Ford says it will stop competing in over-served markets

Ford sold roughly 4.2 billion vehicles last year.

@moderator: impressive

Ford have lost japanese market long time ago and loosing european as well.

4.2 billion of vehicles sold last year.

WOW

"amazing" journalism.but impressive one.

Moderator: Yes, Ap made a mistake. It should be 4.2 million.

It appears Ford won't be making anything I am interested in driving. The stopped selling the Focus in the US and this year discontinued the Transit Connect, two of my favorite vehicles. The vehicles that interest me are all in highly competitive segments of the market. The Focus was as good as it gets in its class but Ford apparently doesn't want to duke it out with Toyota, Nissan, Renault and the others who also make competitive subcompact cars. Not a good look for Ford, it smells of cowardice. They only want markets they can monopolize. It doesn't work that way and I predict it will cost the company dearly by abandoning markets wholesale.

Ford says it will cut costs by reducing the number of parts in its vehicles

For example, by the time Ford rolls out a new version of the F-150 pickup this year, it will have cut 2,400 parts from the existing model,

Imagine, an average buyer hears that and asks himself if his new car still has any parts left or is then only virtual. lol

The US has emission laws which require an average fuel economy level across their entire line sold. If all Ford sells are F-150 trucks, they can't meet the EPA requirements.

For 2021–2026, 40.4 mpg is required.

For later years, vehicle makers could be required to shift ⅔ of their vehicles sold to EVs to meet the more stringent emission standards.

Disclosure: I worked for a subsidiary of Ford many, many, decades ago. Nothing to do with producing cars/trucks. My paycheck did say "FORD" on it.

Toyota might not have a huge margin on Yaris but when those customers come back to buy an Alphard the margin improves.

I believe it is a grand mistake for Ford to ditch its lower income customers. Kids just out of college turn in to well paid managers.

In other words, "We can only make money in the USA, where our F-trucks have an unfair advantage thanks to the 25% chicken tax, and where future EVs will be protected by a similar lopsided tax on imports."

I've always had a soft spot for the Blue Oval, from Cortinas and Escorts to Fiestas and Rangers, but the management in Dearborn have been less than useless this millennium. Seems Farley at least acknowledges that.

I am with the above posters on this. It is a mistake to just quit markets. As one of my business school professors once said, "You compete in your competitor's home market or they compete in yours." He was talking geographically, but the same applies to market segments as well.

As Proxy pointed out, the margins on entry-level cars are not that big, but if you make the car well and give the buyer satisfaction for the money they paid, they tend to come back for a more profitable car as they move along the family lifecycle.

I have personal experience with this: My father bought and then passed down to me an 86 Mazda 626. The ONLY option it had was AC (ok, and cruise control). It didn't have power windows. It didn't even have power steering. But it ran, and ran, and ran some more with minimal maintanence. If my wife hadn't gotten T-boned by someone who ran a stop sign (no injuries), it might still be running today.

As such, I love Mazdas and have purchased 3 since. If I were to buy again, I would definitely want a Mazda.

Ford could do the same if it chose to. It is sad to see that it is just going to seed entire segments to its competitors.

People become loyal to vehicle brands by having good experiences with them. Often, that begins with their parents.

I grew up with Fords, but also Renault, Cadillac, VW cars. Most were used, so we'd have to work on them to keep them running. Fords were easier to keep running than the others, mainly because parts were available either from the dealer or from junk yards.

Renault parts were very hard to get.

I drove a VW-Rabbit in high school. It had all sorts of issues, like a bad alternator, dead starter, and for a few weeks, one of the cylinders didn't work. I remember coasting into a gas station on a date because we'd run out of gas, then having to push-start the car because the battery was dead. Turned out my date was impressed by that, though I didn't know it until a reunion years later.

Parents got a VW Golf. It was new and had electrical problems the entire time they owned it. Plus the dash squeaked, which drove my father crazy. bump-squeak, bump-squeak,bump-squeak.

I had a Mercury (Ford) my last year of college. It was total junk, but easy to fix and find parts. Unfortunately, it nearly killed me in the Rockies due to the heater not working ... and a few other mechanical issues. When the A/C failed in August, I bought a new Ford Escort using the company plan/discount. That was the last American brand car I bought. It had a problem that was taken into the dealer 5-times to be fixed. They agreed it was an issue but were unable to fix it.

About a year later, I sold it and bought an Acura. Drove that Acura for 7 yrs and sold it for $3000 less than I'd paid new for it. It was a good car, but geared for 55 mph, not 75 mph highways. Bought a newer, higher-level Acura ... which I'm still driving today, It is 23 yrs old. I'll probably get a used Mazda for the replacement vehicle in another 10 yrs. The Acura vehicles I've had were good, low-maintenance, vehicles.

I've had rentals from lots of other brands over the years. SUVs from Acura, Volvos, Saabs, and newer VWs. Friends have had Mazdas and seem to like them. Subarus have always been interesting to me, but the recent problems with their inspectors failing to inspect bothers me. Plus, they seem heavier and more expensive for someone who doesn't really need 4wd/awd. The Volvo's I've driven where nice to drive, but butt-ugly outside.

As Proxy pointed out, the margins on entry-level cars are not that big, but if you make the car well and give the buyer satisfaction for the money they paid, they tend to come back for a more profitable car as they move along the family lifecycle.

For some of us a car like a Focus is exactly what we want. I don't want a big boat of a car or some tall, heavy, sloppy handling SUV thing. A smaller nimble car that slices through traffic like an Exacto Knife is the ultimate goal. I want a sharper knife, not a bigger knife. For me it might be a Focus at first leading to a Focus RS :) (in a bygone era it might be a Sierra followed by a Cosworth Sierra), but it would still be small like that. We bought a Transit Connect because it is really just a tall Focus. Same chassis and driveline, same instrument panel and front seats. Drives pretty much like a Focus too. Corners, handles and brakes better than my wife's big Avalon (aka the Tuna Boat). And it's simple. No self opening doors or tailgate, no lard added on. Just what you need and nothing more, though I wish the US models offered a manual trans. The European models only come with a manual trans ( conversion to come I'm sure ).

When I am rich (lol, when?) I think it would be fun to buy a wrecked Focus RS and a short wheelbase Transit Connect van and transplant the RS driveline into the van to make a 350 horse, 6-speed manual, all wheel drive, Brembo braked Transit Connect RS.