5 years ago Ford announced they would stop manufacturing cars. Were they right? A retrospective from Doug

[bbhaag]

So does anyone else remember in 2018 when Ford announced they would no longer manufacture cars other than the Mustang? I did and at the time I thought they were kinda crazy for doing that. Turns out they were right.

Love him or hate him Doug did a 5 year retrospective on Fords decision.

 

[Kaido]

I remember when they announced this! It was kind of shocking, but it also made sense. It's sort of like the computer world: in the residential market, people don't really buy desktops anymore, outside of like, gaming PC's. Laptops have gotten so cheap & powerful & thin & with good battery life that it's now the go-to choice. In 2020, they shipped 218 million laptops & only 79 million desktops:

Laptop sales vs. desktop PC sales, one climbs, the other drops — what’s ahead?

Laptop sales vs. desktop PC sales, one climbs, the other drops — what’s happening, and what’s likely ahead?

futurumresearch.com

It's like that with SUV's...you sit upright, you get better visibility, it drives better especially on the highway, more storage room, more room for people, and the MPG has been steadily getting better over time, and they're generally safer due to the additional mass & size. "More than half of the 25 best-selling cars, trucks, and SUVs of 2022 were crossovers or SUVs":

https://www.kbb.com/best-cars/most-popular-suvs/

I'm sure glad they kept the Mustang tho!!

 

[Commodus]

He's right... including that Ford needs to fix or replace the EcoSport.

I used to hate SUVs and unnecessary pickup trucks, and I still think some people buy vehicles larger than they need (say, a mid-size SUV when they have one child). But then I became a parent, and suddenly I understood the appeal of the form factor. You have to haul a lot between child gear, groceries, home supplies... you not only need a lot of space, you need an easy way to get into that space.

And like Kaido says, modern SUVs are very different beasts than their ancestors from 10-20 years ago. Some are still horribly inefficient (an Expedition gets 22MPG highway at best), but others make you wonder why you'd buy any sedan other than a Prius. A Kia Sportage hybrid manages 37MPG combined — that's about as good as a Honda Civic. And mini-utes like the Hyundai Kona, Honda HR-V or Nissan Kicks are just peachy if you'd otherwise be shopping for a compact car.

 

[Dranoche]

It's like that with SUV's...you sit upright, you get better visibility, it drives better especially on the highway, more storage room, more room for people, and the MPG has been steadily getting better over time, and they're generally safer due to the additional mass & size. "More than half of the 25 best-selling cars, trucks, and SUVs of 2022 were crossovers or SUVs":

Better vantage point when you're around smaller cars, but I don't know about better visibility. That's largely dependent on the model, affected greatly by seating position, pillar size and position, and hood/engine bay shape. Some of that is for crash safety so it isn't unique to larger vehicles, but blind spots close to the vehicle are generally much larger on larger vehicles. Being able to look ahead down your lane on the highway isn't particularly useful as far as safety is concerned when compared to being able to see what's in your immediate vicinity, doesn't help much in parking lots, and completely goes out the window when everybody else is driving something just as big.

Safer for the people inside. I'm with you on the other points, especially the efficiency which can be quite surprising.

 

[Kaido]

Better vantage point when you're around smaller cars, but I don't know about better visibility. That's largely dependent on the model, affected greatly by seating position, pillar size and position, and hood/engine bay shape. Some of that is for crash safety so it isn't unique to larger vehicles, but blind spots close to the vehicle are generally much larger on larger vehicles. Being able to look ahead down your lane on the highway isn't particularly useful as far as safety is concerned when compared to being able to see what's in your immediate vicinity, doesn't help much in parking lots, and completely goes out the window when everybody else is driving something just as big.

Safer for the people inside. I'm with you on the other points, especially the efficiency which can be quite surprising.

Those are good points, especially if you have a large SUV & don't have birds-eye view!

It's crazy to me to see SUV's that can do 30 MPG+ in the real world. Engine efficiency has come a long way!

 

[Brainonska511]

I doubt you could attribute the fall of the sedan solely to consumer preference. Automakers have spent a considerable amount of money pushing crossovers, SUVs, and pickups onto consumers because they have substantially higher profit margins and they don't have to spend as much getting them to adhere to the tighter CAFE standards that sedans face.

So from a purely monetary view, sure, looks like a good business decision. From a society level view and what's good overall, it's kind of crappy we are where we are: sacrificing fuel efficiency gains for heavier vehicles, more unsafe for everyone not in a metal cage, and more consumer money spent on more expensive vehicles.