Ford ditches most cars, hitches wagon to SUVs
Say goodbye to the Ford Taurus.
The family-friendly sedan — which has graced American roadways since the mid 1980s — is being phased out in North America alongside the Fiesta subcompact, Fusion midsize sedan, Taurus large sedan and the C-Max van, according to Ford’s quarterly earnings statement.
Ford said eliminating most of the company’s cars except for two models will allow the company to focus on their “winning portfolio” in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
The Detroit automaker plans to keep the Ford Mustang sports car and a new Focus crossover that the company aims to release next year.
The changes will also allow the company to devote more resources to SUVs and trucks, vehicles that have exploded in popularity as consumers continue to lose interest in passenger cars, which no longer have a monopoly on good gas mileage.
Ford also plans to bring 16 battery-electric vehicles to market by 2022.
The company’s latest cuts will not affect Lincoln sedans.
“We will refresh our entire lineup of traditional crossovers and SUVs that everyone knows, like Explorer and Escape,” said Jim Farley, Ford’s president of global markets, according to USA Today.
“And then we’re going to be introducing and taking capital and redeploying it for also new silhouettes, products that give the customers the utility benefits without the penalty of the fuel economy.”
Company officials said the shift was based on declining demand and profitability, but Ford reported $1.7 billion in profit for the first quarter in 2018 — a 9 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
Fiesta and Taurus could be cut from Ford’s offerings as early as next year.