Ford might return with a sedan to the US market after dumping the traditional body style back in 2020.
With the average transaction price on a new car in the US now north of US$50,000, and an ongoing cost-of-living problem, Ford chairman Bill Ford was asked at the recent Detroit motor show about affordability.
In response, Mr Ford said: “Can you engineer vehicles that are fundamentally lower-cost so that you can pass that on to the consumer? And that’s what we’re working on.”
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Ford CEO Jim Farley noted: “One of the big reasons why we had our best sales this decade is the Maverick. Affordable versions of our vehicles are really hot-selling.”
When pressed if the brand might consider re-entering the American sedan market, Mr Farley said: “Never say never. The sedan market is very vibrant. It’s not that there isn’t a market there. It’s just we couldn’t find a way to compete and be profitable. Well, we may find a way to do that.”
The company is currently developing a new Universal EV Platform, which includes new assembly techniques to bring the price down significantly. So far the only model confirmed on the architecture is a Ranger-sized ute that will start from around US$30,000 (A$44,500).
Ford sold its last sedan in the US when the Fusion, a booted version of the Mondeo sold in Europe and Australia, ended its production run in 2020. It also built and sold the Focus sedan in America until 2019.
The Maverick is the cheapest model in Ford’s American range with a starting price of US$28,145 (A$42,000). By contrast, Toyota USA’s lineup starts at US$22,925 (A$34,000) for the Corolla sedan, and Honda America kicks things off at US$24,695 (A$36,500) with the Civic sedan.
Last year, the Maverick (141,873) was Ford’s fourth-best selling model in the US and 19th overall. The Corolla (224,571) came in seventh overall, while the Civic (220,485) was one place behind.
There have been rumours about a four-door Mustang for a while. The current Mustang coupe starts at US$32,640, which is around US$4200 more than the base Honda Accord.
While mid-size sedans are no longer Middle America’s favourite form of transport, the Camry (288,673) and Accord (134,686) still sell in reasonable numbers.
The last Ford sedan sold in Australia was the Focus, which exited stage right in 2018. The locally made Falcon departed the scene in 2016 when the company closed its factories in Broadmeadows and Geelong.
Although Ford no longer offers a sedan in Europe, Latin America, North America or Australia, it does produce a fifth generation of the Mondeo in China, which is also exported the Middle East as the Taurus.