- Ford will launch five sub-40,000 models in the U.S. this decade.
- The new car will include a truck, an SUV and a van.
- All will have fresh names and different powertrains.
New car prices in the United States have never been higher. Last December, the average transaction price hit a record 50,326. For most of 2025, the average MSRP exceeded $50,000, according to the Cox Automotive Study. There’s clearly a need for more affordable vehicles, and Ford says it plans to kill two birds with one stone.
Not only is the automaker producing five sub-40,000 models, it’s also filling a massive void in its lineup: a car. One of these vehicles, set to launch by the end of the decade, will be something other than the usual truck or SUV. The announcement was made this week during Ford’s Nada Show meeting in Las Vegas, where the company reaffirmed its commitment to more affordable models.
Automotive News Reference Ford Blue and Model E president Andrew Frick, who said the new lineup will span “cars, trucks, SUVs, vans.” All of them will offer “multi-energy” powertrains, meaning a mix of combustion engines, hybrids and EVs. Leading the charge will be a mid-size electric pickup truck due to arrive in 2027. All five vehicles will wear fresh nameplates and there will be no redesign of the existing models.
Ford hasn’t shared details about the new car, but it can’t arrive soon. The Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, and Taurus are long gone, leaving the Mustang as the brand’s only model that isn’t a truck, SUV, or van. The situation is similar globally, with some exceptions, such as the Middle East and China, where a Mondeo/Taurus large sedan is still sold.
Last month, Ford CEO Jim Farley explained that sedans disappeared because the company couldn’t make them profitable. Earlier he said the Fiesta and Focus, models that were “loved by a lot of customers”, also had to be retired for financial reasons. In short. , the blue oval wasn’t making enough money to sustain them.
When a new car is headed to America, so is Europe. Ford recently struck a deal with Renault to launch two models engineered and built by the French automaker. The first is due in early 2028, both riding on Renault’s Ampere EV platform. It’s too early to know their exact body styles, but Renault’s electric lineup includes hatchbacks (Tongo, 4, 5) and crossovers (Magne, Natural), some of which already have Nissan and Subaru siblings.
Take Motor 1: Ford has been without a conventional car in the U.S. since the Fusion was discontinued in 2020, following the earlier demise of the Taurus, Focus and Fiesta. While it’s unclear what segment the new model will target, it’s refreshing to see Ford commit to something beyond its usual slate of SUVs and trucks.
Ford’s promise of electric powertrains is unlikely to be Fiesta-sized. Packaging a hybrid system in a small car is difficult, so we’d expect the newcomers to be at least a compact, if not a midsize, model.
