I understand it's business, and the bottom line is profits... But it seems like Americans will never learn. This just means more big gas-hogs on the road? Obviously, Ford is not concerned about saving fuel. And I hardly ever see a Ford Focus around here. They are not selling. If it's not an SUV, the 3 most dominant small "cars" in my area of Southern California are: Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra, and the Prius. I think Corolla is last. And I rarely see a Camry anymore, unless it's a 90s or early 2000 model. If we have another fuel crisis in the future, small used cars will be a hot item. (I also see a lot of newer Chevy Volts.)
Plenty of Foci around here; friend just upgraded from one to an Escape, but held onto it. One of the few remaining true cars in Ford's line up will be a crossoverish Focus. Ford does care about saving fuel, but fuel doesn't get saved if the more efficient cars don't sell. The F150 is far more efficient than the Tundra, and Ford has one of the more aggressive stances on electric and electrified cars. The 2019 Escape PHEV will likely be unveiled at one of the upcoming auto shows, and a hybrid F150, with or without plug, is planned for 2020. A hybrid Mustang is also planned. I know news reports say people are switching to SUVs, but that doesn't mean people are trading in their Camrys and Fusions for Explorers and Highlanders, They are getting Escapes and Rav4s. The 2018 Rav4 has a better city and combined MPG rating than the Avalon, and the 2015 Camry, a likely trade in for the SUV, has only slightly better ratings. The new Camry does much better, but it is a generation ahead of the Rav4, which will be getting all those efficiency upgrades soon. Compare Side-by-Side And those aren't small cars, but cross the line into midsize. The new Corolla got big, and is close to the traditional midsize models in size. I see Toyota cancelling their Yaris hatchback and the Prius c. The Mazda Yaris will likely continue for a bit. Perhaps we'll get its hatchback sibling, since hatches seem to have gained more popularity over sedans in these crossover times. The Avalon might go in order to shift more sales to Lexus. The Corolla sedan might also not be long for the US.
