A few days ago, Ford made headlines with its decision to kill everything besides SUVs and crossovers in America. Thanks to a tweet, we now know when this will take place.
While Ford claimed that it would phase out the Fusion, Fiesta, Focus, and Taurus, it didn’t provide a timeline for when these cars would be killed. Michael Martinez, a reporter for Automotive News, took to Twitter to provide a schedule.
Here’s when Ford will end production of its cars:
-May 2018: Focus
-March 2019: Taurus
-May 2019: FiestaFusion will stick around for at least a couple more years. Focus Active will be imported from China starting in mid-2019.
— Michael Martinez (@MikeMartinez_AN) April 26, 2018
The tweet, which you can see immediately above, claims that production of the aforementioned cars will stop by May 2019. The Focus will be the first vehicle to get the axe, as the compact hatch will officially be killed by May 2018. The Taurus will reach the chopping block by March 2019 and the Fiesta will stick around until May 2019.
Martinez’s schedule didn’t provide a schedule for the Fusion, as that vehicle, according to him, will be around for a few more years. While the Focus will go out of production later this summer, the automaker will import the Focus Active from China in the middle of 2019. That vehicle, though, can be classified as a tall, rugged hatchback or a compact crossover.
According to Jalopnik, a Ford spokesperson told the outlet that the dates were accurate.
Ford’s decision to stop production of said vehicles was surprising, but the automaker’s timeline is even more shocking. A few days ago, The New York Times reported that Ford was losing money on all of its small cars and sedans. So while we may not really agree with what the automaker’s doing, it does make sense. We, though, didn’t expect Ford to implement the changes so quickly.
The decision is already sitting well with investors. Auto News’ Nick Bunley took to Twitter to reveal that the automaker’s stock rose by 2 percent after its announcement.
Ford stock is up 2% after yesterday's news that the Ford brand is killing all sedans in North America. (GM stock is down 2% today.) JP Morgan analyst says plan "is just the sort of bold and decisive action we believe investors have been waiting for."
— Nick Bunkley (@nickbunkley) April 26, 2018
So, if you’ve been waiting to get your hands on a Fiesta ST or a Focus RS, now would be a good time to act.