Bye Fiesta and Focus

I was half expecting Ford to have sold the European arm to VW by now and just focus on the states

How many people know or care about how a car drives, especially now. Most buy on image and/or budget, the rest is pure gravy and FG.

I think we are going to see more of this as manufacturers slim down their lines in expectation of ceasing ICE production sometime about the end of 2028, beginning of 2029 and moving to full EV.

It is a shame.

I agree - round our way the Puma has replaced the Fiesta as the small Ford that people buy. And although it may be an unpopular opinion, given the choice I'd take the Puma too. 

I think the high water mark for Fiestas was the fifth generation (2002-2008) where the exterior looked good and the cheaper interior was not yet a deal breaker. But the interior of the sixth generation with its weird cellphone inspired button designs always looked awful to my eye and the body shape was odd- the rising belt line looked weird in three door form as it made the rear wheels look tiny.    

I guess we've got used to China's manufacturing base expanding from tat, to better quality tat, to all small plastic stuff, to Iphones etc etc. So I guess we're going to have to get used to them manufacturing most of our cars in about 10-20 years time. But it's OK as we'll not be producing the emissions for all that off-shored manufacturing, so we'll be saving the planet....   

The other reason that cars are being manufactured elsewhere is to keep a lid on rising list prices. In a similar way that those on cheap mortgage deals are getting a shock as they come up for renewal, so are those who took out cheap PCP deals on new cars over the last few years. There was a piece on the radio earlier about such buyers no longer being able to afford to switch to another deal for a new car as the interest rate has risen sharply and the monthly payments on equivalent models are in some cases double what they were offered 3 years ago. The age of cheap credit is dying and that could spell big problems for manufacturers whose business model relied upon people being able to easily finance new cars with little deposits and cheap monthlies.

Such a shame. How the mighty have fallen.

The move to electric is killing European car industry. Even those manufactured here have tens of thousands worth of Chinese business in them.
The death of small affordable cars started with more demanding technology and safety content often forced through regulation. I think it’s shortsighted madness.

Worked very briefly with an ex Ford sales person, she lasted 15 days before we sacked her, she was "off sick" for 8 of those days.

We were talking about the Ford product, mainly electric and the lack of it and the apparent lack of new electric models coming through, anyway we got onto what they did sell and it was pretty much only Puma, Ford were massively scaling down on everything apart from Puma, availability of everything bar Puma was abysmal.

For those who enjoy his videos, here's one on the history of the Fiesta

I drove past a Ford forecourt today and saw a Fiesta stickered at £21,000. Clearly lost their Focus with that pricing...

I agree. Not everyone is interested in a V8, a V6, a straight six or a flat six. But the characteristics of such engines has played a big part in forming Europe’s car manufacturers today. People worldwide have bought into that heritage, something that Chinese firms or elsewhere in the East can’t replicate – and the know-how of building such engines as well. I can’t imagine the Sant'Agata without its V10, or Stuggart without its flat six. I’m not sure how cars will be marketed in the future, presumably as mobility devices. AMG, BMW M, Porsche’s GT cars, what will be the USP? A bit more acceleration? Undeniably, the noise and engines of these cars has differentiated them so far.

A substantial proportion of manufacturing has already gone to China. I don’t see why this won’t happen to the car industry. Herbert Diess of VW sort of tried to warn Germany's auto unions that there would be masses of job losses with the transition to EV’s; he was perhaps a bit too honest for them. The EU too can’t have it both ways; demand that EV’s become the sole drivetrain-type, then protest when masses of jobs get lost in the industry. Then you’ve got the aftermarket industry. Whether people will be interested in modifying their EV’s, remains to be seen. The car is no longer seen as aspirational in Europe, Europe’s politicians will find this out when tax revenues dry up because people treat the car like a white good.

As for the Fiesta, its not surprising. The same fate will shortly come for other small cars. The CO2 fleet requirement is disastrous for small cars. The manufactures, partly also due to semiconductors, are being forced to prioritise the most profitable combustion models whilst they still exist.