Article, Ford loses its last cheap vehicle to tariffs

[pigsareus]

And yet, in the Fall of 2021 (less than 4 years ago) the affordable car was alive and well; Ford offered a Small Basic Pickup Truck for $19,995 + $1, 495 Delivery ($21,490) w/ Automatic Trans, Hybrid Engine, Air Conditioning, Power Windows and Locks, Stereo.
Supply Chain... bl, blah, blah... Covid... blah, blah, blah... Tariffs... blah blah blah... Spring of 2025, Small Basic Pickup Truck w/ Automatic Trans, Hybrid Engine, Air Conditioning, Power Windows and Locks, better Stereo, Cruise for $28,145 + $1, 695 Delivery ($29,840).

40% increase in 3 1/2 years. Affordable Car died rather recently really.

'21 was intro pricing - they wanted the publicity and willing to make very little on it to get the buzz going, they could have set the price at 24K and likely got similar reception but at 21,500 it was a no brainer. Ford was rather shocked that most chose the hybrid - they weren't prepared for that - in that back then the hybrid was the base engine and the ecoboost was 1500 more that added to the choice of the hybrid

Exactly. People are acting like the Maverick starting price was still $20,000 three months ago until tariffs came around.

yep and Ford also swapped the default engine - so in '24 they lumped on 1500$ if you wanted the hybrid and didn't really say it was because of any real increase in the cost of that ....

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[NextTruck]

It's not automotive related but in a way it is. This article suggests once tested, American made because of cost increase didn't sell.

So ask yourself, would you pay 85% more for the exact same thing if the only difference was made in America vs another country?

https://www.businessinsider.com/afina-shower-head-founder-tests-paying-more-american-made-2025-5

I remember the price of cars dropping or rolling back over time when they started assembling/manufacturing parts outside the US. The consumer saw 85% price drops...........NOT!. We did not see any of those savings so where did the savings go?

 

[Hunters Edge]

I remember the price of cars dropping or rolling back over time when they started assembling/manufacturing parts outside the US. The consumer saw 85% price drops...........NOT!. We did not see any of those savings so where did the savings go?

I never remember price drops for sending manufacturing outside USA. I also didn't see it when the big 3 went to two tier wages. It's all profit but more like union busting. The price of labor is minimal on the price to manufacture it. Usually it's the same or similar to 100,000 vehicle to a 30,000 vehicle, they price vehicles what the market will bear or what is marketable.

The only thing I remember is when sales slumped badly and they offered huge rebates to move metal. Now they stay away from that and offer dealer incentives which many times are not passed to the consumer but is profit for the dealership.

Case in point A-plan pricing bought a 1997 F150 super cab 4x4. In 2008 Ford offered a 12000 rebate on F150's. So I bought a 2008 F150 crew 4x4 tow package, etc for less than what I paid for the 1997 both purchased on the A-plan with no trades.

In the 80' the cost to make an escort vs a F150 was similar labor cost only difference was metal etc that used more to make. Why do you think Ford stopped making affordable cars and went to more profitable SUV's and Trucks? It's what the market will bear. When it doesn't they have offered rebates and dealer incentives to move metal.

Edit similar to anyone selling stuff. Even in a garage sale. It's priced at what you hope or plan to get but many times drop the price to make the sale. It's doesn't matter what it costs you or what it costs to make, it's what you can get for it.

 

[skadizzle]

I can tell you that cars today outlast anything g I’ve owned in the past. Not to long ago people would avoid cars with 100k plus miles on them. Let’s not pretend or rewrite history and believe that old cars lasted longer. It’s almost common now for vehicles to still be perfectly fine after 200k not 100k.
Im more sad about home prices being so high and the fact that that then raises property taxes.
I spend vastly more on taxes that get me nothing in the way of enjoyment or value compared to my maverick.

Yeah, I wouldn't consider the Maverick in that list. Mine didn't even make it 30k miles without needing things replaced on it.

 

[Darthie]

https://www.thestreet.com/automotive/ford-loses-its-last-cheap-vehicle-to-tariffs

Ford does not need to raise prices they are being opportunistic.

 

[Snox801]

Yeah, I wouldn't consider the Maverick in that list. Mine didn't even make it 30k miles without needing things replaced on it.

Well every car model has a few outliers. The fact I know several with over 100k would counter your small sample size.
We need to talk in genealogy terms not one offs.

 

[Hunters Edge]

Ford does not need to raise prices they are being opportunistic.

I would not say opportunistic. If you are selling a product and the cost to manufacture it or the cost to sell it goes up 25% it is going to be passed along to the consumer. Similar to when diesel fuel skyrocketed years ago and shipping had to raise there rates to the buyer it was passed along to the consumer with higher grocery cost.

 

[ScubaSteveCanada]

This seems to be something that keeps coming up a lot recently as a sort of conspiracy. If you look at the destroyed vehicle manifest, the vast majority of them were vehicles approaching the end of their useful life, they just never got that last owner who drives it until it's junked / abandoned with little or no maintenance done for a few years.

There are so many other forces at play with why vehicles have got so expensive, but the main drivers are actual input cost, manufactures have abandoned money losers that filled a segment or blocked competition (one result of GM and Chrysler going bankrupt in 2008), and mostly abandoned economy vehicles with razor thin margins too. In the used space it seems like private sales are almost a thing of the past, while big companies like Carvana and Carmax that make more money on loans than cars, and pay top dollar for used cars have gained a huge amount of market share (which pushes prices up).

Go to a new car dealer (GM, Ford, Stellantis) and see how many and how prominent used vehicles are displayed. If the dealers don't send them to auction, the ones that do go will have more used car dealers chasing after fewer available cars ... the end result will be higher prices being asked for. Not a good scenario.

There is an inconsistent policy about the USMCA deal. One day the USMCA is in the gutter, the next, being honored. How to renegotiate it a year ahead of schedule.

 

[ScubaSteveCanada]

Which is a real shame. It just goes to show how few people consider their jobs/livelihoods as being tied to the manufacturing sector in this country.

HRG

That ship left the harbor a long time ago, supported by many investors that knew it was less expensive to manufacture in certain countries and then ship them to America. Walmart proved it could be done.

 

[ScubaSteveCanada]

I remember the price of cars dropping or rolling back over time when they started assembling/manufacturing parts outside the US. The consumer saw 85% price drops...........NOT!. We did not see any of those savings so where did the savings go?

To the executives, boards and stock holders.

 

[zen_]

Go to a new car dealer (GM, Ford, Stellantis) and see how many and how prominent used vehicles are displayed. If the dealers don't send them to auction, the ones that do go will have more used car dealers chasing after fewer available cars ... the end result will be higher prices being asked for. Not a good scenario.

There is an inconsistent policy about the USMCA deal. One day the USMCA is in the gutter, the next, being honored. How to renegotiate it a year ahead of schedule.

There's no doubt the supply of used vehicles has been going down, which is causing the prices go to go up (basic supply / demand).

The issue is a lot more complicated than Obama did it with cash for clunkers though. 285 million registered vehicles in the US, 600,000 that were towards the end of their life got junked, and a lot of new cars were sold at a time when there's no way GM or Chrysler would have survived without their massive bailout. Ford had already sold everything to raise cash before the capitol markets blew up, but they benefited from the program, too.

I just don't like the historical revisionism, and I keep seeing used vehicle prices blamed on cash for clunkers recently.

 

[DScruggs]

Ford does not need to raise prices they are being opportunistic.

True. They could just decide to pay the tariff and lose money.

 

[Waterick]

True. They could just decide to pay the tariff and lose money.

Where as Ford has already raised Maverick prices about 40%, I would think they could absorb most of whatever tariff they end up with on the Maverick and still be in the black.

 

[pigsareus]

True. They could just decide to pay the tariff and lose money.

yep they seem to have no problem lowering prices on EVs and losing even more $ on them ....

 

[DScruggs]

Where as Ford has already raised Maverick prices about 40%, I would think they could absorb most of whatever tariff they end up with on the Maverick and still be in the black.

Possibly. I can't rule it out.

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