It’s no secret that Ford CEO Jim Farley is a car enthusiast and an avid part-time racer, a guy that owns quite a few cool cars of his own. Farley has also made it quite clear since taking over the reigns of The Blue Oval that he isn’t a fan of what he calls “boring cars,” and as such, he wants the automaker to focus on passion brands rather than commodity products. This is precisely why we’ve seen a number of FoMoCo models discontinued as of late, though it doesn’t seem as if this revised product strategy is finished yet, not by any means.
“We’re getting out of the boring-car business and into the iconic-vehicle business,” Jim Farley told Car Magazine in a recent interview. “We’d always competed at the heart of the passenger-car market, which didn’t work out too well for Mondeo, Focus, and Fiesta. They were loved by a lot of customers but they could never justify more capital allocation – unlike commercial vehicles.”
With the Fiesta (and Edge) already discontinued and the Mondeo gone – at least from Europe and North America – production of the Focus is also slated to end next year, but those vehicles may not be the last on the chopping block. In fact, rumors of the potential demise of the Ford Escape have also swirled for some time, too. Back in June 2022, Farley indirectly hinted that the Escape may be facing discontinuation, and this past August, a report surfaced claiming that production of the crossover is slated to end at the Louisville Assembly plant by 2026, after which The Blue Oval will focus on the Ford Bronco Sport as its compact crossover of choice.
Though Jim Farley has also praised the Escape in recent history, Ford’s latest master contract agreement with the United Auto Workers (UAW) stated that the Escape and Lincoln Corsair would only be built through the “planned product lifecycle” of each, after which an “all new EV product will be added.” It’s unclear if this future EV is still in the pipeline or if it will bear the Escape nameplate, however, as those plans could certainly change – if they haven’t already.
Comments
This topic received more comments over in Carscoops than any topic I’ve ever seen, with 95% being negative and/or scathing. Where are the non-Family shareholders on this and what the heck aren’t they doing about it?
Wont make boring cars…majority of lineup is boring. Yes you have the Mustang and the Raptors, but those are all expensive too. You just dont make fun and affordable cars.
Majority of Ford lineup is more than boring. Besides the Mustang the Bronco, the F-150 or the Focus in Europe, all Ford lineup is more than boring. And the few interesting cars from Ford like the Fusion/Mondeo or the Taurus were cancelled. So, if Ford continues with its actual design policy, I don´t see how will they avoid producing boring cars.
WOW Ford. Escape still sells very well. Put the 2.7 V6 in it and call it an ST. There is a non boring car that would sell like hotcakes. Seems simple to me.
I hope this applies to Lincoln as well. The current Lincoln is Boring. I’ve moved on to other non-Ford brands as I’m sure others have done. A proper LS v-8 sports sedan, Mark 9 coupe and longer Continental with coach doors of course all based on S650 is a great place to start.
Here’s an idea. Put the turbo 4 from the Mustang, and active exhaust, tighten up the front/rear sway, boom. Not boring.
Boring cars…I think I know what Farley is referencing as I own three not boring Fords, and non of them are SUV’s…sorry, physics are not in their favor. Let’s take one of them, a 2016 Focus ST. Small, utilitarian when needed, and a blast to drive. So, why not make Focus’ ST’s and Fiesta ST’s again, and that way there would be no boring cars. Hell, Ford should have made an ST version of the Fusion! Hello, where was this creation? You have the platforms, and yes, the high performance bits would cost a bit more, but if they are the mainline offering, and not a special edition…problem solved. Am I missing something here? Maybe they should hire John Coletti back as a consultant. He seemed to understand this quite clearly.
I wish Farley would have stated that Ford would stop building corner cut blatantly de-contented uncompetitive vehicles. OR… Toyota sold over 520,000 sedans in the US last year. Maybe I was out of touch when I said nobody wants sedans anymore.
So sad….I guess my wife (23 Escape) and me (23 Edge) will need to look at another car maker. I can’t believe that the Edge and Escape will be discontinued….
What about that ugly Maverick, the ugliest face in truck world.
Make cheap modern vehicles like Henry did: model T. This time make them electric. And don’t screw up the drive train like those awful Focus transmissions and 3 pot turbos and endless recalls. If you make V8 hotrods Ford will shrink to a hobby player.
But no one’s buying those cheap cars now… and EV investment is what landed Ford in the ditch. Meanwhile Toyota did the smart thing and focused on hybrids.
If ppl really wanted cheap EVs, the Chevy Bolt and the Nissan Leaf would have been runaway successes…
American consumers “say” they want cheap & cheerful cars, but then don’t buy them. It’s why Ford dropped the base Maverick – bc no one was buying it.
The average price paid for a new car is currently $43K
I don’t know why Ford took the Escape from being a capable looking cc SUV into becoming the androgynous soccer-mom mobile. And selling-wise, it’s only gotten worse since 2013.
The Bronco Sport should have been what the 2013 Escape was.
Fixing for spellcheck 🤦🏼♂️
I don’t know why Ford took the Escape from being a capable looking SUV in 2012 into becoming the androgynous soccer-mom mobile in 2013. And styling-wise, it’s only gotten worse since 2013.
The Bronco Sport should have been what the 2013 Escape was.
here should be a book about how “The Idiot” destroys a global brand.
Congrats Mr. Farley
The only cars Ford sells that aren’t boring is the Explorer ST, and the Mustang with a V8. Maybe the Raptor R, but they should put that motor in a non lifted truck.
Lifted offroad stuff is boring. Crossovers are boring. Trucks that aren’t lowered with 500+ HP are boring.
Trying to walk a tight rope between Government demands and what people actually want, without the risk of fires, is probably an unpleasant endeavor.
Ford is getting out of the kitchen because it can’t stand the hear. Translation, if the segment has more than 2 competitors, wave the white flag. Chicken. Can’t compete because of the UAW contract, excess exec compensation, Bill Ford’s pet projects, and billions wasted on AV… resulting in billions wasted on poor quality due to resources redirected to them.
There was ZERO reason to discontinue Edge and Fusion. They were the top quality and highest customer satisfaction vehicle in the lineup. Escape suffered from a one-two-three punch… poor quality 1.5L, over-priced by $3000, and styling compromised to make room for the functionally identical Bronco Sport (e.g., the needed tough styling for the BS meant the Escape styling had to be wimped-out). The mismanagement of Ford in the Furniture Boy (Hackett) and Chicken Boy (Farley) era is tragic.
Oh, one more this… splitting the company into 3 business units has only exposed Ford’s last remaining strength… commercial vehicles… which is attracting GM, Ram, and Toyota competition. If just one of these are successful, Ford is dead.