In a world ripe with crossovers of all shapes and sizes, most automakers have at least one tiny, subcompact offering in their current lineup. This includes General Motors, which actually sells a grand total of four of them – the Chevy Trax, Chevy Trailblazer, Buick Envista, and Buick Encore GX. However, GM’s chief cross-town rival – Ford – offers precisely zero subcompact crossovers currently – at least in its U.S. lineup – the result of the automaker discontinuing the Ford EcoSport some time ago – which is undoubtedly a curious decision.
This leaves only the Ford Maverick as somewhat of an indirect competitor to other automakers’ subcompact models, or perhaps even higher-priced vehicles ike the Ford Bronco Sport and Ford Escape, which are considered to be their own niche sort of models and start out at around $30k – considerably more than the Trax, which starts out at just over $20k, the Trailblazer at $23k, the Envista at $20k, and the Encore GX, which has a starting price tag of just over $25k.
It’s unclear if Ford considers this to be an issue at all, however, given the fact that Ford Blue president Kumar Galhotra recently stated that that he believes the automaker’s certified pre-owned lineup fills the low-cost, entry-level model hole in its lineup quite nicely. And while Ford and GM remain staunch, direct competitors, it’s also clear that each is intent to chase its own market segments independent of what the other is doing – just take the Maverick, as well as the Ford Bronco, as examples of segments that GM isn’t keen to compete in, at least for now.
It is worth noting that Ford does sell a subcompact crossover in Europe – the Puma – where it has found tremendous success and is a regular atop the sales charts in that region. Even Ford CEO Jim Farley previously expressed that he “wishes’ the Ford Puma would come to North America, and yet, that hasn’t happened. The Puma would undoubtedly be a great fit for The Blue Oval’s North American lineup -given its lack of a subcompact crossover or other model – but for now, it seems as if Ford is content to let GM have a big slice of that market.
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Comments
There’s no way in hell the Puma comes here and starts at $20k. They can’t do that, which is why it isn’t here. It’d be every bit as expensive as the Escape.
So GM has 4 Korean sh¡t boxes. Wgaf.
Sorry, not everyone can afford a $70K Bronco. Ford has nothing for the working class only overpriced EV’s and a Maverick no one can actually buy.
I ordered a 2023 Hybrid Maverick and gave check to my Ford dealer in August 2022. It was built on 9/11/23 and is sitting in the lot it was off-loaded from the train from Mexico. I will take possession next week. It has been just sitting the past 5 days awaiting a car-hauler to get it to the dealer. But, I am finally getting our Maverick, YEA!!!
my local dealer has a 2023 big bend bronco 4 door for $57k cdn or $42k for a bronco sport. maybe you should revisit the ford site and see what they have in the compact cars and their starting prices. in Canada at least, cars a becoming less of a thing considering roads being in worse condition and at least 7 days in the winter will have your car stuck because of the amount of snow that can drop over night. some areas won’t have their street plowed for a few days making your car stuck for 2-3 days until some snow melts.
Well, I would ask a couple of questions in this regard: How well do these subcompact SUV’s or Crossovers sell? I don’t think the EcoSport sold well, which is why there were so many deep and long running sales incentives, plus the thing was pretty homely looking. Not that the SUV/Crossover category is a bastion for cutting edge styling by a long shot. How well are GM’s Crossovers selling? From what I’ve read on other forums, this market doesn’t like small….it likes big.
GM is projecting to sell 184,000 of the new 2024 Chevy Trax models by the end of this year. They also cannot keep the Trailblazers in stock. Dealers are still hitting them with markups over MSRP because they can sell every one they get. If Ford could bring a crossover to market in the mid $20Ks, and actually make enough of them without having to force customers to wait 12 months to get one, they would have no trouble selling them. People simply want affordable new cars at this point.
The 2024 Trax is a pretty remarkable package for what it is and the price. The only things about it that are disappointing are the lack of AWD (not offered on any trim), and the 3cyl engine. However, that is not stopping people from clamoring to buy one. There are buyers paying up to $4k OVER MSRP to get one, which kind of defeats the purpose of the vehicle as GM has advertised it as an affordable crossover.
Ford has a Maverick and Bronco Sport…GM has 4 anonymous rental cars. Who cares?
Many people, considering Ford raised the price of the Maverick significantly to $25,640 for the base model, and the Bronco Sport is even more, at $31,230. About six or seven other automakers now make vehicles – some (Toyota & Honda) are vastly superior to Ford & Lincoln’s top best in terms of long-term reliability – for less money than Ford’s most “affordable” vehicle.
Ford needs to become far more competitive in their engineering & prices again and stop ceding markets to other automakers.
Toyota especially uses the same or similar parts through multiple models and generations. these leads to little innovation and a boring car (exclude models like the sport trims and sports cars). also, if you price out a tundra with an f150, you’ll see the tundra (similarly equipped) isn’t that cheaper than an f150. at least in Canada that is.
I had a 2019 ford escape 1.5L that started the coolant intrusion issue. When I went to ford to trade it in, they didn’t even want to talk to me. Besides, the new escape is just to expensive for what you get. I decided that I no longer want to buy, but lease, since I’m retired, and want a new vehicle every 2-3 years. I read about the Chevy Trax, took one for a test drive and actually liked it a lot. And it’s got front wheel drive, not all wheel drive which is what I wanted. People are never told about the drawbacks of an all wheel drive. Anyway, I’ve had the Trax RS, for 4 months and I like it. Gets great gas mileage too. One should remember that the Ford ecosport was a very troublesome vehicle. Unfortunately, ford’s quality has gone down to Chryslers level.
Every manufacturer can’t play in every segment. Everyone has limited resources and you pick the markets that give you be best profitability. Simple as that
There are hundreds of CUV models out and only so many old women to buy them. I’m glad the Fords don’t look like Honda CRV clones. At least the Bronco Sport stands out, in a good way, relatively in that segment.
You a chauvinist, or have you a poor concept of “so many old women”? Wow, you sound like a prize there, pig! 👎
he’s not wrong. my mom recently retired and bought a mazda cx5. her friends and neighbours who retired as well have crv’s and rav4’s and rogues. but for ford to put a lot of money and development into a car in a segment that is already overloaded would be dumb. but making their best sellers even better to take a larger chunk of the pie could let them expand a bit more. IE: F150 makes a ton of cash, make it better and expand the Mustang lineup and make that more competitive while expanding the Raptor and Tremor lineups because you know they will sell.
You ever look around you in traffic? Around here, it is almost always old women in CUVs, my mother in law included. She likes the height of these vehicles, ease to get in and out of, and the relative smallness of the vehicle to maneuverer. Old men typically drive pickups here. Middle aged folks with kids larger SUVs or pickups. Some fun pony cars/corvettes here and there, especially on the weekends. It is what it is, certain demos are attracted to certain things.
Because they’re not profitable. That’s why.
That’s exactly the reason. They let the Asians take this market as they are efficient, have low labor cost, and can make profit on them. Ford also doesn’t need ICE compliance cars.
Beyond all that, Ford doesn’t have a strong presence in markets like Korea and other Asian countries where these low cost, small size crossovers are regulated into existence. GM does, and so it’s a far more cost effective option for them to just import some of that production and sell them here, no additional r&d or engineering needed.
If Ford were to try to compete here they’d be grasping for a small piece of a low margin pie with an offering that cost them a ton to create. One could argue that Ford Europe should have similar product, but as you’ve mentioned, their cost of production is significantly higher.
Yes, about six or seven automakers now make multiple vehicles for less than Ford’s most “affordable” vehicle – the Maverick NON-hybrid – which now costs $25,640 at minimum, no thanks to Ford’s large price hikes. In contrast, a technologically superior Toyota Corolla, which will long outlast *every* Ford/Lincoln product, is $22,995. And I say this as a big fan of the Maverick. Ford offers zero affordable vehicles at this point, and as usual, has quit yet-another vehicle market, rather than compete, and they are going to get burned by this backward way of thinking sooner or later.
That said, it was actually a good idea dumping the EcoSport – it had some of the worst reviews of every vehicle on the market, and excelled at absolutely nothing. Bad aero, lousy mpg, horrid handling, lousy interior space – what was the point? It was just terrible engineering. In contrast, people loved the Fiesta (other than Ford not fixing the lousy Power$hit dual-clutch automatic), and Americans would likely love the Puma as well.
It’s unfortunate Ford got out of the sedan business. I know a number of people who purchased Lincoln competitors because they didn’t want crossovers.
I love the european Ford Puma. If it was sold here I would be driving it.
Mark, the car in the pic is a Puma ST. 1.5 3 Cyl gas 200bhp with mechanical quaife lsd. A grear driving car.
Great driving car!!
Ford refuses to play in this market because they know they are outclassed. The 2.0L Focus was actually a good car but Ford refused to address the DCT early in its production. Buyers cried foul and Ford ignored them. Ford says buyers have shifted to trucks/CUV/SUV. I call BS … they just moved to other manufacturers that make better products.
The Ecosport was a pile. Once people found out they stayed away in droves. WTF is with Farley saying he “wished” the Puma was here? He is the friggin CEO, just do it you wimp!
exactly. Such a reactive corporation, always behind the 8 ball.
The Ecosport is a vehicle in a long line of shoddy engineering, heck Ford has the most recalls in the past 2-3 years. After one or two money pits, and rising prices, people are going to turn away for good.
As a mechanic, I would NEVER recommend any of the GM crossovers to anyone. Only way to ensure long life out of it is to leave it in the driveway. The pickups are the only thing they’re ok at.
Ford is on the way out. Killing Escape and Edge, they rely on the F150, and for how much longer? Negligence on all fronts.
Bring puma to USA I would buy it