Stick a Fork in the US Auto Industry

Ford has basically decided to kill the small car (as well as the not-so-small car). Superficially, this seems like a good idea. After all, if trucks, SUVs, and fleet vehicles are what's selling right now, then it makes sense to ditch the slow-sellers. Problem is, we've all seen this movie before: The Big Three decide to concentrate on what's selling at the moment (gas guzzlers) and ignore small cars. Next step? Gas prices spike, and suddenly, everybody wants something the Big 3 don't have. We all know how well that worked out the last time.

To say nothing about emissions.

GM is getting rid of the sonic. Dodge the dart. Chrysler the 200. VW basically said recently that it views itself as an SUV brand while announcing that they would discontinue the bug in a few years. Not sure how they plan to meet fuel efficiency regs, here and abroad, if they cut small cars so much.

They always do short term stuff to maximize profits (for right now) but which puts them in a long term worse position. Remember in the 1950-1970's when there was supposedly no point building anything other than large rear wheel drive sedans? Henry Ford II when asked about smaller more fuel efficient cars derisively said "small cars, small profits". Then the oil crosses hit an everyone wanted a smaller more fuel efficient car. Then in the 1980's they finally got fuel efficient front wheel drive cars which could compete but the call of trucks and SUVs has got a hold of them so now they are abandoning cars both large and small this time.

Don't even get me started about how they are falling behind on electric and hybrid cars.

Honda and Toyota have the small and midsize car market wrapped up. Nothing GM, Ford, or Chrysler offers in that range is even remotely interesting and hasn’t been in a decade. That said, I’m wondering what wonky gimmicks they’re going to use to meet fleet fuel efficiency standards.

Jeep went with a wonky gimmick in the 2018 Jeep Wrangler that I loathe. Every time I stop for more than three seconds, the bloody motor turns itself off. It restarts when I lift my foot from the brake pedal. So, instead of using the ignition system and starter three or four times per day, I’m now using it 50 times per day. But, I’m sure that hundred times increase in use isn’t going to affect reliability of a critical system, right? Right?

There’s no way to permanently turn that “feature” off. So, I have had to get in the habit of pressing the disable button before shifting the transmission out of Park.

Short-term thinking.

This. If I were buying a small car, I'd look to Toyota or Honda before those three.

Same.

Still, it's a short-sighted move and fuck them if they want another bailout when this fucks up yet again. Let one of those up and coming Chinese car brands buy them out next time they fail.

I did.

Couple of points:

1) The car market has been drying up for a while. Crossovers have eaten their lunch. Look at the fuel economy. Negligible difference for significant comfort improvements. The Altima, Accord and Camry are the only mid sized sedans doing okay and even their sales are trending down.

2) Along with moving all their cars and a lot of their SUVs to crossover platforms (which are really just hatchbacks & station wagons with more headroom, seriously), they are at the same time adding to their legit truck lineup. The Ranger and her sister the Bronco are coming back. The Bronco is being positioned as a Jeep Wangler competitor, currently Jeep owns the entire short wheel base 4x4 market.

3) It is not like Ford is stopping all car production, just US sales. They will still be making and updating cars for the rest of the world. If the US car market suddenly comes back they can import until domestic production restarts.

4) They are taking the resources that would be going into US cars and plugging it (and more) into R&D. They eventually want hybrid and fully electric options for their entire lineup.

5) One of the benefits of still being controlled by the Ford family is that the company can think strategically and take these kinds of risks. Everyone thought Bill Ford Jr. crazy back in the early 2000s when he said hard times were coming for the auto industry and during the height of that boom cycle started buckling down. He invited the UAW in to look at the books, and got them to agree to production cuts and layoffs (keep in mind this 3 years before the recession). He mortgaged everything (including River Rouge and even the Blue Oval) to build cash reserves and then fired himself to bring Mulaley in as CEO.

Ford was the only American automobile company to NOT take any bailout money.

What they are doing now is also a gamble but I don't think it necessarily wrong.

Those are top picks though Hyundai and Mazda should both be on the list as well. Nissan, not so much. As a side not the Renault Clio seems very popular in much of Latin America so it is a shame they haven't bothered coming back to the US market after failing out of it (for the second time) in the 1980's.

Who would buy a car based on gasoline prices? You can easily be locked into making car payments for five years or more. In that time gasoline prices can (and do) swing all over the place.

Intelligent people with a shred of fiscal responsibility.

32 vs. 34 mpg, maybe not so much a factor.

32 vs. 20 mpg . . . yeah that's gonna leave a mark on your wallet.

That’s cool, I’ll just stick with Toyota.

He says, with a 2 hour commute one-way.

If The Grand Tour (The Orangutan, Captain Slow, and Hamster) can be believed, a recent poll they quoted said that fuel efficiency was 27th on the list of things auto-buyers in the US consider before buying a vehicle.

Yeah, I live five miles from my current job but if I were to take a job at a competing station that would triple my commute distance, I'd definitely buy something like a Mini or Fiat just for the work commute.

I bought my car in part for that very reason.

the crossovers and many SUVs do much better than 20 mpg now though. More like 25-26 in most cases now (highway)


When I heard the report on public radio about this, it said that Ford was pouring billions into research and had a target of five years for their to be an electric or hybrid option on everything (though that seems a stretch for the F-150 which, the report also said, accounts for an astonishing 90% of Ford's profits)

the unanswered question for me is whether this applies to all Ford owned imprints - or JUST Fords?

Actually my car gets really great mileage.

But I didn't buy it.

It was a major part of my decision get the Fit. 40+ mpg vs the Mighty Jeep's 16.

The only reason I don't walk or bike to work is the suit and tie and I don't like showing up to work drenched in sweat in the heat and humidity of a southern summer or soaked in the rains of a southern spring. Thankfully, I'm in the downtown business district so there is a pizza place, a soul food restaurant, a real deli, a Mexican joint, and a pub that sells okay hot dogs and hamburgers literally within 100 paces of my main entrance. So, I do walk to lunch and back.

There's no way I'd ever, ever, ever live within walking distance of a job.

That's way too close for me and I'd feel like I was always at work (even more than I already do).

They haven't improved. What's interesting to me is that I could squeeze 24mpg out of a 7,000lb Crew-Cab 1/2-ton 4x4 truck with a 5.3L V8 and 6-Speed Automatic. But, I can only get 19mpg out of a 4,300lb JL Unlimited with a 3.6L V6 and a 8-Speed Automatic. The Jeep is geared lower but the 8-Speed should really help pick up that part of it.

Don't get me wrong, I don't regret the Jeep at all. My little boy loves riding through the middle of no where with the top off. Some time this summer we're going to go all the way and take the doors off and fold the windshield down. But, that won't be an every day thing.

That can be a problem. But, it's okay most of the time. It was nice back in December when it actually snowed. I sent everyone home when I realized it was actually going to accumulate and I took a leisurely stroll home as it snowed. It was actually picturesque.

During the last ten years both of my daughters expressed interest in me buying them a Jeep. My reply each time was, "Okay, but don't ever ask me for gas money. "

They've each driven two SUVs during that time (a couple of XTerras for the oldest and a Sorento and RAV4 for the youngest).

Personally I'll never own a Jeep because they aren't remotely practical for my uses. Shit mileage and you can't haul much of anything in them.

I hear you. One day, when I'm back working for myself, I've promised myself that my location will have two showers so those who want to bike to work can.