General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) is allegedly planning to halt the production of Chevrolet Sonic while at the same time, Ford Motor Company has decided to discontinue Fiesta and Taurus. According to the latest news from the Wall Street Journal, the move by both automakers would eliminate the core sub-compact cars from the US market. According to Autodata, both Sonic and Fiesta were third and fourth best selling cars in the subcompact car class in 2017.
The move comes at a time when the SUVs and pickup trucks are increasingly dominating the car market. Statistics indicate that most American car purchasers are gradually dropping the subcompact segments in favor of SUVs and trucks due to the large size and low fuel consumption. In addition, the GM is also planning to discontinue Chevrolet Impala while Ford to cut off the production of Fusion sedan in the near future.
In 2017, GM’s Chevy Sonic reported a drop in the sales volume by 45.2% while Ford’s Fiesta plunged by 5.2%. Similarly, the sales of Taurus also dropped below 3,000 during the reporting of last month in the US market. The passenger car sales fell 10.9% and the subcompact cars dropped 25.9%.
Other companies that have opted to reduce their car portfolio include the Fiat Chrysler that stopped both its Dodge Dart and Chrysler 200. However, the company still has several niche car models such as the Alfa Romeo and Jeep SUVs and Ram trucks. The report indicates that Ford would replace about 75% of the firm’s product line and that the company will also add about four new trucks and SUVS.
CNBC also reported that, by 2020, about 90% of the Ford’s of the sales volume will come from trucks and selling of utilities. The Chevy Impala could stay up to next year before it leaves the market. GM has its plants located in Metro Detroit when the firm manufactures its Sonic. Ford, on the other hand makes its Taurus at its Chicago Assembly plant. Both GM and Ford have evaded the reports.
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