Why Ford is killing the Fiesta and Focus.

[jmrtsus]

The car market in the US is dead, this is the Fiesta replacement, the EcoSport. And the reason is Americans are so brainwashed into trucks and suvs it is a much more profitable sale. According to industry averages Ford earned almost $10000 on the F-150 but average profit on cars was around $3000. If you were Ford and GM would you continue to build cars other than speciality cars like the Mustang, GT and Camaro, Vette?


The Ford EcoSport
Source: Ford Motor Company
The Ford EcoSport

Ford badly needs profits and is betting that selling more SUVs, even really tiny ones, will bring them.

The company is rolling out its EcoSport subcompact SUV to dealerships now. With the move, Ford wants to claim a piece of the fastest-growing segment of the profitable and popular sport-utility market.


The EcoSport is another step toward selling cars that will bring in more money. For one thing, subcompact SUVs are popular with buyers looking for a car that offers the ride height and flexible storage of SUVs in a nimbler package. It has been the fastest-growing segment in the U.S. since 2010, Ford said at an event with reporters on Thursday. They also command higher prices than comparable small cars. Average transaction prices for subcompact SUVs such as the EcoSport are $4,500 higher than Ford would get from a subcompact car like the Fiesta, and $2,500 more than the company would get from the compact Focus, Ford said at an event with reporters on Thursday.

 

[BRGT350]

No big shock, it is exactly what Ford said they were going to do and that plan is being accelerated. The latest earnings report shows that SUV's and Trucks bring all the profit and nobody buys cars. Hackett is on the war path to make the oval more profitable and that means killing anything that isn't a truck or SUV. He also wants Wall Street excited, which means you need to be Tesla, and Tesla makes electric cars that are autonomous (to some extent). Once Tesla was worth more than Ford and GM, the writing was on the wall that they needed to do something radical to change.

Good news is that Mazda appears to understand that driving matters and people still want to drive cars. Ford gave the car market a big FU and is jumping out of it. I am sure the Fiesta ST is my last Ford product, which is sad since I have only known Ford products since entering this world in 1979. I am sure my next car will be from Japan or Korea. They still like the idea of cars. I like the idea of cars. I buy from car companies, not mobility companies. Ford is now a mobility company.

 

[jmrtsus]

I agree that is all they can do.....Tesla on the other hand? Did you see where Bob Lutz is suggesting buying one as an investment....I agree with him, the fiasco will come tumbling down. How long can a company live on new investors is the question. I think the answer is not much longer. I will keep my ST as my last car. If something happens to my ST I'll get a Mazda 6 and buy some HP for it!

 

[Plainrt]

No smit there is more money In selling trucks that are 50k....... ford has to realize not everyone can afford a 50k truck or even want one. They now closed the door on the people. It's not like those buyers of small cars are now gonna buy a larger ford car. They are gonna go elsewhere. Screw ford and the direction they are going.

 

[Dpro]

Most of what has been said here was already known . BRGT350 pretty much summed it up correctly. This is not Mullalays Ford. Aka World car company. Unless they somehow think they are going to sell the world on EV and autonomous.

Truth is millenials are leading that charge. Majority of them do not car about driving even the idea of owning a vehicle. They are happy to have it move them from point A to point B with no real mental input or possibly physical as well. This is the same demographic that ultilizes Uber and Lyft clogging out streets with more cars because those companies relentlessly hire drivers so they can keep pricing down I.E. Non surge pricing. Oh and these companies are big on Autonomous . So it's known current Ford wants to Focus on Trucks, SUV's because they sell. EV's and Autonomous because they think it's the future.
Would Henry Ford be rolling over in his grave? Oh and like I have said and gotten flack for in other threads it's true small cars and sedan sales have tanked in the U.S. Compared to trucks and SUV numbers.

 

[captainmorbid]

Millennials aren’t buying cars, because they have no money. Once they do have enough to buy, they will. I wonder which companies are going to survive the boomer transfer of money. I’m betting small to mid size manufacturers that still retain flexibility in their factories. Hyper specialist companies like Tesla, FCA, maybe GM and Ford that seem to be headed towards fleet sales and “mobility” style bullshit, will crash and burn spectacularly. Fiesta ST will be my last Ford product as well.


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[BRGT350]

Millennials aren’t buying cars, because they have no money. Once they do have enough to buy, they will. I wonder which companies are going to survive the boomer transfer of money. I’m betting small to mid size manufacturers that still retain flexibility in their factories. Hyper specialist companies like Tesla, FCA, maybe GM and Ford that seem to be headed towards fleet sales and “mobility” style bullshit, will crash and burn spectacularly. Fiesta ST will be my last Ford product as well.


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Actually, I read an article about a month ago that indicated that older Millennials are actually moving out of their hip downtown studio manbun apartments, getting married, having kids, and guess what, buying great big SUV's just like their Baby Boomer parents. While this isn't scientific, I can say that is probably 100% accurate. My wife and I are at the very end of Gen X and our younger siblings are Millennials. When we go to their kid's birthday parties, the driveway is packed with giant SUV's. In my neighborhood, there is an entire section that is all new construction and they are almost all purchased by Millennials and all have SUV's, trucks, crossovers, and mini-vans. That entire section of the neighborhood is dominated by people in their upper 20's. How they bought a new constructed house in one of the nicer neighborhoods in town and all drive newer stuff is beyond me.

Plainrt, last week Ford said they were going to focus on higher transactional price products and niche cars. The idea that the guy making the Ford on the assembly line could buy a Ford are done. They are pushing the price point higher and higher. What cars that will remain will be high priced, niche, and out of reach for the majority of us. Even the idea of an attainable performance pony car are just about over. They keep moving the Mustang into a higher price point. I don't ever see myself buying a new Mustang. They are getting very expensive and there are better cars out there.

Tesla isn't really measuring success by surviving. That was never their point. They view success by disrupting what they consider an old, archaic, stodgy, transportation system in which people drive a car and put gas in it. They are 100% about disruption, not being the next Ford, GM, or Toyota. They want to destroy a century old business model. They want to disrupt everything from affordable cars, sports cars, luxury cars, and semi-trucks. It is working. When Tesla's value became higher than the traditional car companies, the world shifted. Everyone realized that to get investor money, you don't need to deliver a quality product at an affordable price point. You need flashy tech, autonomous mobility products, and no more gas. Ford is going to kill cars, make money from trucks and SUV's, slash any funding for gas engines, and take the money from what does sell and stuff it into autonomous and electric. Ford even realizes the market isn't there yet and just hope to be there when it arrives. I believe we will have 147 new electric vehicle models by 2020. Right now, I think they are less than 2% of sales. Everybody is betting the farm because Tesla disrupted their sandbox.

 

[zanethan]

Good news is that Mazda appears to understand that driving matters and people still want to drive cars. Ford gave the car market a big FU and is jumping out of it. I am sure the Fiesta ST is my last Ford product, which is sad since I have only known Ford products since entering this world in 1979. I am sure my next car will be from Japan or Korea. They still like the idea of cars. I like the idea of cars. I buy from car companies, not mobility companies. Ford is now a mobility company.

Mazda doesn't actually believe that driving matters...if they did they would offer a decent engine mated to a manual in the Mazda6. As it stands you can get the manual with the boring 2.5 NA engine or you can get the 2.5 turbo with a boring auto. It's very sad because the Mazda6 chassis is a very good one and overall it's a very pretty car.

I guess at least Honda gets it. The new Accord had a 2.0T with a 6-speed.

 

[Bluedrank]

While I love the current FiST, Ford is dead to me when it comes time to replace my current vehicle. If I was buying today I'd consider a Fiat Abarth 500 or 124 Spyder as replacements. I'm really hoping Toyota brings a hot hatch version of the Yaris to North America with a decent price tag though, that could seriously be a game changer.

 

[jmrtsus]

No smit there is more money In selling trucks that are 50k....... ford has to realize not everyone can afford a 50k truck or even want one. They now closed the door on the people. It's not like those buyers of small cars are now gonna buy a larger ford car. They are gonna go elsewhere. Screw ford and the direction they are going.

Ford is giving the Jap and Koreans the car market. They make more on one F-150 than Toyota does on 5 cars. The profit margin and competition for cheap cars is fierce. Ford and GM want nothing to do with it in the USA. Prior to the ST's Ford did not make good small cars for the US market. Only 2 of 6 adult children of mine can drive a manual, my wife and I still prefer and drive a manual. Out of three married children and their spouses there are 4 SUV's. All of them in their 30's and they are well employed and could buy want they want. They want behemoth SUV's. 3 domestic and one Jap SUV.

 

[BoostBumps]

No big shock, it is exactly what Ford said they were going to do and that plan is being accelerated. The latest earnings report shows that SUV's and Trucks bring all the profit and nobody buys cars. Hackett is on the war path to make the oval more profitable and that means killing anything that isn't a truck or SUV. He also wants Wall Street excited, which means you need to be Tesla, and Tesla makes electric cars that are autonomous (to some extent). Once Tesla was worth more than Ford and GM, the writing was on the wall that they needed to do something radical to change.

Good news is that Mazda appears to understand that driving matters and people still want to drive cars. Ford gave the car market a big FU and is jumping out of it. I am sure the Fiesta ST is my last Ford product, which is sad since I have only known Ford products since entering this world in 1979. I am sure my next car will be from Japan or Korea. They still like the idea of cars. I like the idea of cars. I buy from car companies, not mobility companies. Ford is now a mobility company.

Well said....I agree!

 

[Mchris2725]

Tesla isn't really measuring success by surviving. That was never their point. They view success by disrupting what they consider an old, archaic, stodgy, transportation system in which people drive a car and put gas in it. They are 100% about disruption, not being the next Ford, GM, or Toyota. They want to destroy a century old business model. They want to disrupt everything from affordable cars, sports cars, luxury cars, and semi-trucks. It is working. When Tesla's value became higher than the traditional car companies, the world shifted. Everyone realized that to get investor money, you don't need to deliver a quality product at an affordable price point. You need flashy tech, autonomous mobility products, and no more gas. Ford is going to kill cars, make money from trucks and SUV's, slash any funding for gas engines, and take the money from what does sell and stuff it into autonomous and electric. Ford even realizes the market isn't there yet and just hope to be there when it arrives. I believe we will have 147 new electric vehicle models by 2020. Right now, I think they are less than 2% of sales. Everybody is betting the farm because Tesla disrupted their sandbox.

In my opinion, fully electronic vehicles will be the future of personal transportation. The internal combustion engine is just outdated technology at this point, and Tesla has quickly become the generic trademark of electric vehicles. I don't think everyone will be driving around in a Tesla in 2020, but I do see the direction, and I do think major manufacturer's will fall behind big time if they don't step up their EV investment.

 

[Burritoman]

There will always be a market for internal combustion powered fun cars on some level, it might not be driving one everyday but they will ge around for a while. Ford is dumping the Fiesta for the American market because gas is cheap right now so everyone is buying larger vehicles. I'll keep my Fiesta as long as I can and when it needs to be replaced it could be any one of the following fun cars that are still being made-Civic si/type r, Gti, Focus ST/RS, Veloster/N(looks promising), WRX, possible next gen Mazdaspeed 3? . I will miss not getting the next generation FiST but nothing is carved in stone so until the sky actually falls, I'm not going to panic.

 

[Scotman2]

The big trend is lease terms that get a person in a two year plan with a ten thousand mile per year limit. Then that vehicle becomes a certified used or a re-lease vehicle when the initial user is done. The car manufacturers are trying to get away from basic or low profit vehicles. I read somewhere, Automotive news, i think, that basic non ecoboost Escape with front drive and no frills is less than two percent of production. That is a very low number of sales!
A manual transmission equipped basic Focus is also super uncommon. The disappearance of moderately optioned cars will just make it easier for me to stay away from the showrooms and shop build what i want.

 

[captainmorbid]

It just snowed 10 inches... wish I still had my Grande Vitara! Lol!


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[FLORIDAST]

I only bought the Fist because it's a neat car, not because it's a Ford. If I want another budget sporty car I'll just get it from someone else next time, no big deal.

 

[Sprinkle_Star]

I think that Honda should release a Fit Si.

 

[HardBoiledEgg]

I originally wanted a Fit Sport 6 speed used 2010+ but couldn't find one close or in a decent color


I then went for a new one and only 6 speed was in a base......Now they came out with the fit sport again and I find that annoying


But they need to put the k20 in the Fit as a Si. I'd get rid of my Fiesta lol

 

[Intuit]

Before you go Mazda, Hyundai, Honda, Mitsubishi, check out Chevrolet.

By then, the Sonic RS might be a little bit better than current. In terms of peak temporary output, GM doesn't offer a comparable vehicle.

http://www.chevrolet.com/byo-vc/cli...on=Mechanical&styleOne=393292&styleTwo=393298
In addition to loosing 61hp**, you also loose:
* Heated driver and front passenger seats
* Keyless Open
* Keyless Start

...but at least it has a partial digital gauge, projector headlamps and daytime running lights.

Keyless is one of those things I didn't miss until I had it though. Wouldn't want to go backwards on that option. Absent of Ford and GM offering a reliable, stylish, "true" performance vehicle that ain't the size of a woolly mammoth on a diet, Mazda would be next area of focus though. (no pun intended)


**Keep in mind that Ford's high hp numbers are due to "overboost" a.k.a. peak temporary output

http://www.fiestastforum.com/forum/...Ts-on-the-road?p=242733&viewfull=1#post242733
http://www.fiestastforum.com/forum/...troduce-New-ST?p=280829&viewfull=1#post280829

 

[Scotman2]

I think that Honda should release a Fit Si.

Given the internal rules for product segmentation that ain't gonna happen. But i have read of several and actually seen up close a Fit that had an Accord coupe 3.0 V6 with 6 speed manual transmission swapped in. The engine bay was packed tight! The a/c and speed control had to sacrificed. But holy shit what swap!