Talk about a bombshell heard around the automotive world.

During its shareholder meeting this week, Ford announced it will be axing traditional sedans in North America. As in, goodbye future generations of the Fusion, Taurus, C-MAX, and Fiesta. The only cars that will remain past their current generations: the Mustang and the Focus Active crossover, which is due to arrive in 2019.

“Given declining consumer demand and product profitability, the company will not invest in next generations of traditional Ford sedans for North America,” Ford said.

Cost-Cutting Measures

Ford’s move to kill its sedan lineup is part of penny-pinching measures. Ford wants to cut an additional $5 billion in planned spending from 2019 to 2022.

The Ford Century: Ford... Banham, Russ Best Price: $2.20 Buy New $33.05 (as of 01:15 UTC - Details) “We are committed to taking the appropriate actions to drive profitable growth and maximize the returns of our business over the long term,” said Jim Hackett, president and CEO, in a company press release. “Where we can raise the returns of underperforming parts of our business by making them more fit, we will. If appropriate returns are not on the horizon, we will shift that capital to where we can play and win.”

Ford also reported a $1.7 billion profit in the first quarter of 2018.

A Future Without Sedans

So minus the sedans what’s the plan?  Ford will focus on SUVs and, of course, its best-selling F-Series lineup.

The automaker has plans to add five all-new SUVs over the next two years. Plus the new Ranger pickup is expected to arrive at dealers in early 2019. A new Ford Bronco is also on the way.

The bottom line is that by 2020, nearly 90 percent of its Ford’s portfolio in North America will be trucks, utilities, and commercial vehicles.

As we’ve previously reported, Ford also plans to bring 16 battery-electric vehicles to market by 2022.  They include hybrid versions of the F-150, Mustang, Explorer, Escape, and Bronco. The brand’s electric vehicle rollout starts in 2020 with a performance utility vehicle.

Reprinted from Car Pro.