[RahulNagaraj]

Back in 2018, Ford decided to kill off its entire small car lineup - the likes of the Focus, Fiesta and Fusion, to focus on trucks and large SUVs to maximise profits under then-CEO Jim Hackett. Now though, the carmaker is said to be re-evaluating its decisions under the leadership of CEO, Jim Farley.

Speaking at a recent conference, the CEO of the automotive giant stated that the economics of smaller vehicles makes more sense for consumers. Farley, said, "It's non-negotiable that we're going to allocate capital to a new affordable electric vehicle ... and you have to make money in the first 12 months." He further mentioned, "And I don't want a bullshit road map. I want, like, a real plan. And if you can't [execute] that plan, we ain't launching the car."



Talking about the economics, Farley said, "What the customer has now said to us is, if you have [an EV] larger than Escape, it better be really functional or a work vehicle. But if you do the economics for a vehicle, let's say the Escape or smaller, it's totally different, it completely works. In fact, it has dramatically better operating costs than a Corolla or Civic or even a Maverick."

The CEO also stated that Ford's smaller & cheaper EVs need to be able to compete with Chinese automakers, which Farley labels as a "colossal strategic threat".

Source: AutomotiveNews

Link to Team-BHP news

[L8ButV8]

Over the last few years, car prices have increased far too much, and interest/competition in entry level segments dropped off. EV focussed manufacturers are turning up the heat, aggressively entering lower price points & cutting prices for existing cars (e.g BYD, Tesla, Tata etc). I hope this wakes up the legacy companies and gets them to aggressively invest in less expensive cars.

I also wonder if the switch to EVs (for the instant torque/silent engines/running cost benefits etc), will lead to a preference for smaller cars that have better range (Sedans/crossovers/ hatchbacks).

[s.sriram1989@gm]

I think they should start with introducing premium hatch and SUV equivalent of Kia Seltos.