petrol engines. However an actual Hilux or J70 Land Cruiser are strictly verboten.

In Australia, we've got a similar fuel situation to the US, Diesel was never given any tax concessions which is why diesel passenger cars are rare there however diesel commercials (pickups and vans) are just as numerous as they are here because they take full advantage of the benefits of a turbo diesel engine.

Bit of a grandpa Simpson story but.... During Easter I was sitting in a bar in Colombia with some Americans (oddly enough not many Brits make it that far) and the conversation turned to cars. One of the ex-pats was a self confessed "massive truck fan" who'd had Ford and Chevy pickups all his life until he moved to Colombia, American trucks were hard to find so he bought an old Toyota Hilux, loved it so much he's never been back to Ford or Chevy. Its not an uncommon sentiment with Americans who've lived abroad as they've never driven a diesel light commercial before moving.

[bungz]

That tacoma gasket is quality.

[AnotherClarkey]

I wonder if this means the end of the Mondeo here? At least after this product cycle.

[Super Slo Mo]

rodericb said:

They had a couple of Land Rovers too (series 2 and 3). You do know that they had aluminium bodies and so didn't rust don't you?

Ha ha, that’s funny. The one thing land Rovers are renowned for is rust, chassis and bulkheads in particular.
You’ll also get electrolytic corrosion of the ally panels where they meet anything steel.

[Slushbox]

AnotherClarkey said:

I wonder if this means the end of the Mondeo here? At least after this product cycle.

Automotive News has a piece on the 'death of the sedan' and the possible withdrawal of the Mondeo.

'Mondeo sales in Europe dropped 17 percent in the first quarter [2018] to 13,973, figures from market analyst JATO Dynamics show.'

There are rumours that Mondeo production will be moved to China as sedans are still popular there. There's a raft of updates to the Mondeo line coming later this year.

The rise in SUV's in Europe is attributed to practicality: shorter length makes them easier to park, tall cabins feel more roomy, more ride height/access makes them easier for mums with kids, hatchback more practical for strollers, there are roof-rails for bikes and taller seating postion gives better views for the driver. Most are five seaters so you can cram the back with kids.

Having said that, my office overlooks a busy car park. Most of the cars are B-segment hatches: Fiesta, Polo, Clio etc, the rest are SUV's. Despite the practicality most people tend to shove all their shopping on the back seats of the SUV's instead of using the hatch/boot.

VW dropped the (made in Mexico) Jetta in the UK last year. Europe -wide figures showed sales dropped to an average of 600 per month, half of what they were in 2004.

The view from designers is that the sedan is moving upmarket to more exclusive cars, though demand is small, at about 4% of the overal market.

Edited by Slushbox on Friday 27th April 06:35

[MadmanO/T People]

Here's what I wrote on another thread concerning this topic:

All I can say is this decision is baffling to those of us in America, too. If Ford can't make money selling 200,000+ examples of the Fusion (Mondeo) in the USA annually then there is something seriously wrong going on at Ford. Likewise, if they can't make money selling Fiestas built with cheap Mexican labour (as the current US-spec Fiesta is) then, once again, there is something seriously wrong going on at Ford.

Ford announced a few months ago the next generation US-market Focus would be imported from China. Now it appears the only Chinese Focus we'll be getting is the quasi-crossoverish Focus Active. And, I suspect, the only reason we're getting that version is because even Ford's executives grudgingly recognise the recently introduced (in the US) EcoSport is sh!t.

This is, in essence, Ford saying to the Japanese "We give up, you win!" Granted, there are plenty of car buyers in America who have been brainwashed into thinking only Toyota and Honda build reliable cars. I have met so many people who refuse to consider anything other than a Toyota or a Honda because they truly believe all other cars are unreliable rubbish. However, this stigma doesn't seem to apply when the conversation shifts away from passenger cars and towards trucks and SUVs. Perhaps this is just Ford admitting that, no matter how good of a car they make, they will never be able to win back the car buyers they have forever lost to the Japanese? Even so, this smacks of being an incredibly short-sighted decision.

Come the next artificially-manufactured oil crisis and/or economic downturn, Ford will yet again be caught with their pants down!