It’s been a few years since Ford announced its decision to discontinue all of its sedans in the U.S., leaving the Ford Mustang as its only “car” on sale in that particular part of the world. This move wasn’t made without considerable controversy – in fact, many Blue Oval fans still lament the decision – but it was also one made with an eye toward trends. With sedan sales declining in the U.S. for years now, Ford simply exited a segment that was not only losing steam, but also one that may no longer exist at some point in the future. Instead, FoMoCo simply chose to instead invest its resources in growing segments like crossovers, SUVs, and pickups, and is even shrinking its European passenger car lineup – a move that mega-popular YouTuber Doug DeMuro has defended in a new video.
It’s now been roughly five years since Ford announced that it would be discontinuing all of its cars – save for the Mustang – in the U.S., including the Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, and Taurus, a decision that was met with a tremendously negative response from many. For obvious reasons, this is one of the biggest Blue Oval-related stories in recent memory, especially since some of those models – chiefly the Fusion – were selling rather well at the time.
As Doug DeMuro notes in his video, General Motors followed in Ford’s footsteps roughly one year later, and over the past five years, the passenger car market has continued its sales freefall. He believes that the consumer shift toward crossovers, SUVs, and pickups is a permanent one – not a temporary change of preferences – and as such, others have followed Ford’s lead in that regard.
The other important aspect of this decision – focusing on making great, popular products – has also paid off big time, with new models like the Ford Bronco proving to be smash hits with consumers – along with other enthusiast-focused vehicles such as the Ford F-150 Raptor. In the meantime, more mainstream offerings like the Ford Bronco Sport and Ford Maverick are attracting former sedan owners at a high rate, while The Blue Oval has also invested in various other products such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E with great success.
While this explanation likely won’t satisfy the sedan faithful, it does make it easier to understand why Ford made such a controversial and monumentally important decision five years ago. There are still plenty of us that long for the days when we could buy a brand new Blue Oval sedan from our local dealership, but ultimately, nixing them certainly seems like the right move from a business standpoint.
We’ll have more on Ford’s changing lineup very soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford business news and 24/7 Ford news coverage.
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Of course they had a right. But the decision was made too soon. There was still demand for cars. Just look at Stelantis? Kia? Toyota? Honda? They're making a living off of carscarscars.
Too Soon? They had to make that decision to repurpose the factories and workers to build the new stuff.
A cheap factory in mexico exclusive to 4 sedans, if the smaller vehicles weren't being made there already would have solved the issue, and had sales of up to 1 million vehicles, i dont thinks all sedan buyers went to suv, trucks, ect... they went to toyo,hon,kia. Just like the minivan, only the ones that made good vans survived, toyo, honda, kia,
It was more lack of effort and giving up on segments, i would have a gm/ford minivan and a sedan for crusing on weekend, gm/ford
Exactly. FORD wanted to go in a different direction than the rest. However, many of us aren't convinced that it was the right thing to do.
To the point….Ford/Lincoln decided to become expensive truck makers. Not practical or desired by me, so I buy elsewhere. Making statements the buying public don’t want sedans aimed at brainwashing your desires by limiting your choice. I just shop elsewhere.
They never said NOBODY wants sedans, just that it’s a contracting body style segment that is profitless to just make them to make them, so it was best to exit and put resources into growing and profitable segments.
I think killing off sedans was a mistake for a few reasons: 1) They are still 20% of the market. That is a big chunk to just give up on. 2) Sedans are entry-level vehicles for young people. You can develop brand loyalty by selling them their first new car. 3) Being profitable on lower margin items gives your organization business discipline that pays off across the organization. 4) Times change. In a high interest environment, cheaper sedans may make a comeback. 5) If you really care about the environment, smaller and lighter vehicles are the "greenest" and have the lowest cost of ownership over the long-term (which is probably why Ford killed them off).
David, I totally agree with you. Not many people understand your 3rd point. To be blunt, Ford has been running away from its cost problems, hiding under the umbrella of large margin trucks and SUVs. Well, the margins on SUVs are shrinking… as witnessed by Ford’s lack of commitment to Escape and Edge (core CUV products with the most competition). Also, a car will always be more energy efficient than a CUV/SUV because of aerodynamic efficiencies of a smaller frontal area, weight efficiencies of less mass, and lower rolling resistant tires.
The reality was the Ford walked away from its highest customer satisfaction-rated vehicles… Fusion and MKZ… despite plenty of volume to keep one assembly plant at full capacity and shared powertrains with the aforementioned CUVs. Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, and Kia were the benefactors of Ford’s white flag.
Point 3 also sounded good to me, then it reminded me of Daimler Benz’s experience in the 1990’s.
Each time they became uncompetitive as competitors improved and new entrants appeared (Lexus etc.) MB retreated upwards … suddenly DB mgt realized they weren’t competing against cars but against boats, private planes, vacation homes, etc.
This brought them to a Point 3 reckoning “to be competitive at the upper end we need to be competitive at the low end”.
So the invested in Smart, A-class, B-class, and have poured money into them ever since trying to be competitive… yet it was like pouring water into the desert.
All that effort for those segments just drained capital and talent.
I’m not saying DD Point 3 isn’t sometimes true, I’m only saying there are case studies showing sometimes it isn’t.
In Ford’s case, we have Maverick, Mach-e and Lightning, none of which may have been developed if Ford continued pouring its water into the sands of the sedan segment.
I certainly don't comment on here much any more if ever. Heck, I barely come to Ford Authority any more. Reason? No cars. Nothing but boring, gas guzzling trucks and SUV's that I won't buy any time soon.
In my opinion, Ford gave America the big middle finger when it came to cars/sedans. So guess what? I'm giving them the same in return. At this point, I will never buy a Ford product again. And guess what? I don't refer Ford any more. So me and the other nearly 3 million people who purchased sedan's in 2021 will continue to buy from others.
I mean, if you stop making cars, of course you're going to be selling SUVs & truck at a high clip... THAT'S ALL YOU MAKE for a consumer to buy!
Doug Demuro is completely wrong. Although sedans sales declined, they will never reach zero. There will be always someone who doesn´t like SUV´s or crossovers and who doesn´t need a pick-up truck and that number will probably never go under 20 or 25%. A good slice of the market. MB, BMW, Audi or Tesla, among others sell sedans succesfully. Why can´t Ford? Ford sell SUV´s or crossovers because that´s all they do. But they also let a whole market segment go that now buys with other brands. Market is cyclic and the tastes that today are in, tomorrow will be not. That happens not only with cars, but with everything (see clothing for example). Letting a whole market segment go is never a good decision and specially when the competition is tight. Those that went to other brands looking for a sedan may never go back to Ford when market trends change again. Because they will. That´s been happening during the whole mankind history. So why wouldn´t it be happening again? Another issue is that in the case of EV´s, sedans will always offer more range than SUV´s or crossovers due to the weight, resistance to the wind and height of the break-even point. You can´t go against the Newton´s Law. Ford/Lincoln should at least have kept one sedan. The Fusion/Mondeo wasn´t selling bad. And there are still many brand new sedans with several other brands.
I agree!
LoL why trucks and SUV’s?
Ford is just applying Sutton’s Law to the car biz.
Sutton: “…because that’s where the money is.”
There's one aspect people keep forgetting about this whole situation: obesity in the USA. Right, wrong, or indifferent, an obese person is going to have an easier time rolling in and out of a CUV, SUV, or truck than squatting in and out of a sedan. Until this epidemic begins showings signs of subsiding, manufacturers will only have two choices: increase sedan sizes over the next several decades or push your customers to larger vehicles. Once again, right, wrong, or indifferent, it is what it is.
This is a very good observation.
(PS I never thought of truck and SUV segments as being the automotive equivalent of sweat pants before. 😉 )
there are no lies there. I'm a big guy but I have no problems with passenger cars but a buddy of mine is morbidly obese and I treated him to a ride and drive track day event. He was literally choking when he put a helmet on and rode along in an SS sedan. He was supposed to drive a GT500 but couldn't even fit in the car with a helmet on. He only really fits in his SUV.
Yes, and we can thank the EPA for that. Gas guzzler taxes apply to cars but not trucks. You would pay a penalty if the old school Lincoln Town Car came back, but not if Ford revived the Excursion.
Bunch of dumb @sses. All they did was hand over all the sales to Honda, Toyota and the rest. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
All they see is quick profits. Not everyone wants a truck or SUV. I am very happy with my Toyota Avalon. Thanks Ford.
(For a moment I thought I read Solaris.)
Sedans, especially AWD like SUV's could have been a winner.