As Ford Authority reported earlier this week, mega-popular YouTuber Doug DeMuro recently created a video defending Ford’s decision to stop selling sedans in the U.S. years ago, a move that was both shocking and highly controversial at the time. As one might imagine, this is still a sensitive topic among plenty of folks, and as such, the video has since conjured up plenty of reactions – both negative and positive. Regardless, there is one notable person that took the time to praise Doug DeMuro for sharing his opinion on this matter – Ford CEO Jim Farley.
“Nice video, Doug,” Farley wrote in a response to DeMuro’s Twitter post. “Good things happen when we listen to customers & double down on what we do best. The next 5 years will be even better.” As DeMuro explained, 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
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 it isn’t surprising that Farley would praise someone’s support of this controversial decision, it is certainly notable. After all, even though it’s been roughly five years since Ford announced its intentions to exit the sedan market in the U.S., many still contend that it wasn’t the best business decision the automaker could have made.
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Comments
Trucks have always been known as the profit margin leaders with most brands, so it’s not surprising that a manufacturer would favor this product. Cars have always been a lesser margin product for the most part. I don’t know where SUV’s fall, I would have to guess somewhere in the middle.
So if a manufacturer is trying to increase margins on products, it makes sense. If you want a car, there are plenty of other manufacturers to shop.
The irony is that trucks make more profit because there are fewer federal regulations to comply with and that, for cars, limit their design. Ford used to oppose regulations. Now they feed at the government trough. Sad.
Stop signs and traffic lights are regulations.
Public trough? Why aren’t you complaining about Big Oil Dave?
They have had a literal history of fire hose style tit suckling throughout their history.
Exxon presently greatest quarterly profit in its history.
I don’t like public money for any sector: oil, farming, manufacturing, etc.
Oil is a commodity. Prices go way up, and they go way down. I recall watching oil going negative live a couple of years ago. I actually took screenshots because it was so other-worldly. Exxon lost over $20B in a single quarter in 2020. Record profits now are because of the stupid policies and actions of the political Left. There’s some light sweet crude irony for you.
Public roads, utilities and services must just crinkle your little green heart.
100% correct Dave. Rwfa facts dont care about your feelings.
And those other automakers steal a customer from Ford- a customer that may have bought more Ford products in the future. Now the other automaker gets first Crack at them
Tigger: Exactly. That’s what so many just don’t get or understand, including Farley? Lost sales, future lost sales, referrals are all very real things. I haven’t even brought this side up before, but will now. What about lost service work? After all, people who buy cars/sedans get them services where? Just like the glorified station wagons called SUV’s and truck, sedans still need service.
I have not purchased any sedans since the 2008 Caddy CTS. Since then I have bought 7 CUV`a. (Car based utility vehicles). Ford has kept me as a customer by refocusing on vehicles that I WILL buy.
Just to say how impressed I am with Ford’s decision of not selling sedans, I bought a new Cadillac CT4-V.
Love my new Genesis G80. Was going to get a new ’23 Connie but wait, nothing available. Oh well, Another lost Ford /Lincoln customer. Can’t wait to see how bad January sales are going to be. Place bets on 4K for Lincoln and 2023 total sales will be projected at maybe 60K .
Don’t worry, Ford is really “listening to their customer” per Farley.
Of course you did.
The biggest downside was the elimination of the Fusion hybrid. A damn fine car of superior design leaving the market to the Japanese brands. It could have continued for years with on going refinements and no new tooling (Tesla?).
DeMuro is completely wrong. And Farley too. MB, Audi, BMW, Tesla, Hyundai, Toyota, Kia, Volvo, among others sell sedans succesfully and with profits. Why Ford isn’t able? Letting a whole market segment go to obtain profits is not what a good CEO should do. Ford sell SUV’s, crossovers and trucks succesfully because that’s all they do. But for those who don’t need a truck and doesn’t like SUV’s or crossovers, Ford isn’t an option anymore. And yes, they’ll go to other brands and may not come back to Ford when market trends change again. Because they will. Market is cyclic and human tastes change all the time. Isn’t Ford capable of selling vehicles from all market segments? Ford did that once. If they cant’t do that now, then the CEO should be removed.
It’s a rapidly declining market – J3 sedans now are more popular with rental car agencies than with customers…the exact sort of low profit margins Ford was trying to escape.
While a minority of people may hate the idea, it was the right decision – sedans will be dead in less than a decade and the market will be so small that we will have a tiny number of them left.
I completely disagree with you. The only way sedans would die is that the sedan buyers reaches zero. That will never happen. Probably the sedans market share will remain during the next years within the 20% and the 25%. That´s a good share of the market. Everybody but Ford knows that. The decision made by Ford was completely wrong.
JB: You best stop and take a look around the rental lots any more. The ones I drive past daily are loaded with Nissan, Toyota, Kia, Hyudai and Ford SUV’s.
Dropping all sedans was a huge mistake and one that Ford will pay for and is already paying for. I for one will NOT buy another Ford product based on this alone.
Suburau took an old station wagon raised it 3 inches and called it the Outback. Ford could do the same on a sedan or two. Every one ( especially women like height). The driver position on most sedans is lower than a Mazda Miata. They, Ford, among others, caused the problem.
I hate height. I prefer low cars like the Miata, MR2 Spyder, ect (have owned both). I have never owned an SUV and likely never will unless I move out into the wilderness and ACTUALLY NEED one. I have also owned a Mustang as well…Mustang Mach-E though? Never!
Sedans will decrease, but hatchbacks and wagons will gain popularity in the future.
The purpose of a corporation is to reward shareholder investment. Per Milton Friedman. Product should always be focused on that end.
Friedman died long ago.
His statement is as true in a vacuum as a locust saying “our only task is to eat and reproduce without abandon until our sustaining ecosystem collapses.”
We are not locusts, and our economic policy should not be so purest as to be indistinguishable from the locust’s mentality.
I don’t believe sedans are totally dead, but the public has lost it’s appetite for uninspiring sedans and hatchbacks figuring, if I’m going to be bored, I may as well have my dog with me in a CUV or truck. Camry’s, Accord’s,etc. are not all that inspiring but they have a long standing reputation of running forever, being super cheap to maintain and holding their resale value as a result. Cars like the Taurus and Malibu never achieved that reputation and were no more exciting than a Camry, so why choose the inferior product? There were some bright spots that I think the “Big 3” could have further polished and would have done well through the pandemic; the Focus and Fusion, needed a refresh and the Focus a decent automatic transmission, Impala and Cruze needed some refinement and maybe an update, GM should have shelved the 1.4L Turbo as well in favor of a non-turbo 2.0, even the Dodge Dart could have been refined into a pretty decent compact but also needed an engine upgrade. It wouldn’t have slowed the CUV stampede but might have stole some sales from the Corolla, Sentra, Altima and Camry, again, unremarkable but well screwed together with strong reputations. Spilled milk now but I think the domestics missed an opportunity.
The Focus?!?!? Like seriously?!? The automatic transmission aka Power$hit was literally the worst transmission ever, Ford had to re-buy many of them…it killed the car’s reputation all together. Asides from that, it was a decent car but Ford mismanaged it’s whole production cycle in NA – they should have swapped in for the 6-speed as soon as noise started to swirl from warranty claims…
Eventually EV box-like cars (people movers) will become an alternative and comfortable mode of urban transportation, with or without a driver. Styling for the sake of styling will be replaced by utilitarian design. The sedan market will slowly dwindle and mostly EV powered SUV, CUV (both are the 21st century station wagon) and trucks will continue to be popular. Ford will probably make the EV people movers, the ideal replacement for sedans. The ID Buzz and Canoo are the design of the future, the sedan is the design of the past.
Sadly, I believe you are correct.
But yet you drive an Expedition and a 4-Runner, so in a direct way, you helped kill that which you morn.
Consistent in logic though.
Stop building cars and go exclusively building trucks. Only one big problem: they don’t have the capacity and the parts to build Broncos and Mavericks. Maverick Order Books closed after one week of being opened. And the recalls….
For a company who publicly declared they were stopping production of cars in order to go all-in with building trucks, Ford has proven to be highly unprepared for such a move, even to this day.
Clearly Farley is not reading these comments.
He may be.
It’s better than reading the funnies.
OK Farley!
Oh hi sedan chauvinist!
I have been a loyal Ford customer all my life, inherited the love of Fords not only from my Dad but our whole family drove Fords. While
the Maverick is proving to be a great substitute for a small sedan, it is not a true substitute for a small hatchback like our Focus ST was. We own an F-150, but also wanted a sedan and Mr. Farley’s business plan forced a loyal Ford Customer to buy a Japanese Luxury Brand product. Too bad they don’t make a Truck because they have earned our love and appreciation and probably our loyalty.
Such nonsense. You overplayed your narrative when you went to truck at the end.
How does it feel to be wrong all the time?
I wouldn’t know DumbWAYNE but since you offered, please regale us with your clearly overwhelming first hand experience with the topic.
Doug you are wrong. Trucks and SUVs has a high probability. Most people like to use them and are clearly gas guzzlers. AWD is the worst in gas mileage and
4 WD trucks use less but still not that much. But what about the regular Joe that doesn’t like trucks or SUV s and they want cars? They will not buy from you anymore. We will go to the foreign car makers to buy their cars and Toyota has the most cars with hybrid options. So Ford you will lose more money. I have been a Ford owner for almost 50 years. The way it is now you lost a loyal Ford owner.
I too love my Ford Fusion Hybrid. Do you know there is a car show in North Carolina that is completely comprised of Ford Fusions? It is called “the Flood.” There is a bunch of racing, car modification and really beautiful cars. You really need to see pictures.
I regularly drive an F150 but today drove a Fusion to work. Frightening. Not because of the Fusion which is a great sedan, but because the world suddenly got very large around me. I’ll never own anything less than an SUV or pickup in the future because of that, and I think a majority of people will feel the same way after owning one for any length of time. Not that I think Farley does much right, but he may have got lucky this time.
Bob: I understand what you are saying, but using that logic then I’ll spin this around on you. What will you do when your truck/SUV is no longer “big enough” to compete with the rest? This is real and happening now. The small trucks have grown to the size of what a full sized truck was nearly 20 years ago. The full sized trucks are just getting silly stupid big. You have SUV’s that are dwarfing the SUV’s from 20 years ago. You now have GMC Hummer pushing these monsters while thinking it’s ok because it’s and EV.
My point is simply that you can’t escape what you are talking about. Kind of like the original reason I liked them: Because it was nice to sit higher and see better than most everyone else on the road. But today it matters not, as the person in front, behind and along side me are all sitting higher and bigger. Advantage lost. So I went back to cars because I’m so sick of the SUV market and I’ve made it all about efficiency and low cost to operate. My last 3 cars were a Cadillac CT4 sedan, Volvo S60 sedan, Chevy Malibu sedan and now a Chevy Bolt hatch. Loved every one of them and guess what? Not one single Ford product.
Vehicles are getting larger because Americans are getting fatter.
Average US weight is up 20+ pounds since 1990.
Also, it’s pretty tough to fit 2 Rascal scooters in the trunk of a sedan.
Different strokes I guess.
The smaller the car, the more driver control….such a better experience. SUV makes you feel safe because of the size, until you have to preform a complex and quick maneuver so you don’t crash….and you can’t.
As stated above, Farley is probably not reading any of the comments made here. I am surprised that Farley even chimed in at all. As a 4x Ford sedan and a 2x Lincoln Mkz owner, I have nothing to look at, at either of the the dealerships. What I would say again is, Ford was dying and the accountants made the ultimatum… build only profitable models and ‘abandon all else.’ Farley is conveniently sticking his head in the sand by not addressing the real cost of this decision. Those affected customers were permanently lost and they continue to buy cars. I only hope the next segment leaders are a successful as the f150, Bronco, Maverick and Mach E because nothing, lasts forever.
I have a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee and several Ford Mustangs. I have no intention of buying a sedan other than Mustangs. As far as I am concerned a SUV is much more practical and safer to drive in the Winter when roads get covered with snow. I do not understand why anyone would buy a regular sedan instead of a SUV. The SUV to me is the best car like vehicle to own.
My grandfather has a Lincoln Continental, nice car….but it should have been RWD instead of FWD.
It is a shame they did away with cars, not gonna lie….if they kept 1 car, the Mustang was the right choice..
..but owning an unmodified Fiesta ST is a dream/bucket list thing for me, but they are so hard to find….and prices on cars are too crazy right now, maybe I will look for one next year.
Vehicles should be aerodynamic with a Cd of 0.07 and a small frontal area. Energy wasted by the art department is unconscionable.