Ford Steers Toward SUVs, Crossovers, and Trucks

Now that oil prices have been well below $100/barrel for an extended period, Ford Motor Co. says it's cutting back on its line of passenger cars because of much higher demand for larger vehicles--which deliver higher profits.

As the tweet above indicates, Ford is "transforming our North American lineup by 2020..." The transformation means that U.S. dealers will soon sell only two passenger-type vehicles: the Mustang and the Focus Active (a forthcoming crossover).

The rest of the vehicles in Ford showrooms will be SUVs, trucks, and crossovers. So is Ford speeding away from passenger cars? Not really. The head of global markets says: "We will have a very diverse passenger car business. It just won’t be traditional silhouetted sedans that tend to be commoditized."

In other words, Ford is busy reinventing vehicles with a remix of benefits and design for the next generation of car buyers, resulting in distinctive products that are differentiated from competitive vehicles. The company is also slashing costs to improve profitability. Because the smaller cars don't deliver as much profitability as the larger vehicles, they're being dropped from the product mix.

By 2022, Ford's dealerships in North America will stock none of these models: Fiesta, Focus, and Taurus. The phaseouts will follow the company's product lifecycle schedule. Remember that Ford's marketing in the rest of the world will continue to feature passenger cars that are fuel efficient and fit the driving preferences of local buyers.