- Jim Farley wants "out of the boring-car business and into the iconic-vehicle business."
- The Fiesta and Mondeo/Fusion are not returning.
- The Focus will die in 2025.
More than a few eyebrows were raised when Ford decided to kill the Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, and Taurus a few years ago. Essentially the same thing happened in Europe where the Fiesta and Mondeo were phased out, with the Focus to be retired in 2025. Why is the Blue Oval getting rid of its cars? Because it's "getting out of the boring-car business and into the iconic-vehicle business."
That’s what CEO Jim Farley told Britain's CAR magazine in a recent interview during which he admitted that those cars "were loved by a lot of customers." Despite being reasonably popular, the head honcho from Dearborn says it's just not worth pouring more money into cars like the Fiesta, Focus, and Mondeo, as opposed to commercial vehicles, for example.
Direct replacements for those cars are sadly not planned. Instead, Ford hopes to move the needle with a couple of Volkswagen-based electric SUVs. Riding on the MEB platform, the Explorer and Capri are heavily related to the ID.4 and ID.5, respectively. The highly successful Puma crossover is about to spawn a purely electric derivative. Despite the zero-emission assault, Ford of Europe recently backed down from its plan to go electric-only from 2030.
As for the "iconic" vehicles mentioned by Farley, he was referring to the likes of Bronco, Mustang, and Raptor. The pony car gives Ford confidence it "can take on Porsche with Mustang," and to do so, it intends to invest more money in the future. The hardcore GTD is proof of that. The top brass explained enthusiast vehicles have always been a "side business" that was never truly funded but now they're becoming "our business."
But killing those "boring" cars puts the Volkswagen Group, Toyota, Stellantis, and Kia/Hyundai in a good position since those automotive juggernauts are still pumping out regular cars. As we previously reported, Ford's sales in Europe are tanking. Through June, they're down by 16.9% in the European Union, EFTA, and the UK. That caused a drop in market share from 4.1% to 3.3%.
In the first half of 2024, the three best-selling models in Europe were not SUVs. At least in Europe, Ford is risking a lot by limiting its passenger car lineup to the Puma, Kuga, Mustang Mach-E, a couple of VW-related EVs, and the Mustang, which will certainly be a niche product. We're already excluding the Focus because the Saarlouis plant in Germany will end production next year.
Of course, sales are one thing and profit margins are another. However, not offering a "boring" car and allowing competitors to capture all that demand is puzzling.
