Ford, GM Suffer Huge Blows After Discontinuing Compact Cars

At this point, it is no longer surprising when automakers announce the discontinuation of compact cars in their lineup given consumers’ proclivity toward bigger vehicles such as SUVs, crossovers, and trucks as of late.

There is significantly less demand for sedans because of their apparent lack of styling, which explains the decision of some automakers to kill their models. Among the automakers hit the hardest by slow car sales are Ford and Chevrolet, eventually leading both companies to end production for the Focus and Cruze compact cars.

With Ford and Chevrolet’s relatively huge lineup, though, people would think the discontinuation of compact cars would hardly affect both companies as car owners could simply choose to get bigger cars from them. But it is quite the opposite.

In a report published by Edmunds.com, the two automakers were revealed to be suffering from a decline in brand loyalty since the Focus and Cruze compact cars were discontinued. Compared to 2016 data, brand loyalty for the Ford Focus dropped from 40 to 33 percent while Cruze brand loyalty dropped to 45 percent from 57 percent three years ago.

With the compact car segment still accounting for 9.1 percent of all new-vehicle sales in the United States this year, it explains why a huge chunk of former Focus and Cruze owners are opting to switch brands and trading their cars for the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla, or their counterparts from Hyundai and Kia.

But this is not to say bigger vehicles in Ford and Chevrolet’s lineups are not worth purchasing. The Escape and Equinox are also benefiting from the end of production of the Focus and Cruze, as well as Trax and EcoSport. The only downside for consumers is that these small crossovers are not as affordable as compact cars. To be particular, a base trim Chevrolet Equinox costs $6,125 more than the Cruze’s, while the 2020 Ford Escape’s entry price is $7,255 higher than the Focus’.