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They'll still be selling their cars in Europe. The latest gen Focus and Fiestas all came from their European divisions, if problems occur they could theoretica

They'll still be selling their cars in Europe. The latest gen Focus and Fiestas all came from their European divisions, if problems occur they could theoretically reintroduce them quickly - although they would have lost all their brand momentum in the small car market.

pfranz 9y ago
From what I've heard the safety standards are so different and often conflict that it would be difficult for the exact same car to sell in both markets. Bumpers are mandated to be higher in the US because the average car is much bigger. I remember hearing a few others due to Americans being fatter on average and Americans tending to drive longer distances (maybe it was EU focusing more on pedestrian collisions where as the US focused more on car-to-car?)
- slededit 9y ago
  There are differences but they currently share the same platform right now so clearly they are not insurmountable. It's possible over time the smaller platforms will evolve and lose their compatibility. But it's not a guarantee.
opencl 9y ago
I think the fact that the Focus and Fiestas sold from 2011-2016 had defective transmissions (complete with class action settlement) already destroyed their brand momentum in the small car market.
- solarkraft 9y ago
  what destroys the brand momentum for me is that the cars look dated (even in the updated versions) and the company seems technologically behind (no real electric car).
  - opencl 9y ago
    The quality is really bad. Maybe they've improved in the past few years but one of my friends has a 5 year old Focus that he bought new and is total garbage. The doors don't lock half the time, the transmission craps out once every 6 months, sometimes the engine won't start without wiggling the battery cables, the plastic trim around the windows keeps falling off.
    - wolco 9y ago
      My focus from 2000 is still in great condition. Good for another 15 years.
      - opencl 9y ago
        I think their quality in the late 90s/early 2000s was really good. I've known a lot of people that drive Fords from that era and a lot of them are still around. Not sure when but it seems to have gone massively downhill at some point at least for the Focus, though maybe they're back to being decent again. Of course this is the problem when looking at the reliability of old cars, it says nothing about what the company is actually currently producing.
- jstarfish 9y ago
  Nobody was ever meant to buy those. They were slapped together for the purpose of meeting CAFE requirements.

pfranz 9y ago

From what I've heard the safety standards are so different and often conflict that it would be difficult for the exact same car to sell in both markets. Bumpers are mandated to be higher in the US because the average car is much bigger. I remember hearing a few others due to Americans being fatter on average and Americans tending to drive longer distances (maybe it was EU focusing more on pedestrian collisions where as the US focused more on car-to-car?)

slededit 9y ago
There are differences but they currently share the same platform right now so clearly they are not insurmountable. It's possible over time the smaller platforms will evolve and lose their compatibility. But it's not a guarantee.

opencl 9y ago

I think the fact that the Focus and Fiestas sold from 2011-2016 had defective transmissions (complete with class action settlement) already destroyed their brand momentum in the small car market.

solarkraft 9y ago
what destroys the brand momentum for me is that the cars look dated (even in the updated versions) and the company seems technologically behind (no real electric car).
- opencl 9y ago
  The quality is really bad. Maybe they've improved in the past few years but one of my friends has a 5 year old Focus that he bought new and is total garbage. The doors don't lock half the time, the transmission craps out once every 6 months, sometimes the engine won't start without wiggling the battery cables, the plastic trim around the windows keeps falling off.
  - wolco 9y ago
    My focus from 2000 is still in great condition. Good for another 15 years.
    - opencl 9y ago
      I think their quality in the late 90s/early 2000s was really good. I've known a lot of people that drive Fords from that era and a lot of them are still around. Not sure when but it seems to have gone massively downhill at some point at least for the Focus, though maybe they're back to being decent again. Of course this is the problem when looking at the reliability of old cars, it says nothing about what the company is actually currently producing.
jstarfish 9y ago
Nobody was ever meant to buy those. They were slapped together for the purpose of meeting CAFE requirements.