Ford Motor Company, the folks that introduced the car to the masses, will stop building cars almost entirely.
The Dearborn, Michigan automaker confirmed Wednesday that over the next few years, almost its entire lineup of sedans and hatchbacks would be discontinued. The sole exceptions were the Mustang sports car and the new Focus Active, a high-riding version of the redesigned Focus hatch. The Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, and Taurus will all die by 2020.
In place of these vehicles, Ford will sell crossovers. Lots of crossovers.
The new EcoSport is already set to take the place of the unloved Fiesta and the facelifted Edge can do a fine Fusion impression. The Explorer and Escape will snap up Taurus and Focus owners, respectively, although we strongly suggest waiting for redesigns of these two aging products before heading to your local dealer. And of course, there’s Ford’s burgeoning truck line – the F-150 will soon be joined by the Ranger mid-size truck, the Bronco off-roader, and a new baby SUV that’s focused on trail work.
While this is relatively inconsequential news for mainstream consumers, most of whom are obsessed with crossovers anyway, it’s troubling for enthusiasts. Ford currently builds four enthusiast products – the Mustang line, the Fiesta ST, the Focus ST, and the Focus RS. Three of those vehicles will exit the US market after their current life cycles, meaning Ford is effectively ceding the hot hatchback market to Honda and Volkswagen.
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