Do you remember that Ford used to sell ordinary cars? Technically it still does, but the Mustang is a niche model and the Taurus shown here is limited to just a handful of markets. Nevertheless, the Blue Oval is planning to launch new products that are not trucks, SUVs or vans. That promise comes from William Clay Ford Jr., great -grandson of company founder Henry Ford, and the executive chairman since 2006.
In an interview with Coach“Bill” Ford admitted that the company is seriously lacking in regular car offers after stopping the KA, Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, etc.: “On the passenger car side, we realize that we are not as robust as we should be.” He added that there is a plan to resolve that gap in the line -up: “We are now working on our future strategy. But I think you will be surprised – pleasantly surprised – by what is coming.”
Photo by: Ford
It is too early to say whether one of these new cars will reach North America. Rumors were once swirling on a four-door Mustang-Sedan, internally nicknamed ‘Mach 4’, but Ford has never confirmed it. In Europe, however, a recent Car -week Report claimed that dealers have already been told that new cars are coming. With Ford-Backtracking on his plan to only go on the continent electrically by 2030, the new models will probably use combustion engines. It would be a logical move, considering how the Explorer and Capri EVs struggled in the sale.
Speaking about VW -based products, there can be more to be made. Martin Sanders, VW’s sales and marketing boss (and Ford from Europe’s chef until last year), hinted with further cooperation: “[We] I do not want to exclude that there are future opportunities here to share technology again. “It is unclear whether he referred to more electric cars on VW’s MeB platform or gas-powered vehicles on the MQB architecture.
Anyway, Ford’s decision to bring the passenger cars back, marks a shift of the statement by CEO Jim Farley last year. At the time, he said that Ford was “from the boring car activities and was in the iconic vehicle company”. The “boring” list consisted of cars that Farley admitted to “they were loved by many customers, but they could never justify capital assignment – in contrast to commercial vehicles.”
In short, Ford did not earn enough money from them, so it cut them to double on trucks with high margin and other profitable segments. For the new models, math will probably work in favor of Ford. Whether they take a shortcut via the VW route is still to be seen, but one thing is clear: cars are coming back.
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