No decision was more emblematic of the current American car market than Ford culling every small car except the Mustang from its model lineup back in 2018. While no longer sold in the United States, the discontinued models received a brief reprieve in Europe and other parts of the world. Then Ford announced in March that production of the Focus, the last surviving small model, will end in November. Despite the seven-year gap, the reason Ford stopped selling the Focus was due to lackluster sales numbers and a corporate shift towards electric vehicles.
When it comes to any business enterprise, the buck stops at maintaining the company's profitability. The announcement in Ford's 2018 first quarter reports was brief and succinct: The statement reads, "Given declining consumer demand and product profitability, the company will not invest in next generations of traditional Ford sedans for North America." From 2012 to 2018, Focus sales cratered from 269,272 cars to 113,345 cars. For comparison, light trucks are seemingly operating on a different plane of existence. Over the same period, sales for the F-150 soared from 692,589 trucks to 909,330 trucks.
The reason behind the prolonged sales slump isn't clear-cut. It could be that new car buyers in the United States are genuinely more interested in pickup trucks. It could be that federal fleet fuel economy standards favoring vehicles in the light truck category increased their profitability and artificially suppressed the prices of new pickup trucks and SUVs.
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The Ford Focus Couldn't Survive SUVs Taking Over Europe
Ford continued selling the Focus in Europe because of the continued popularity of the small car segment on the other side of the Atlantic. However, that trend has been stiffly challenged in recent years. No, pickup trucks aren't filling the void. By 2023, SUVs accounted for over half the market share of new vehicles sold. The days were numbered for Focus when you also factor in how competitive the European small car market is, with a cavalcade of local automakers like Citroën, Dacia, Opel, Renault, Peugeot, Škoda and Volkswagen. Ford Europe is now in the same boat as its parent company; the Mustang is the only car in its lineup.
What's next for Ford Europe? It's going to paddle with the current. In March, the automaker launched an electric version of the Puma, its best-selling model in Europe. Ford reneged on plans to have an EV-only lineup in Europe by 2030, but it's still launching new electrics to attract buyers. Only time will tell what Ford has in store for the United States. CEO Jim Farley teased during Ford's second-quarter earnings call that the manufacturer will reveal a new affordable EV platform on August 11.
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