Ford Kills Civic Competitor Focus/Fiesta and All Small Cars

dallasjhawk

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https://jalopnik.com/ford-will-phase-out-all-its-small-cars-in-north-america-1825544784

Bombshell dropped. Lots of people cross shopped these cars, especially the performance oriented crowd of the SI/Type R and the ST RS group. Kind of a sad day really but great news for Honda and other small car makers who just had a whole new group of buyers dumped in their laps. Hopefully Honda takes advantage of this and comes up with a killer refresh of all the 10th gen cars to suck these buyers in.

What do you all think, the beginning of the end of small cars or a foolish play by Ford that will backfire when gas shoots to $4/gal again?
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exyia

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Their ST offerings were good, but their auto transmission problems pretty much killed the lineup. You ask anyone who's done any bit of googling, and they'll just repeat "those automatics were so bad, there was that class action lawsuit!"

I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and say the problems were overblown, but any average joe who hears that will cross that car off their shopping list immediately. And you can't support a platform off one successful trim (ST's), especially a performance one.
 
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ChampwhiteFK8

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Their ST offerings were good, but their auto transmission problems pretty much killed the lineup. You ask anyone who's done any bit of googling, and they'll just repeat "those automatics were so bad, there was that class action lawsuit!"

I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and say the problems were overblown, but any average joe who hears that will cross that car off their shopping list immediately. And you can't support a platform off one successful trim (ST's), especially a performance one.
It's no lie, those transmissions were terrible! I had the experience of getting a brand new 2003 Ford Focus during that time and boy was it a headache. It went to about 60k miles until I got transmission issues. I replaced the transmission twice out of my own pocket and when it broke down the third time I called Ford to come pick up their trash because I wasn't going to be paying for it anymore. Since then I steer clear of any Ford vehicles and always tell my network about my horrible experience.
 

Rickmeister 48

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I had a 2015 focus as a rental car for about a week. That thing stuttered and jerked so bad when taking off, I called enterprise to let them know. They said,we know,that's how the new Ford transmissions are. Having owned two fords before, a Taurus and a Ranger, I don't care for them anyway.
 


mathdydx

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Good luck to them when gas hits $4 again....unless they're also coming out with electric SUVs and trucks.
 

charleswrivers

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when gas shoots to $4/gal again?
You might not be too far off. The price of crude has gone up from ~$50 to $70 a barrel this year alone... and it's been somewhat steady through last year. If it keeps moving this way, we may see prices crack $3 before long for 87. I'm already paying over $3 for 93.

...you know, I remember when I was kid. Each extra grade of octane was only like 5-10 cents more, even though gas was generally $1-2. Now, it's a 0.50 jump from 87 to 93. What's up with that!?
 

gtman

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you know, I remember when I was kid. Each extra grade of octane was only like 5-10 cents more, even though gas was generally $1-2. Now, it's a 0.50 jump from 87 to 93. What's up with that!?
Honda Civic 10th gen Ford Kills Civic Competitor Focus/Fiesta and All Small Cars download
 

dc2turbo

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I friend that does EPA for the govt. He said most compact cars will be gone by 2025. Most companies are moving towards crossovers as the compact cars are not selling enough
 


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dallasjhawk

dallasjhawk

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You might not be too far off. The price of crude has gone up from ~$50 to $70 a barrel this year alone... and it's been somewhat steady through last year. If it keeps moving this way, we may see prices crack $3 before long for 87. I'm already paying over $3 for 93.

...you know, I remember when I was kid. Each extra grade of octane was only like 5-10 cents more, even though gas was generally $1-2. Now, it's a 0.50 jump from 87 to 93. What's up with that!?
Just paid $3.29 for 93 an hour ago here in dfw
 

Swordfish

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Gm and Ford make more on trucks ands SUVs. Their margins are bigger. I personally think that this is a stupid decision. They were also behind on the hybrid phase back in 2004.

I think more of it is related to the economy than gas prices.

When the next recession hits people won't be buying trucks and filling tanks with 20+ gallons of gas.

That's a pretty aggressive strategy they are taking
 

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...you know, I remember when I was kid. Each extra grade of octane was only like 5-10 cents more, even though gas was generally $1-2. Now, it's a 0.50 jump from 87 to 93. What's up with that!?
.50, thats not bad its a .90 jump by me for the same 87 to 93
 

ToastedSi

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I friend that does EPA for the govt. He said most compact cars will be gone by 2025. Most companies are moving towards crossovers as the compact cars are not selling enough
I hope they never kill the civic. doesn't the 10th gen sell like hotcakes
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