According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Ford and General Motors will drop a number of sedans and hatchbacks as crossovers have become the defacto choice of consumers.
Citing company insiders, the publication claims the Chevrolet Sonic could be phased out later this year. It may eventually be joined by the Chevrolet Impala which is rumored to go out of production “in the next few years.”
The Sonic is one of Chevrolet’s most affordable models as pricing starts at $16,170. The company also notes thirty percent of Sonic buyers are under 35 years old and this makes it “one of Chevrolet’s ‘youngest’ cars.”
Despite appealing to young consumers and first time buyers, sales have been falling over the past few years. U.S. sales peaked at 93,518 units in 2014 but dropped to just 30,290 units last year.
The Impala is doing significantly better as the company sold 75,877 units in the United States last year. The model has also been well received by critics but it appears sales weren’t high enough to justify the continued development of the model.
Chevrolet isn’t the only company rumored to be making cuts as the publication says Ford could drop the Fiesta in the United States as early as next year. The company is also set to eliminate the Taurus, while the future of the Fusion is still in flux.
The current-generation Taurus was introduced in 2009 and its sales have been slowly dropping over the past few years. Last year, the company sold 41,236 units which was a modest decline from the 44,098 units which were sold in 2016.
The Ford Fiesta is in the same boat as the company only managed to sell 46,249 units in the United States last year. Even when sales peaked in 2013, Ford only sold 71,073 models.