Ford’s decision to discontinue its sedans in the U.S. a few years ago was one that was met with universal shock at the time, along with plenty of criticism – though some have since defended it. Now, years later, many still question this move, even as hard sales data seems to support it and Americans continue to show a preference for crossovers, SUVs, pickups, and profitable specialty models like off-road-focused trims and variants. In addition to that, it seems as if Ford also lost a good bit of money when it was selling sedans in the U.S., too.
“The reason is very simple – we lost billions on them, and we are not in a position to lose billions on vehicles anymore,” Farley told The Smoking Tire’s Matt Farah during a recent podcast. “As a business leader, I don’t believe that the company should allocate capital to vehicles that I know we are going to lose money on, and so we decided to create Mavericks, Broncos, Bronco Sports, and all sorts of other vehicles like the (Mustang) GTD that will make money. Raptors, Tremors, Transit vans, electric vehicles that will make money over time. That is what we do at Ford. It was a judgement call to move out of the commodity part of the market into vehicles that our company wakes up in the morning and does well.”
Ford has remained adamant that it killed off sedans in the U.S. due to declining sales, which makes sense from a business perspective as the company has a finite amount of resources to dedicate to its products. As fellow Blue Oval exec Kumar Galhotra told Ford Authority in an interview back in 2020, “do we want to invest it in a declining segment or do we want to invest it in a growing segment?”
Regardless, it’s unclear if Farley is talking about a specific model here or the automaker’s sedans as a whole, which previously included the Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, and Taurus. However, while Farley recently dismissed the idea that Ford has considered bringing sedans back to the same market, but also admitted that a four-door version of the Ford Mustang may one day come to fruition, too.
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Which could be useful for those that live in certain areas.
Reducing auto tariffs from 25 percent to 15 percent.
A pretty amazing feat, given the abuse it suffered.
Taking over for Kevin Legel, who is retiring after 32 years.
And some pretty unique styling cues.
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Kia, MB, Audi, VW, Alfa Romeo, Tesla, Skoda, Hyundai, BMW, Peugeot, Renault among others sell sedans succesfully without losing money. They even make money with them.
If Farley isn´t capable of sell sedans succesfully without losing money, then he shouldn´t be CEO of Ford after all. Not everybody like SUV´s or crossovers or is willing to buy one no matter what.
Agreed, but it's too late to change direction.
It's never too late as proven by the reversal on the EV bull crap.
You're sure about that? Most of their sedan sales have cratered, and they have replace many models with crossovers.
And all those companies have something in common- largely European sales, where smaller vehicles and tighter roads are more common, and the consumer isn't accustomed to paying dramatically less for a vehicle just because it's smaller. US consumers spend considerably more time in their vehicles, are more likely to eat or drink in them, take family trips in them of hundreds or even thousands of miles, and sit in traffic where almost all the other vehicles are tall. It's just not a comparable situation. It's not an accident that both Stellantis and GM dramatically cut or eliminated car sales, too.
The Ford Mondeo (Fusion) was leader in sales in its segment in Europe together with the VW Passat. Also the Fusion was 3rth place in sedan sales just after the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord in the US. I confirm my argument. If with such sales numbers Farley lost billions in sedan sales, then he shouldn´t be CEO of Ford.
I agree... Toyota..Nissan...kia . Hyundai and others have no problem selling and making money on sedans...Ford just refuses to design anything new and blames it on customer demand when sales of a decade old bodystyle slumps...such as tge fusion and thunderbird
Exactly!!!! I have been saying the same thing!!!! Look how many Fusions are on the road, and their late models (2019/2020) are very nice sedans!!!
Ford is living on borrowed time. It has no footprint in Asia, it's tanking in China, Europe is declining and the US is F150 dependent. It can't make money on sedans because it has no scale, little innovation, high costs and zero long term vision.
Thats the dumbest thing I’ve read in along time.
China's market is collapsing, Europe is in turmoil, and Ford has many profitable models aside from F-Series (Explorer, Transit, Maverick, all best sellers in their segments, as well as Bronco that they can never make enough of.
Thanks for the uplifting comment, try to get some facts straight before enlightening us again.
"we are not in a position to lose billions on vehicles anymore” says Mr. Farley while he lost billions--and will continue to lose billions--on his EV "pivot." I don't know how much Ford lost on each sedan, but I bet it isn't the $65k they lose on each EV.
Bullcrap. Ford offers sedans in other nations and I am sure they are not losing money. In fact, offering sedans in more than a few countries would drive down costs through economies of scale.
The problem is without a low priced sedan by either Ford or GM you are giving no choice for first time buyers to buy an American made vehicle .
You are sending them to Toyota , Honda , Mazda , Nissan , Kia , Hyundai ,VW who all produce introductory compact 4 door sedans . Once they buy one of those brands they will develop a loyalty to that brand, They may never look at a Ford or GM product when they are ready to move up to an SUV or truck .
I do not consider Chrysler an American company anymore as they are owned by Stellantis a French , Italian conglomerate .
They each have vehicles that start at the same prices as Toyota and the others sedans. Ford has the Maverick, Chevy has the Trax. Both start at the same price as the cheapest Toyota. Ford outsold Toyota brand last year and GM outsold Toyota Group, so I don't think your logic is playing out like you think it should.
You guys are outrageous with making up reasons why you're right. The facts just don't bear that out.
I love my sedans and hate crossovers. But if you want to run a business, you have to make money.
You won't be making and money if your sedan customers buy another brand and don't ever come back like me. I never believe anything Failure Farley says. There is also no way Ford is making money on the Lincoln Navigator when they can't even sell 20,000/year despite its $100,000 price tag. Like, I said, I never believe anything Failure Farley says.
I own a Hyundai Sonata, and will probably never own another American nameplate. Great looks, great mileage, comfort..ike I have said before, the American automakers gave the Asians the car market to them on a platter...
Maybe because they can sell sedans in those markets (CHINA, with export to the UAE) for a price that makes money? Ever think of that?
But, sure, they just hated making money on sedans and made up a big lie about it.
Let's hear it, how Toyota and Honda and HKG are laughing all the way to the bank with all their profitable sedans...
Except since Fusion was discontinued, Camry sales have fallen by half. The Accord? Being outsold by the Ford Maverick, not just for the month, but every month in 2024 so far. Maverick is also outselling every HKG car. If you add Bronco Sport and Escape sales together, they easily outsell Civic and Corolla.
Like it for not, Ford made the right decision. I own two Ford sedans and I don't plan on giving them up anytime soon.
Let's not forget you are taking about the American market, Ford's own turf. Ford sales in Japan=0.
Didn’t Ford claim that they are losing $100,000 on every EV they make??? I bet they weren’t losing anywhere close to that amount on each sedan they made!
Jim Farley is a 🤡
Ford lost money on sedans because their sedans sucked. I GUARENTEE if the USA had a falcon performance sedan with the 2.3L ecoboost as a base engine, a 3.0L ecoboost ST, a 3.5L HO Falcon SHO, a 5.0L GT, a 5.2L fpc v8 BOSS-315 and a top end Falcon SVT Predator with the predator 5.2L v8, Ford would have outsold the Charger, especially if the car had AWD. Here's another great thing about the Falcon, it came in multiple body styles including a mini truck (typhoon), meaning the maverick wouldn't be needed and an EV falcon SUV would have been received alot better than the Mach e. While I would have preferred an ecoboost version of the BARRA I-6TT powertrain over the v6versions, Ford could have made a killing with this sedan over the crappy fusion.
Don't forget Ford was also likes to try to sell 7-10+ year old products with little to no updates and wondering why they weren't selling like other brands. Taurus 2010-2019, Fusion 2013-2020, Focus, 2011-2018, Fiesta 2011-2019, Flex 2009-2019, Expedition 2007-2017, Explorer 2011-2019, Edge 2015-2024, Transit Connect 2014-2023.
As an American, I feel cheated that the only Australian Ford we got was the two-seater Mercury Capri. At least The General badge-engineered Holdens as the GTO, G8, and SS.
It was a success. Pontiac RIP 2010.
I don't think they would have needed an exaggerated number of engine options. You have a tendency to do that, you know. I knew I'd come into the comments and see you listing off a half-dozen engine options. That being said, why do that when the Mustang is in play?
So many MBAs in here, I hope you all have your resumes in to the board to replace Jim. 😂
It will be a great day when Ford's entire sedan-hating executives are replaced by executives who know how to make money on sedans. What Failure Farley was trying to say is that he hates sedans.
Farley's "vison": As long as we slap B R O N C O or Mustang on the name plate, we'll be an industry leader. Mustang, Mustang Mach E and a 4 door "Mustang" will sell like hotcakes. Let's make a Bronco, an Escape that we can call Bronco (Sport) and lets get to work on a Bronco pickup to compete against our new Ranger. Jeep did and was very successful for one whole year, now they offer 10% factory discounts. If this isn't innovating enough lets make an appearance package and we'll dub it ST-Line so people think they're getting our successful ST performance package....... This guy is the best Ford could find? WOW!!!!
Exactly! Lincoln suffers also because the current lineup has nothing we want. Currently with no heritage vehicles, no iconic vehicles, nothing to aspire to and no flagship. Ford turned Lincoln into Mercury and look what happened to Mercury. I think anyone could do a better job than the person at Ford currently.