Originally Posted By: Brybo86
What I dont get is all the hate on here from MPG snobs.
Ford is selling little deathboxes at a loss.
They want to stop making them.
....they can restart making them AT ANY TIME.
Ford can do whatever THEY WANT TO DO.
You people going to yell at restaurant for removing a slow seller from their menu?
Sheesh.
"Captive Imports" are not as easy/fast solution as you think. You might have 1-2 years of run-up time to get them available and as we know, gas prices happen in hours, not years.
Go ask 2005-2007 GM that same question. And they had SOME (mostly rubbish) cars and a bigger stable to pull from. The also botched the few small cars they had... Really, what saved Ford in 2007 besides the timing of its debt structure was that they had somewhat decent small-car offerings (Focus and Fusion) to limp along when gas went bonkers. They weren't caught with their pants completely down (now they are refusing to wear pants). GM on the other hand did not have a competitive small outside the Pontiac Vibe. They were too SUV dependent.
GM could have had "imported" small cars and they did (See Aveo, Spark, Regal, Astra, etc) however, that takes time. Next, global cars do not always translate easily. Go drive a 2008 Saturn Astra. So by 2008/2009 when GM hustled the Astra out, most of the damage had been done and the Astra was goofy enough to scare buyers away.
Heck, I see that Ford reducing its car line-up as a smart move... but nixing all cars? I see having a mid-sized sedan/hybrid and a small-car/hybrid. That covers your bases and allows you to prevent a few sales to your competitors.
Here is my other point: Government Fleet Sales. Right now, our "go to" vehicle is the Ford Fusion (a few other depts are more Focus oriented). Cheap, cheap, cheap to operate... and a darn good car. The other is the (former) Dodge Caravan, and right now the Dodge Journey (Basically our ability to have a AWD minivan). With Ford's current plan, about 2/3 of my fleet will no longer exist (Caravans/Fusions) and we will likely go GM again... or Nissan since they have slowly worked their way into the Gov. fleet side (why I have a Leaf and an NV200).
I think Ford will have to come back into the small car market, at least forma partnership with some other manufacturer (who who?) Can't be Mazda (burned that bridge) since Toyota is now in bed with them. Maybe Kia/Hyundai/FCA?