Ford says small cars are not dead

Ford recently axed its Fiesta and hasn’t confirmed a replacement for the Focus coming in 2025… but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll exit the small car space.

When asked by car Whether there will be room in the Blue Oval lineup for lower-priced, non-SUV models in the future, Martin Sander – general manager of Ford’s Model e electric vehicle division in Europe – replied: “Probably “Sure.”

“I think so,” he replied when asked if Ford would continue to offer passenger cars, with car reports new generation small cars are likely to appear from 2026 and offer electric power.

“There are values ​​that have helped us succeed over the past few years, such as solid quality and value for money. We will not get away with this,” Mr. Sander added.

“These are the basic fundamentals that Ford has had globally for many years.”

It’s unclear whether Ford will expand its partnership with Volkswagen to include passenger cars.

The two companies have worked closely, collaborating on commercial vehicles such as Ford Ranger And Volkswagen Amarok duo and Custom Ford Transit and the next generation Volkswagen transport vehicle.

Volkswagen has also granted Ford access to its dedicated electric vehicle (EV) MEB architecture. Ford revealed Explorer is based on MEB for Europe and is following this up with another crossover.

While Ford confirmed it has assembled a ‘skunkworks’ team to work on an affordable electric vehicle to counter the threat from Chinese brands, Mr Sander suggested a small car from Ford In the future in Europe it doesn’t have to be a high-volume model.

“We are looking at the opportunity to bring future global Ford products to Europe, but the key principles of our future product line for Europe will be iconic products,” he said. Impressive and emotional”.

“We’re not going back into the volume race just to hit a certain number at the factory or be in a segment where there are others.”

Ford CEO Jim Farley confirmed earlier this year The skunkworks team has been working outside the brand’s traditional framework for the past two years and has developed a “flexible platform” for use by “several vehicle types.”

A further report from Bloomberghowever, said three vehicles – the first of which will launch in 2026 – will include a small ute, a compact SUV and potentially a vehicle used for ride-hailing.

That raises doubts about whether the skunkworks project will result in a more traditional hatchback for markets like Europe, where these models remain popular, even as SUV sales decline. continue to increase.

Meanwhile, Ford will continue to have compact vehicles in its lineup… they will just be SUVs.

These include Puma and its upcoming Gen-E electric counterpart; as well as the upcoming Explorer, which falls within the small and mid-size SUV segment in terms of size.

Ford only offers one type of passenger car in markets such as Australia and North America: Mustang.

Unusually, the Blue Oval has a much smaller SUV lineup here than in other markets, with Escape has malfunctioned and the Puma is about to follow it out the door – although the electric Gen-E is here to stay.