Under its new CEO, Jim Hackett, Ford Motor Co. announced on Wednesday, April 25th, 2018 that it will be cutting its car lineup in the United States. This change will be part of a $25.5 billion cost savings initiative that will continue until 2022. Ford plans on achieving this by focusing on fitness across all aspects of the business. Cost savings will include $10 billion in materials and $4 billion in engineering.
Ford Will Cut All But Two Passenger Cars From The U.S
Also, an additional $11.5 billion cost savings was announced across numerous aspects of the Ford business. These additional savings include the phasing out of multiple iconic Ford brands in the US marketplace. For the last couple of years, Ford has been struggling in sales with its midsize and sedan models. Ford is relocating the capital from the midsize, sedan vehicles and allocating it to the SUV space. This shift is due to recent worldwide consumer trends which are moving more towards trucks and SUV vehicles. Ford feels that to stay competitive in this shifting market, they need to focus specifically on this growing market space. In the upcoming year, cars such as the Taurus, Fiesta, and Fusion will no longer be available at your local Ford dealership.
“Given declining consumer demand and product profitability, the company will not invest in next generations of traditional Ford sedans for North America,” Ford said in a press release on Wednesday.
The Fiesta, Taurus, Fusion, and regular Focus Will Disappear From Dealerships
The move has been met with a significant amount of criticism by some Ford fans who feel that Ford is willingly alienating a substantial portion of car owners and market share. The Ford Mustang, and the upcoming Focus crossover will soon be the only two Ford vehicles available in the U.S market. The Lincoln brand will not be affected by these changes.
Daniel Barbossa, Ford spokesperson, says that no American jobs will be affected by this radical shift. He continues to say that of the phased-out vehicles, the Taurus is the only one made in the U.S. (at the company’s Chicago factory). That factory, Barbossa says, will stay busy building a new SUV.
Jim Hackett said Wednesday that the Ford team is now “committed to taking the appropriate actions to drive profitable growth and maximize the returns.” Only time will tell how successful this paradigm shift will prove to be. Despite the changes that Ford has decided to make, Protect My Car remains committed to extending coverage to all existing and current Ford models.
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