The US-market Ford Fiesta subcompact car and Taurus full-size car are on the chopping block, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal (paywalled). Neither potential product cancellation would be all that surprising given that Ford already confirmed the new seventh-generation Fiesta wouldn’t be sold in the US, and that the Taurus has struggled in the showroom ever since it stepped up from the mid- to the full-size category.
Last month, sales of the Ford Taurus stood at 2,569 units in the United States – down more than 36 percent year-over-year. Just a handful of vehicles – including the ever-unpopular C-MAX, the divisive Flex, and the super-rare GT supercar – sold in smaller numbers.
And like the Ford Fiesta, the Taurus, too, has seen a new version arrive in outside markets with no plans to launch stateside. At the 2015 Shanghai Auto Show, the Blue Oval unveiled a brand-new, seventh-generation Taurus for the mainland-China market, based on the Fusion’s CD4 platform as opposed to the US-market Taurus’ D3 underpinnings. To this day, there’s been no indication that Ford could bring that newer Taurus to the US.
The news that the Ford Fiesta and Taurus are reportedly set to face the ax comes as a growing number of customers both in the US and abroad flock to trucks, crossovers, and SUVs. Ford has already announced plans to chase that trend, by making such vehicles nearly 90 percent of its lineup by 2020, according to North America Product Communications Manager Mike Levine. Two off-road SUVs, a performance-oriented electric crossover, and a new North American Ford Ranger are all known to be in the works over the coming years.
But, “passenger cars, including Fiesta and Taurus, remain an important part of our lineup,” Mike Levine says.
General Motors is reportedly set to trim its North American lineup in a similar fashion, discontinuing the Sonic subcompact car and, perhaps, the full-size Impala. A redesign program for the mid-size Ford Fusion was reportedly canceled earlier in the year, although the Blue Oval just recently introduced a moderately-updated version of the North American sedan for the 2019 model year.
Comments
Sorry to see the sedan go away. The BEST car I ever owned was a 1986 Grand Marquis. I was on the road making a living and I drove that car 44,000 miles one year. It was the only car I could drive all day and get out without a sore butt or back, It was that comfortable. Big V8 and it got 22-25 MPH with the AC running full blast and took regular gas. Transmission was as solid as a rock. After I got done with it, I gave it to my son and he had a Mustang he made into a race car as a hobby. He pulled that thing around with his car hauler with the Grand Marquis. The trunk was enormous and the back seat was as comfortable as a lazyboy. It was a tank and got rammed one time by a pickup truck that came into my lane. They replaced my door and front bumper and off I went as good as new. What a car. I loved it and the BEST car FMC ever made,period!!
I can second that. I love my ’04 MERCURY GRAND MARQUIS as much as the day I bought it brand new. 14 years and 162000 miles later, it still serves well and the engine still runs like a Swiss watch.
A former boss of mine told me that if I liked my GRAND MARQUIS I would also like the TAURUS when the time would come to replace my car.
I would imagine that if FORD had kept the CROWN VICTORIA/GRAND MARQUIS/LINCOLN TOWN CAR, it likely would have had an all V6 engine lineup given that FORD seems obsessed with getting rid of the V8 but the V6’s have good power and smoothness. So now the TAURUS would appear to have it’s days numbered even though they have been talking this way for years now. If FORD doesn’t have a decent size sedan for me being that the CONTINENTAL is in question too, I’ll go to another builder or even a CHRYSLER PACIFICA since they are smooth and quiet. I don’t much care for the short wheelbase cross over types and don’t like the EXPLORER that much since it seems top heavy by the looks and it’s short wheel base.