Ford discontinuing all cars except for two

[Mike_TX]

Wednesday evening, in a 1st quarter post-earnings (which exceeded analysts' expectations) call with investors & reporters, Ford CEO Jim Hackett said that Ford will not make the next generation of the C-Max, Fiesta, Focus & Fusion sedans, leaving the Mustang and a new Focus hatchback as the automaker's only cars within the next few years.

Ford will add five all-new SUVs over the next two years as well as the new Ranger pickup which is expected to arrive at dealers in early 2019.



We know SUV's are the hot ticket right now, but I have to wonder if Ford isn't going to be caught short when the trend reverses. the Mustang is a sporty 2-door and the Focus is a smallish compact car. I guess they'll still have the Lincoln MKZ and Continental for the larger car market (?)

[NissLover]

I think it's an incredibly dumb and short-sighted move. Welp, the future of the Sentra, Altima and Maxima have been solidified, not that they were going anywhere anyway, but they all should benefit from this along with Toyota and Honda.

[palmerwmd]

I thought it was crazy also.
The Taurus and as of recent years the Fusion are incredible valuable nameplates to just throw them away (if that is what this means) is absurd.

but I am sure short term profits may go up and this will mean big bonuses for Ford Execs.. when Ford goes under they already made their money and can live happily ever after.

Assuming enraged (former) Ford assemblyworkers dont find them..

[M_TYPE_X]

OK, so we need to have The Talk. You know, when I was around here in like 2002, I was a smartass kid from Michigan. Now, I think we see Detroit shrinking too much too quickly. Oh well, should be good for Altima sales.

This is just the midsize-Taurus discontinuation all over again. Oh, and this time, they won't have Mazda or Volvo to draw on when they admit they need the cars again.

[Mike_TX]

I have to wonder if the Board has approved this move.

When the market turns, it's going to take time to tool up and start making cars again, and this could leave Ford 3 years behind everyone else when it happens.

[palmerwmd]

I have to wonder if the Board has approved this move.

When the market turns, it's going to take time to tool up and start making cars again, and this could leave Ford 3 years behind everyone else when it happens.

I am afraid the board is thinking of short term profits will will be sure to hugely pad their bonuses. Long term health and vioability of the company doesnt enter the consideration if 8 figure bonuses are waiting..

[JayG35]

I'm with you guys. This is stupid and reminds me of the big 3 putting so many eggs into the SUV basket in the early 00s that it contributed to their bankruptcys when gas shot up about 13 years ago. History repeats itself.

I'm not thrilled with Nissan going so CUV, FWD, and CVT-heavy but at least they still plan to produce more sedans, both at the Nissan and Infiniti levels. I don't see this working out for Ford long-term at all. But hey, we only plan out to 5 years, right? The Fusion and Mustang are very impressive to me. I guess only the Mustang stays.

And while I'm complaining loudly here and on the Q50 forums about the apparent shift to FWD for Infiniti and their lame excuse that they need to for electrification (BS! Germans, Tesla, even Lexus hybrids prove otherwise), I do think it could work out well if they mount the gas motors longitudinally and make AWD essentially standard (or close to it). Then again, they are getting rid of their V6s too soon (let alone V8s!), but for well-engineered electric powertrains it will be worth it. I just wonder if it would kill them to keep VR-powered versions of the Q50 as a limited production sport model when everyone wants EVs and gas is $500 a gallon (it won't be, but don't tell Ghosn!).

I'm kind of upset with the direction much of the industry is taking lately, from styling, to being sedan/coupe Nazis, to discontinuing manuals. Toyota and Ze Germans I'm happy with, but everyone else? Not so much. While GM deserves a kick in the nuts for discontinuing their large sedans, I am pleased that they have resumed V8 development for Cadillac with the CT6 V-sport (even if they got rid of JdN, presumably because he's not a fan of FWD and CUVs, sound familiar Infiniti? XD).

[Indemand]

I have a pretty nice car. Most common question asked, Does it have Apple Car Play. This is the direction the Marketeer's have led us. Would I say cars don't matter anymore? Maybe. Not sure yet. I do know the youngsters have different interests. A property I talk care of with a bunch of rich girls used to have BMW's, Honda's, and Volkswagen's years ago. Today, all SUV's with Apple Car Play. It's no longer about the car I assume. They have been sold safety, tech, and of course Apple.

[JayG35]

Safety is great, assuming it is well-integrated and doesn't take away from your ability to drive when you want to. Same thing for other types of tech.

I just see this recent trend as a tech and smartphone compatibility at all costs, and all else be damned! type of childish, cutting off the nose despite the face, approach to marketing and consumerism.

Cars and their driving experiences should still matter. Not everyone wants a car that is a smart phone on wheels and not everyone wants the car to drive themselves 100% of the time. I welcome those features SOMETIMES. But give me the choice to take the wheel myself and enjoy a well-tuned chassis and powertrain, thank you very much.

My 03 G and 05 Altima V6 are primitive by today's standards. But they are more fun than anything Nissan and most other manufacturers make today. They have zero USB ports or smart phone integration. Who cares? I use my phone when I eat and go to the bathroom at rest stops. Not when I'm going 80 mph on the interstate or enjoying a curvy mountain road.

I just took the Altima out to dinner on a country road route tonight. Gorgeous early May evening with temperatures hovering around 80. Opened up all the windows and moonroof (3.5 SL for the win!). I greatly enjoyed the VQ's pull and sound, as well as the fact that the transmission ZOMG has GEARS that SHIFT when you put your foot down. Wow! And the entire package is high tech enough to feel modern but simple enough to not break (some old Nissan durability left in this one). The VQ is a masterpiece that needs a sensor and a valve cover gasket every 120k miles and other than that will last forever on oil changes.

Nissan makes nothing like that now, except maybe the Q50 3.0t if it turns out to be as durable-- but that car's steering and infotainment are detached, obtrusive, and sucky. Closest thing to either of my current cars would probably be a new Camry V6 or the latest Lexus IS/GS/LS for RWD.

[NissLover]

I want to go test drive a DAS equipped Q50 just to see if it's really as bad as most say. I feel like in everyday use it will be A-okay. I feel like people are harping on it for how it performs on the track when NO ONE is taking that thing to a track. Plus I hear that better tires transform the Q50, the stock tires suck and that's even with DAS.

Real life review of Q50 with DAS, Before and after wheel and tire swap:

Stock:


After tire Swap:

[JayG35]

I want to go test drive a DAS equipped Q50 just to see if it's really as bad as most say. I feel like in everyday use it will be A-okay. I feel like people are harping on it for how it performs on the track when NO ONE is taking that thing to a track. Plus I hear that better tires transform the Q50, the stock tires suck and that's even with DAS.

Real life review of Q50 with DAS, Before and after wheel and tire swap:

Stock:


After tire Swap:

It's probably much better with proper tires, as is the normal electric assist steering setup in the 3.0t. It's still not particularly good steering. The V35 and V36 steering walk all over it, and heck, as I mentioned, even my 3rd gen 3.5 Altima's does. I got right into that Altima after dropping off the Q60 rental, and though the Q was nicer in every other way, the steering felt so much better in the Altima. It felt BMW-like (even though my E39 BMW had steering that felt much better than the Altima's driven back to back).

Nissan had some of the best hydraulic racks, and certainly the best from Japan. Like many other aspects of their cars in this teens decade, they felt the need to fix what wasn't broken and completely screwed it all to hell.

BTW, that guy in the videos bought an '18 Red Sport and was quickly visited by the serpentine belt fairies. After the belt snapped while he was filming a drive, he made a second video about how pissed he was and that he was going to lemon law the car. But he took them down because too many people were being rude jerks in the YT comments (what else is new?).

[NissLover]

Yeah, I saw the video of when the belt gave. But to be fair, he was pretty clear in that he has experienced similar and much worse with other manufacturers. So as a whole, he just hates the industry overall. Lol, so he didn't completely rape Infiniti or the Q50. Seems he has a bone with the overall general engineering of certain aspects of cars now-a-days and how the manufacturers will use their muscle to screw over people instead of just buying back the cars.

[JayG35]

That's correct, you definitely saw that whole video because those were the details he went over in roughly a half hour. Part of the reason he took it down is that Mercedes and BMW people were calling Infiniti "crap" etc, and acting like they had superior reliability. He said to those people, bluntly, "You don't know what you're talking about." And he went on about the dozens of Mercs, BMWs, Maseratis... basically everything but Lexus and Toyota that he sees on flatbeds every week in the NYC area.

He's a bit arrogant and hyper in his videos (NY thing) but I greatly appreciate his insight and attention to detail. I love how he bashes the piece of sh!t roads that we have in this region and hates how they disintegrate all but the best-built cars. Though he sounded anti-Benz at times with his state-of-the-industry complaints, he does have video reviews of the S560 and GLE350 in which he offers them high praise, basically calling them best-in-class. A very unbiased reviewer if you can look past his personality quirks.

I wish he'd put the Q50 videos back up despite the losers in the comments. Maybe take away the comment feature like he did in a video of an E400 coupe where he bashed the car for rattles (he later brought it back with comments disabled).

[M_TYPE_X]

I'm with you guys. This is stupid and reminds me of the big 3 putting so many eggs into the SUV basket in the early 00s that it contributed to their bankruptcys when gas shot up about 13 years ago. History repeats itself.

Unpossible! Do the Macarena!

[Indemand]

Cars and their driving experiences should still matter. Not everyone wants a car that is a smart phone on wheels and not everyone wants the car to drive themselves 100% of the time. I welcome those features SOMETIMES. But give me the choice to take the wheel myself and enjoy a well-tuned chassis and powertrain, thank you very much.

A couple of weeks ago I did a timing move on a turning car. My car wasn't quite with me. What I did was safe to me but with a pickup right behind me my car stopped dead. Just glad he was paying attention. I doubt I can turn off the feature and now that I know I'll be more careful. Had I got nailed, my cars bad I suppose. Good thing he wasn't texting while driving which much of these features truly help with.

On the tire note I'm guessing they have a bunch of inventory on those run flats which are great in theory. I'm sold on not getting them.
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