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Ford Drops 325HP Fusion Sport


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17 minutes ago, akirby said:

They're not expecting all of those sedan buyers to buy more expensive utilities - just some of them.   They're also planning to pick up conquests on other vehicles like Bronco, Hybrid Escape, Scout, Mach E, etc. to fill that gap. 

And while the others will have an offering to fill that gap, they're not going to be making much money doing it.   The sedan market is saturated and too competitive to generate much profit.  The other mfrs are staying in it because they don't have a lot of other things to spend that money on.  Ford has other options.

Bill Ford himself has stated Ford will still have affordable vehicles to fill the gaps and compete in price sensitive markets so there still has to be some benefit to getting young, less wealthy customers into your dealerships. True the sedan market is saturated and doesn't make huge profits, but the same is true with the compact CUV and subcompact CUV market. Small affordable vehicles is just a tough market, but one that a full line automaker needs to compete in to build a future customer base. I guess we'll see how it all plays out in a few years. I don't question their decision to drop the Taurus or Fiesta, but I do with the Focus and Fusion. I also know if market conditions change they can bring them back, but I've also seen how slow Ford moves when there is a hot new segment.

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2 minutes ago, 2005Explorer said:

Bill Ford himself has stated Ford will still have affordable vehicles to fill the gaps and compete in price sensitive markets so there still has to be some benefit to getting young, less wealthy customers into your dealerships. True the sedan market is saturated and doesn't make huge profits, but the same is true with the compact CUV and subcompact CUV market. Small affordable vehicles is just a tough market, but one that a full line automaker needs to compete in to build a future customer base. I guess we'll see how it all plays out in a few years. I don't question their decision to drop the Taurus or Fiesta, but I do with the Focus and Fusion. I also know if market conditions change they can bring them back, but I've also seen how slow Ford moves when there is a hot new segment.

That affordable vehicle won’t be a sedan and while the small cuv market is full ATPs are higher and you have more differentiation (Renegade, Scout, Soul, etc) which reduces price wars.

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2 hours ago, akirby said:

Next gen Focus is easy once they convert Mexican plants to C2.

A next gen Fusion makes a lot more sense since it will generate better returns and wouldn’t be costly to develop as it would be essentially a larger Focus and use a lot of common parts with the  ng Edge. 

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3 hours ago, akirby said:

The real question is what are they developing with the cash they're saving on Focus and Fusion?

At least some of those funds are probably being invested in Ford's electrification, autonomous vehicle, and mobility services initiatives.

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Ford says Fusion output will continue at least through 2021

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https://www.autonews.com/sales/ford-says-fusion-output-will-continue-least-through-2021

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with new information from Ford correcting an earlier statement made by the company.

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. will discontinue the Fusion Sport trim for the 2020 model year as it focuses on offering more popular versions in the sedan’s final years. But other versions of the sedan will remain in production until at least 2021, the company said Thursday.

"Our goal in the final production year is to further simplify the offering and focus on maximizing the more popular SE, SEL, and Titanium models," a Ford spokesman said in a statement. CarsDirect.com first reported the Fusion Sport's pending demise.

 

 

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4 hours ago, jpd80 said:

I'm starting to think no one around Ford even knows what the plan is with the Fusion. First it was supposed to be cancelled after the 2020 model year. Then the story was updated to say production will continue to "at least" 2021 which means a 2021 or even a 2022 model year. Then other sources at Ford have said it'll continue until 2023. ?

Why not just make a statement like... "We plan to keep building our popular Fusion sedan for the next few model years focusing on quality and value for midsized car shoppers." That is always better for selling current products even if you have some internal EOL date. Ford has stretched other much older and less competitive products then the Fusion in the past. I'm guessing sales numbers will hold pretty steady on it for the next couple years or so being it's the only 4 door sedan Ford offers after the Fiesta is gone.

Edited by 2005Explorer
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14 minutes ago, 2005Explorer said:

I'm starting to think no one around Ford even knows what the plan is with the Fusion. First it was supposed to be cancelled after the 2020 model year. Then the story was updated to say production will continue to "at least" 2021 which means a 2021 or even a 2022 model year. Then other sources at Ford have said it'll continue until 2023. ?

Why not just make a statement like... "We plan to keep building our popular Fusion sedan for the next few model years focusing on quality and value for midsized car shoppers." That is always better for selling current products even if you have some internal EOL date. Ford has stretched other much older and less competitive products then the Fusion in the past. I'm guessing sales numbers will hold pretty steady on it for the next couple years or so being it's the only 4 door sedan Ford offers after the Fiesta is gone.

Well the problem is they already announced they're going to drop it way too early, so they have to skirt around that, and it seems like they don't have a replacement planned (or at least ready to announce), so it doesn't really make sense to announce "we changed our minds, we're doing this now" without another product to announce - whether that be a next gen Fusion, or a replacement "white space" model.

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20 hours ago, tzach said:

I agree but don't really understand why.  The car not continuing does not change the car you have purchased.  So why would you care.  Yes you can't buy another if you like it but when any car gets replaced by an all new model yes the name is the same but the old car is no longer being made.  So what is the difference?

Buyers see a reduced resale or trade-in value when they own a discontinued model.

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Just now, PeterC6482 said:

Buyers see a reduced resale or trade-in value when they own a discontinued model.

Not necessarily.  Depends on demand vs. the supply of used vehicles.  Some discontinued vehicles are more popular than when they were in production.

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Ford probably has enough big hybrid police sedan fleet order to keep the lights on at Hermosilo so keeping retail sales going is an easy decision.

The only question I have is what else is Ford planning to build at Hermosilo and how it can retool the plant without taking Fusion offline?

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2 hours ago, bzcat said:

The only question I have is what else is Ford planning to build at Hermosilo and how it can retool the plant without taking Fusion offline?

Jalopnik reported rumors of a unibody pickup truck smaller than Ranger being allocated to Hermosillo. https://jalopnik.com/ford-may-be-cooking-up-a-small-unibody-truck-smaller-th-1831869646

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5 hours ago, bzcat said:

Ford probably has enough big hybrid police sedan fleet order to keep the lights on at Hermosilo so keeping retail sales going is an easy decision.

The only question I have is what else is Ford planning to build at Hermosilo and how it can retool the plant without taking Fusion offline?

Either Mach E and whatever variants it might have or Bronco Scout/ compact unibody pickup/ Transit Connect depending on who you ask 

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As far as I know, Mach E is at Cuautitlan, the others were planned for Hermosillo...

It's interesting that Ford is now delaying the end of Fusion, and I wonder if it's like RMC said, that maybe Ford now realizes that it was a mistake to prematurely   kill off Fusion when sales are still strong.

The sales strength of replacement production vehicles is not guaranteed. How crap would it be to put TC, the compact Pick-Up and its companion Ute in there and only get a fraction of Fusion's sales.....

 

Edited by jpd80
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11 hours ago, SoonerLS said:

It looks like an Aztek that's had a botched nose job.

Everyone has their own opinion. I think the new escape looks like a 5 year old design and is the VW Beetle of compact SUVs. The rav4 redesign doesn’t seem to be hurting sales. It was up 10% over last April.

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On 6/6/2019 at 3:57 PM, tzach said:

I agree but don't really understand why.  The car not continuing does not change the car you have purchased.  So why would you care. 

I can’t tell you how many people think it makes it hard to repair/get parts. It makes no sense (it’s not like Ford is going away, and it’s not like the existence of the CD4 Fusion made parts any more available for the CD3 Fusion) but it is a common perception. 

Edited by sullynd
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We're not looking at a new Fusion because it's been minimally updated and now I can't find one with a 2.0L engine.  The 2.0 is mandatory. The 1.5L doesn't get it done for the wife. It's kind of weak after having a 2.0L for 6 years.

 

The dealers all say that the 2.0 requires awd in the SE, it's not available in the SEL, and it's standard in the Titanium; and no one is willing to pay what a Titanuim costs since Fusion is an orphan car. They all have Fusion S and Fusion SE's.

 

Ford really screwed the pooch on this whole "kill the cars" deal. 

 

The defenders will continue with "It just makes good business sense", but the reality is; it only makes sense on paper and not in reality or practicality.

Edited by 351cid
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1 hour ago, 351cid said:

We're not looking at a new Fusion because it's been minimally updated and now I can't find one with a 2.0L engine.  The 2.0 is mandatory. The 1.5L doesn't get it done for the wife. It's kind of weak after having a 2.0L for 6 years.

 

The dealers all say that the 2.0 requires awd in the SE, it's not available in the SEL, and it's standard in the Titanium; and no one is willing to pay what a Titanuim costs since Fusion is an orphan car. They all have Fusion S and Fusion SE's.

 

Ford really screwed the pooch on this whole "kill the cars" deal. 

 

The defenders will continue with "It just makes good business sense", but the reality is; it only makes sense on paper and not in reality or practicality.

It does suck for customers like you and your wife who appreciated the wide variety of engine and trim combinations that Ford Fusion offered in previous years. But Ford really dug itself into a hole selling unprofitable passenger cars including Fusion for years and years. It needs to get out, and that's what Ford is doing.

Have you test driven a Fusion SE Hybrid? Very responsive powertrain that performs better than what the specs indicate, plus huge sales incentives.

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