With Ford of Europe set to transition its entire passenger vehicle lineup to EVs by 2030 or sooner and seven new all-electric models on the way by 2024, the writing has quite literally been on the wall for the automaker’s slower-selling passenger car lineup for some time now. As Ford Authority reported back in June, The Blue Oval had already cut back 2022 Ford Focus production amid numerous supply chain issues, and the Ford Saarlouis Assembly plant in Germany – which builds the Focus – is slated to cease production altogether in 2025, though the Focus is also built in China and Taiwan. Then came news that the future of the Focus ST and Fiesta ST was unclear this past September, while the Fiesta was then officially canceled in October. Now, the Ford Focus is also set to be discontinued, according to Automotive News Europe.
The Focus will bow out in 2025 when production ends at the Saarlouis plant, marking the end of an era for the long-running model. In its place, FoMoCo will focus its efforts on the growing crossover and SUV market, as well as pickups. With the automaker diving head-first into a total EV transition in Europe, keeping the slower-selling Fiesta and Focus around just didn’t make financial sense.
The Fiesta has been around since 1976, but production of that model will end next year as the Cologne Assembly plant in Germany is converted for the production of EVs. The Focus launched back in 1998 as a replacement for the Escort, while both models just received a refresh for the 2022 model year.
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Comments
How about an electric Focus and/or Fiesta! Oh, that’s right…there’s the Puma.
More boring, involutive and abominable SUV’s? What for? Not everybody likes SUV’s or crossovers or is willing to buy one no matter what. In my case, I have migrated to other brands looking for a sedan after 20 years buying Ford products. Besides the Mustang (excluding the Mach-e of course), I will not buy another Ford product until they produce a sedan again.
Seems sedan chauvinism dies the hardest.
Is Ford paying any attention to what Gen Y is interested in? Their interest is not SUVs/Crossovers. At some point demand is going to tip in the direction Ford is abandoning.
They don’t want econoboxes. And they def don’t want ICE.
Bad decision. Bad strategy. Meanwhile, the Corolla and Golf continue to be successful in Europe. It seems that a rival company make the decisions of Ford of Europe.
LoL
You missed that in the first 9 months of the year, in Europe, the small suv and the compact suv segments were 1 & 2 in sales.
OEM’s are bailing out of the small car segment and not replacing run out models because they are generally unprofitable and are losing popularity.
Chip shortage… now the brands give priority to more expensive and profitable cars (SUV, EV and PHEV). But sales do not stop falling in Europe. Among the best sellers in Europe are the 208, Golf (1 and 2 in the first half of this year) and others like the Sandero, Corsa are among the best sellers.
Ford has been losing market share in Europe for more than a decade, and the solution is not to offer more expensive products that will sell less when the chip shortage ends. Ford vans are a hit. Losing a car like the Ford Focus while the Corolla is the best-selling car in the world is a mistake by Ford of Europe.
In many European countries people cannot spend 30,000 Euros on an SUV, so they will buy a cheap Chinese car, or Asian brands that will continue to have cheaper cars in their range. In many European countries people cannot spend 30,000 Euros to buy SUVs, so they will buy a cheap Chinese car, or Asian brands that will continue to have cheaper cars in their range. Meanwhile, Ford will continue to lose market share in Europe and the world.
Ford vans are a hit in Europe, but not the rest of the range.
But many of those companies cranking out vehicles somewhere between the super mini and C segments are doing it with thin margins or none.
This is why those without pricing power are leaving those segments.
Ford realized that if it’s not going to avoid shutting Cologne (a high cost production location and move its production elsewhere, Poland, Turkey, Romania, India, anyone?) it’s going to have to abandon chasing profitless-prosperity-based market share and aim for selling fewer cars with a higher profit margin.
The strength of Transit (not unlike Ford trucks in the USA) has cross-subsidized the profitless prosperity of Ford’s traditional segment pass car business.
By generally nixing it’s declining traditional coupe and sedan format vehicles, and refocusing on growing and profitable segments, Ford has a chance to make really great vehicles that are compelling and profitable at a lower market share volume.
Ford is basically saying “we suck so bad at manufacturing sedans, that we are throwing in the global towel in the hopes that people buy what we think we’re good at”. Sure they claim that they are only shifting to the will of the consumers, but I want to know where this electric grid from God is going to show up.
Oh no, not another apocalyptic gridster.
As for sedans, it’s a shrinking market and ford was smart to move resources to where it leads SUV/truck and away from where it was an also ran.
x
As someone who went from a 2014 Focus to a 2020 Escape, CUV’s are the way to go. The extra space and height within a CUV is great. Most CUV’s are plain and uninspired but the space is great.
The European market is not the same as the US. In Europe, an average family that bought the C-segment Focus, now for the same price must buy an ugly smaller B-segment SUV, or buy another brand. The Escape/Kuga is much more expensive than the Focus.
Ford prefers models that give more profit, but forgets that the Corolla is the best-selling car in the world and necessary in Europe and Asia. So, Ford needs the Ford Focus or Ford Europe will have economic problems in Europe for the next few years.
See my comment to you above Norton.
Auto News Europe had an article today about how OEM’s are abandoning unprofitable unpopular small cars.
Wasn’t the Lincoln C-Concept to be built off this? Would have made a great hybrid/EV with six passenger luxury and coach doors! Another missed opportunity.