End of the road for Taurus and Fiesta

[Sevensecondsuv]

Ironically, my parents now have something like 160,000 miles on the focus they bought new in 2012 with no problems at all. I remember trying to convince them to get a stick when they bought it, but my mom had decided she was done with manuals at that point. I've driven it once or twice and find it very uncomfortable and the transmission performance is the definition of awful, but it's been extremely reliable for them.

[silvrsvt]

Ummm.......

 

2012 245,922

2013 234,570

2014 219,634

2015 202,478

2016 168,789

2017 158,385

 

 

The Fusion lost roughly the same amount of sales (roughly 100K from their highs-basically entire years worth of shift work) in a shorter period of time also-which people would agree is a better car over all.

 

 

The sales of other cars show the same weakness that the Fusion and Focus have.

Edited April 13, 2018 by silvrsvt

[silvrsvt]

Ironically, my parents now have something like 160,000 miles on the focus they bought new in 2012 with no problems at all. I remember trying to convince them to get a stick when they bought it, but my mom had decided she was done with manuals at that point. I've driven it once or twice and find it very uncomfortable and the transmission performance is the definition of awful, but it's been extremely reliable for them.

 

I have a coworker with one-I forgot if I asked them if they had problems with it.

[2b2]

The Fusion lost roughly the same amount of sales (roughly 100K from their highs-basically entire years worth of shift work) in a shorter period of time also-which people would agree is a better car over all.

 

 

 

The sales of other cars show the same weakness that the Fusion and Focus have.

excellent chart

tho

to my eyes, part of the failure last year was not offering a significant new model/drivetrain along with a major appearance upgrade

( thinking BEV or

inverse-PlugIn where the electrics are the major propeller and petrol is just a generator )

[akirby]

But midsized sedan sales are dropping across the board. I don’t think other compact cars dropped off nearly as much as Focus has. Although I think it has as much to do with the lack of visual changes as with the tranny.

[jpd80]

 

 

The Fusion lost roughly the same amount of sales (roughly 100K from their highs-basically entire years worth of shift work) in a shorter period of time also-which people would agree is a better car over all.

 

 

The sales of other cars show the same weakness that the Fusion and Focus have.

Did you notice how many Fusion hybrids Ford moved last year?

57,000., is that number correct?

 

As sales decline, those hybrid sales are climbing.....

Edited April 13, 2018 by jpd80

[silvrsvt]

But midsized sedan sales are dropping across the board. I don’t think other compact cars dropped off nearly as much as Focus has. Although I think it has as much to do with the lack of visual changes as with the tranny.

 

 

I checked the Cruz charts and they shrank also during the same time.

 

 

Corolla Sales

 

 

Civic Sales

 

 

I see the Civic and Corolla sales like Full sized pickup sales for the Japanese makes-if they fall there is something serious going on.

[silvrsvt]

Did you notice how many Fusion hybrids Ford moved last year?

57,000., is that number correct?

 

As sales decline, those hybrid sales are climbing.....

 

 

http://www.hybridcars.com/december-2017-dashboard/

[akirby]

Midsized sedan sales are down across the board while only a few compacts are down significantly. I think it’s fair to say that it’s a combination of old appearance, lack of interior room compared to Civic and others and tranny problems.

[Anthony]

Ok, so it looks to be best in class on paper. That’s way more than we could say about the last one.

 

 

As for public perception and sales - they’re still selling over 15K Focii every month even with the tranny problems and 7 yr old sheet metal.

 

As long as it looks good and has the right amenities and price it will sell.

 

 

They have 0% for 60 months or $4k off on Foci right now. I've got a feeling that has a lot to do with the sales numbers. They can sell all they want, but I don't think Ford is making much on these cars.

[akirby]

 

 

They have 0% for 60 months or $4k off on Foci right now. I've got a feeling that has a lot to do with the sales numbers. They can sell all they want, but I don't think Ford is making much on these cars.

 

 

Which is probably why a 12-18 month gap in production isn't too concerning right now.

 

It's a shame Ford puts themselves in these positions on cars. I really thought the current-gen was going to reverse that trend.

[jpd80]

We got the update a couple of years ago now, all I can say is that 1.5 EB with 6F auto and 6MT transformed it from Meh to not bad.

How the US again decoupled itself from global refreshes is simply staggering, it's defies explanation.....

[Roland]

We got the update a couple of years ago now, all I can say is that 1.5 EB with 6F auto and 6MT transformed it from Meh to not bad.

How the US again decoupled itself from global refreshes is simply staggering, it's defies explanation.....

 

But decoupling has provided such gems as the second gen US Focus - a car that I always saw as the second coming of the Tempo. If the objective was to suck the soul out of anyone who looked at or sat in one then it was a success.

[jpd80]

 

But decoupling has provided such gems as the second gen US Focus - a car that I always saw as the second coming of the Tempo. If the objective was to suck the soul out of anyone who looked at or sat in one then it was a success.

Pity you guys didn't get early C1 Focus, they were nice cars during the 2000s and felt quite roomy,

something went awry with the merge model and it seemed to lose rear leg room.

 

As with most consumer items, all Ford has to do is deliver products buyers want and all will be forgiven.

Edited April 15, 2018 by jpd80

[630land]

And that's why they are going to come from China. Car buyers demand huge rebates.

 

Escape is a good seller, buyers don't remember recalls from near 20 years ago.

[jpd80]

And that's why they are going to come from China. Car buyers demand huge rebates.

 

Escape is a good seller, buyers don't remember recalls from near 20 years ago.

LOL, most Escape buyers don't remember or care about all the recalls in the past five years let alone 20 years ago.

 

Ford could have easily placed Focus production in Mexico (where it always belonged , not Wayne/Michigan)

they just chose China to maximise savings by sourcing from an existing low cost production facility

but will they pass on those savings to buyers?

I think not...

Edited April 15, 2018 by jpd80

[Harley Lover]

 

I'm not sure that I like either of those scenarios. The Taurus lost its cache years ago when Ford let it die off with no redesigns for years, fleet sales only to help keep the Atlanta plant open, etc.

 

The beginning of the end for Taurus came with the move to the ovoid model, whatever model year that was. Sales went down quickly, and never recovered from that poor decision. It was 3 or 4 years into that sorry design when Ford essentially gave up on the car.

[2b2]

...Ford could have easily placed Focus production in Mexico (where it always belonged , not Wayne/Michigan)...

before the nonsense of ripping up MAP for the C1, Focus used to be Hermosillo, NO??

or was it Cuautitlán?

Edited April 15, 2018 by 2b2

[akirby]

Focus was in Hermosillo. It was moved to MAP to make way for Fusion.

[tbone]

Only if you consider the Stevenson and the Ryan rural highways. Im guessing by your mention of tollways when you say Chicagoland you mean not Chicago whereas my Chicagoland includes Chicago.

 

Im on them daily and pretty much only ever see Caprice units.

Im traveling those same areas and I have yet to see an ISP Charger. So far only PIs, PIUs, and Caprices for me.

[sullynd]

Im traveling those same areas and I have yet to see an ISP Charger. So far only PIs, PIUs, and Caprices for me.

Ive seen a couple PIUs since my post. Servicing the Caprice has to stink. I take the Ryan most days, as its consistent. The Stevenson can be quicker, but can also be much worse.

[SoonerLS]

before the nonsense of ripping up MAP for the C1, Focus used to be Hermosillo, NO??

or was it Cuautitlán?

Escort was built in Hermosillo, but that was before Fusion.

[SoonerLS]

The beginning of the end for Taurus came with the move to the ovoid model, whatever model year that was. Sales went down quickly, and never recovered from that poor decision. It was 3 or 4 years into that sorry design when Ford essentially gave up on the car.

It was 1996, and sales went down intentionally, as Ford made a conscious decision to stop dumping them into fleets for the mythical sales crown.

 

The irony of that was that it was entirely relegated to fleet sales for the last few years of that body style.

[fuzzymoomoo]

Escort was built in Hermosillo, but that was before Fusion.

And after that the first gen Focus was before it was moved to Wayne Assembly for 2008 to make room for the Fusion.

 

If you ask me, the Focus should have stayed there and Fusion should have been built in Wayne, then moved over to MAP when Wayne Assembly closed.

 

Cuactitlan was heavy trucks before the Fiesta moved in.

Edited April 16, 2018 by fuzzymoomoo

[akirby]

Focus was moved in 2005. 2006 Fusion production started fall 2005.