Ford Drops Ads For Sedans In The U.S. As It Transitions To An SUV-Heavy Lineup

Ford is betting its future in the States on crossovers and SUVs by ditching most saloons and hatchbacks and focusing on high-riding vehicles instead.

Announced this spring, the decision is official and will soon see the brand stopping national ads for sedans, reports AutoNews, as the Fiesta, Focus, Fusion (Mondeo) and Taurus will slowly be phased out.

As a result, Ford’s dealer network will have to sell the remaining four-door cars without the help of advertising campaigns, as their budget will be redirected into promoting the next-gen SUVs, as well as the Mustang, which has secured a future in the Blue Oval’s U.S. portfolio.

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Dealers will, however, get some help from Ford, as “we can’t let them just sit on the inventory”, said Blue Oval’s Vice President of U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service, Mark LaNeve. “We’ll keep them competitive on incentives, but we’re certainly not spending money there in a way where we’d be driving the market. We’re accepting the share we’ve got.”

As for the decision to stop advertising sedans in the United States, LaNeve said: “It allows us to focus our resources. If we can take that money from sedans, where we have a middle-of-the-road position, to be the leading brand in SUVs, that’d be a really good position.”

Ford’s new car sales dropped 21 percent in August; at the same time, those of the Mustang rose by 35 percent and deliveries of pickup trucks and vans were up by a 5.9 percent increase, while sales of utility vehicles went up by 20 percent.