Most automakers are betting heavily on electrification but Ford wants to take a step further opting out of the less profitable segments in the ICE-powered range altogether. According to its CEO, Jim Farley, Ford will not compete in the “two-row commodity SUV market” when it comes to ICE-powered models in North America, signaling the discontinuation of certain models or their replacement with EV-only offerings.
The CEO made the comments during an earnings call in February when asked about Ford’s 8% margin target. More specifically, he said: “So I’m very optimistic about our 8% because we are not going to be playing in the two-row commodity SUV market because Ford’s tried that in the ICE business, didn’t really work out for us. We want to play our hand, our strength, in commercial, truck, larger vehicles on the category side. We do not want to have too many top hats because that costs a lot to engineer.”
It’s worth noting that the term ‘commodity SUV’ refers to models designed and marketed for mass appeal to a broad consumer base. These types of SUVs are typically priced more competitively and often sell below MSRP. Ford currently offers a couple of models that fit this description, including the Escape, and Edge, but not the Explorer and Expedition since these have a three-row layout, which means they do not fall into the commodity SUV category.
Read: Ford Bronco Coming To Select European Markets Next Year As It Wants To Be More American
Starting from the smallest of the bunch, the Ecosport is practically dead, with Ford basically selling off the last remaining 2022MY examples. The fourth-gen Escape (Kuga in Europe) was introduced in 2019, with a mid-lifecycle update following in 2022. Jim Farley has previously hinted that the model will be discontinued, likely after the end of the current generation’s lifecycle. According to reports from last year, this will happen in late 2025, with an EV replacement rumored for 2026.
As for the second generation of the Ford Edge which dates back to 2015 with a facelift taking place in 2018, it is expected to be dropped from the US lineup soon, at least in its current form. The automaker recently revealed the 2024 Ford Edge L in China, featuring a three-row interior with petrol and hybrid powertrain options. However, a more plausible scenario for North America is for a new all-electric SUV to replace the aging Edge, leaving the Edge L as a China-only affair.
Two-Row SUVs That Will Survive And Others That Won’t
The Ford Bronco Sport might be closely related to the Escape but it is not considered a commodity SUV due to its rugged styling, character, and pricing. Furthermore, despite the discontinuation of the EU-spec Focus, the C2 platform is also shared with the US-spec Maverick pickup, and the Chinese-spec Mondeo sedan and Evos crossover, making it a potentially viable product for future development.
As for the popular Ford Bronco which is certainly not a commodity SUV and as such not included in the death row, its truck-sourced ladder-frame underpinnings will allow both ICE and EV variants to co-exist for years to come, giving the Jeep Wrangler plenty to worry about.
While Farley’s comments were referring to the North American market, Ford could also discontinue the EU-market two-row ICE-powered SUVs albeit for different reasons. Last year, Ford officially confirmed that a Puma EV is coming in 2024 as an indirect replacement to the discontinued Fiesta supermini, making us believe that this is going to be the last generation of the B-SUV with the option of a combustion engine. Furthermore, the Kuga will likely follow the fate of the Escape, as it wouldn’t make sense for Ford to develop a new generation when ICE will be effectively banned in Europe by 2035. We guess that the MEB-based Ford EV crossover that will debut this year and its sporty alternative coming in 2024 will be similarly sized to the Escape / Kuga, filling up the void in the segment.
Speaking about EVs, Jim Farley said that the crossover is “turning out to be the Corolla Civic of the EV business”, something that is evident from the numerous upcoming models of this kind by almost all automakers. The CEO also said that Ford will reveal more information about its future strategy at the Capital Markets Day, which is scheduled for May 22, 2023. Hopefully, we will also get to see what Farley described as their “new fully updatable electric architecture”, set to underpin nearly all future EVs by Ford.
