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Opportunity Knocks: Ford Stops National Advertising For Passenger Cars

Ford will kill its entire lineup of passenger cars in North America, but ahead of each model’s death, the automaker has officially ended national advertising campaigns.

Automotive News (subscription required) reported Tier 1 (national) advertising has ceased for the Ford Taurus, Fusion, Focus, and Fiesta. The Taurus, Focus and Fiesta models will die off in 2019, while the Fusion hangs around for a few more years.

2020 Ford Focus Active

Mark LaNeve, Ford’s vice president of U.S. marketing, sales, and service, said the marketing funds will be funneled to support Ford’s lineup of crossovers and SUVs, such as the new EcoSport, and the Ford Mustang.

“If we can take that money from sedans, where we have a middle-of-the-road position, to be the leading brand in SUVs, that’d be a really good position,” he said.

The Blue Oval was prepared to export the Ford Focus Active model from China to the United States to carry on the Focus nameplate in the country, but ultimately killed the car as both countries escalate their trade war. Ford said it would not entertain the option of building the car in the U.S.

2019 Chevrolet Malibu RS First Drive Front

As Ford waves goodbye to its passenger car portfolio, Chevrolet can certainly take advantage. The brand has gone on the record to declare it has no plans to scale back its passenger car portfolio in a way similar to Ford, though the Chevrolet Sonic is reportedly on the chopping block. Steve Majoros, Chevrolet’s marketing director for cars and crossovers said the brand plans to invest in every segment from sub-compact to full-size, which appeared to breathe life into the Chevrolet Impala.

“As other people are making noise about leaving the car business or thrifting back their portfolio, there’s still business to be had there. It’s just going about the business in a smart fashion,” Majoros said in a report last month.

GM CEO Mary Barra also backed up the automaker’s position on sedans and passenger cars earlier this year. However, she appeared to contradict Majoros when she said, “we need to deploy little-to-no capital as we move forward.”

Former GM Authority staff writer.

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Comments

  1. Start advertising the heck out of the Malibu, Regal, Impala, and LaCrosse. Treat those buyers well.

    Toyota will be doing the same with the Camry.

    Reply
  2. If Chevrolet is to take advantage of Ford leaving passenger car segment they have to invest more into their passenger cars. They simply can’t just leave everything as is and hope for flocks of people hitting Chevy dealerships.

    And they have time to make it right. Current Ford owners won’t jump ship the same day Ford stops selling cars.

    Some will stay with Ford and buy their CUV. Die hard Ford customers will be hard to turn away.

    But those that want a car will have to look somewhere else. And that’s where Chevy has to step in and step up.

    Not necessarily in this specific order.
    1. Make AWD an option on next gen Cruze, Malibu and Impala. I stood next to a sales manager when he received a call asking if the Malibu offers AWD. That conversation went nowhere once he said ‘no’.

    2. V6 engine in Malibu. I don’t think it needs to be the 3.6L. Revived 3.0L would do. The 2.0T is great. They need something between it and the 1.5T. There are customers out there that won’t buy anything else. *See Honda Accord sales after it adopted Malibu’s strategy of 1.5T and 2.0T engines lineup. I believe Chevy and Ford has a customer base that no import can touch and they want a V6 option. Also, *see Camry and Altima V6.

    3. Extend diesel offerings to all cars.

    4. 2.0T in Cruze. That car needs some life injected into him and the 2.0T would do just that. Cruze RS 2.0, say no more. Sonic 1.5T or even Spark 1.4T. Yes!

    5. Manual transmission. This is one of the cheapest options they can offer. It needs to be an option on all cars up and down the line up. *See Honda Accord and Mazda6.

    6. Hatches and Wagons. They have Hatchbacks covered, but Imagine Malibu and Impala TourX or even Cruze TourX. They can offer the Buick Regal in AWD or Wagon or V6 form? So they can the Malibu. These cars are related.

    7. Make Impala the ‘Commodore’ of their line up. Make it RWD base and shift it to high performance side of the building, the same side the Camaro and Corvette come to fruition. Make it a 4-door Camaro, 2.0T, 3.6 V6 and the 6.2L.

    Reply
    1. Adding V6 engines, SS models, more Diesel engines, adding hatched and wagons, adding Manual transmissions will not save the cars.

      Only global sales will save them. GM lacks this.

      But Ford has Europe and that was not enough withers not was the hatch, manual,turbo RS either.

      All wonderful options but the public as a majority don’t care. They want a tall functional hauler.

      Reply
      1. Global sales mean diesel engines, hatches and wagons, manual transmissions, SS/special performance models, maybe outside of V6 engines all these things mean global sales. So going full circle. Short answer is, yes, adding these options will save cars. They can’t go global without these options.
        If GM is serious going global with Chevy and Cadillac at some point all these options have to be on the table. Global sales are all about fuel efficiency and a car will always be more efficient than a CUV simply due to weight and aero differences. When you pay $6+ for a gallon of gas, any, even the smallest improvement is huge for a buyer. And that is why passenger cars are more popular globally and always will be. And we’re one gas price spike away from people falling in love with cars again in this country.

        Let’s be realistic here. Cars sales are down, but it’s still a huge segment and there is money to be made there and the only reason we’re seeing this switch to CUV movement is because gas is cheap at the moment.

        Reply
        1. Greg the problem is most of these cars in North America have no global market and if they do they already offer a diesel.

          Few cars even global are manual anymore.

          As for efficient the small CUV models are just as efficient since most of them are built on the same platform and use the same drivetrains. The gas price and poor MPG was true when the only SUV was the Tahoe and suburban.

          My Acadia Denali gets better MPG than my Malibu and my Canyon nearly matches my V6 Malibu.

          If you want to be realistic then let’s get to the meat in the sandwich here.

          Yes cars are still a part of the market. But here is the issue. It is a declining market and forecast are not good for the future.

          We already have Buick that has two of the best cars they ever offered but yet they sit on the lots. The Malibu is a great car with large incentives but it is underperforming. Even the leaders in the segment are in decline.

          When you have to decide moving forward to invest into a car billions in development cost you may not make back or a CUV that will easily make back the cost what are you to choose?

          The Buick cars are going to not make much money. Yet the CUV models are profit centers. In the end it is all about making money.

          I wish it were different but it is what it is. I could just make up stuff here to make car people happy but it will not change the truth.

          Cars will survive but they will be specialty cars or more expensive larger sedans that can sell in low numbers but yet turn a good profit and return on investment.

          GM missed the boat in the 70’s sticking to big cars. Today I am glad they are trying to hold out but when it comes time they need to make the call before it is too late again. At least they have the CUV models in place this time.

          But you need a better argument than gas prices as my Acadia Denali is pushing 30 MPG highway and over 21 City. The Terrain does better and the Encore even better.

          It comes down to many. Yes they can make money on cars but for the same investment they can make more on and sell mor CUV models. The market has changed in taste and how it makes money

          Just showing a profit is not enough you have to maximize return on investment whole cutting cost today or your stock falls to $9 a share.

          You don’t like it and I don’t like it but best to be honest to deal with it vs posting a bunch of ideas that already have little chance till the market decides differently.

          Reply
  3. Here is the problem. Is there enough market segment left to salvage?

    Honda has had 10 months of declining sales with the Accord. Toyota is not doing much better.

    So with Ford leaving will it be worth the investment to remain with cars .

    How long do you hang on?

    Ford could not afford the risk of losses. But how long till others pull the plug.

    The majority of buyers have spoken and the CUV has taken over the market like it or not.

    How much money does a company lose before making the call.

    Reply
    1. Well said…If readers actually read the article, we still have until 2019 until most car advertising vanishes…

      Reply

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