Photo: Ford
The increased hunger of the American consumer (and not only) for oversized vehicles has prompted several major changes of direction for most big players in the automotive industry. In 2017, SUVs ruled the market, and expectations are that they will do so for more years to come.
One of the carmakers preparing for a long time of SUV success is Ford. Friday was the Blue Oval’s big day, as it announced and previewed several exciting models, including the revived Bronco and the Mach 1 electric SUV.
Amid the excitement caused by the revelations, Ford hid, in plain sight, an ester egg: its plans for the future. Big plans, actually.
Betting on its own estimates that SUVs could account for 50 percent of U.S. industry retail sales by 2020, the carmaker will take a huge amount of money away from the development of cars and give it to SUVs: $7 billion.
The money will be used to create an army of eight SUV models, placing the carmaker among the few brands with more than six such vehicles in their lineup. Five of the SUVs will come with hybrid powertrains, and one, the Mach 1 we mentioned earlier, will be all-electric.
One of the market segments Ford set its sights on is the high-volume SUV. For that, new generations of the Escape and Explorer will be launched next year.
According to data released earlier this year by JATO Dynamics, of the 86 million cars sold worldwide in 2017, 34 percent of them were SUVs. That’s a record, driven mainly by midsize SUVs (16.6 percent), followed by large SUVs, with 17.7 percent.
For North America, Ford’s bet might pay off. In 2017, two out of three cars sold in 2017 have been SUVs. And even if there’s a slim chance that ratio would increase further, Ford’s SUV offensive is directed at its competitors, from which it hopes to steal some more customers in the years ahead.
Amid the excitement caused by the revelations, Ford hid, in plain sight, an ester egg: its plans for the future. Big plans, actually.
Betting on its own estimates that SUVs could account for 50 percent of U.S. industry retail sales by 2020, the carmaker will take a huge amount of money away from the development of cars and give it to SUVs: $7 billion.
The money will be used to create an army of eight SUV models, placing the carmaker among the few brands with more than six such vehicles in their lineup. Five of the SUVs will come with hybrid powertrains, and one, the Mach 1 we mentioned earlier, will be all-electric.
One of the market segments Ford set its sights on is the high-volume SUV. For that, new generations of the Escape and Explorer will be launched next year.
According to data released earlier this year by JATO Dynamics, of the 86 million cars sold worldwide in 2017, 34 percent of them were SUVs. That’s a record, driven mainly by midsize SUVs (16.6 percent), followed by large SUVs, with 17.7 percent.
For North America, Ford’s bet might pay off. In 2017, two out of three cars sold in 2017 have been SUVs. And even if there’s a slim chance that ratio would increase further, Ford’s SUV offensive is directed at its competitors, from which it hopes to steal some more customers in the years ahead.
Google News