Ford will stop selling most of its cars in North America
 

From Ford will stop selling most of its cars in North America:
"If there was any doubt that the auto industry is rapidly changing, Ford just delivered proof. The industry pioneer is scaling back its small car lineup in North America to just two vehicles, the Mustang and the unrevealed Focus Active crossover, in the "next few years." The rest of its range will be limited to SUVs, trucks and commercial vehicles. Ford isn't shy about its reasons: "declining consumer demand and product profitability" make it impractical to develop other sedans."

Even in Australia, where fuel is 3-4 times the price of the US, sedan sales have been in decline for years while SUVs just keep growing in market share and our once dominant Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore are no longer even being manufactured (no cars at all are now manufactured in Australia).

Surely if Ford made a "good" sedan (ie. one that could genuinely stand toe-to-toe with another "good" sedan without any patriotic or brand bias) in the US, it would sell?

Or, do US buyers now prefer:
* a cheaper foreign-built "good" sedan
* pay more for an upmarket foreign-built sedan
* to buy something other than a sedan

In Australia, the demise of the Commodore and Falcon came down to price, smaller cars getting big enough for a famiiy (eg, my Mazda SP23 has plenty of room for 4 adults or 2 adults and 3 kids in the back plus luggage), and SUVs suddenly becoming popular and comparatively priced.

US Buyers are buying two things:

"Crew cab" trucks with 4 doors & short bed
SUV/Crossovers

I'm not sure I'm surprised by this news - I bet they sell 3 Edges for every 1 Fusion, or 3 Explorers for every Taurus, etc etc.

http://s22.q4cdn.com/857684434/files...ales-final.pdf

I was sort of interested in the numbers so I dug this up, it's absolutely crazy how many F-series they sell. 43% of their sales are trucks. Over a million last year alone.
Then there's 555k "cars" compared to 796k "suvs", which is much closer than I expected.

Yeah, and if you read the full article, the "crossover" stuff actually gets better mileage than the sedans of 10 years ago.

Higher seating/driving position is the reason they sell. Nobody wants to feel like the mouse about the be squished by the big truck.

My wife and I went to the Mazda dealership to look at crossovers. She ended up buying the Mazda3 hatch, which is actually styled a lot like a crossover but doesn't look too high or ungainly. In fact, it looks really good. But it's still a datapoint of getting away from sedans.

As to other points made:

1. The current Mazda3 "Compact Car" is easily 50% larger than the Mazda 323 I had in the early 90s. With the exception of the Miata, cars just keep getting bigger and heavier.
2. I'll give up my Pontiac G8 when they pry my cold, dead fingers off the steering wheel. "Last of the V8 Interceptors . . . ." It's incredibly reliable, fast and cavernous. It's a shame about Holden and V8 Supercars racing.

Few people I know that build the focus are on paid leave for 6 months while they tool over to the ranger.

If you guys ever saw the Ford truck plant / land mass that entire manufacturing process is on you would understand. They make so many of them it's unbelievable.

The issue with a lot of cars too is how they can be optioned. You want any mazda sedan with the big engine? You better not be over 6 feet tall because you cant order one that way without a sun roof. You think a cx3 awd would be the best car ever? Sucks for you the cx3 doesnt come in manual. I thought the focus and fiesta were selling like hot cakes though? I see a shitload of them everywhere.

I'd like a CX-5 with the 2.5/6spd/AWD. Can't have. Much sadness.

I don't understand the CX3 at all, it's a little taller than my 2005 SP23 DD, has a little more ground clearance, is about the same length but has bugger-all boot/trunk-space - the SP23 has a decent boot/trunk.

Other than being newer, possibly a little better fuel economy, there's no practical benefit in owning a CX3 over my 13 year old SP23 which is in excellent condition (after replacing the drive shafts, engine mounts and shocks; the Android Head Unit and reverse parking sensors I installed mean I'm not missing out on too many modern-car features).

Maybe I'm just getting old, I'm becoming practical?