With over 2.2 million vehicles sold last year in the United States, a 6% increase, Ford doesn’t immediately seem like a brand in need of new products. Its truck and SUV ranges continue to do the heavy lifting, with strong 2025 sales. But dealers feel that there are at least two key models missing from Ford’s local lineup. Both are at the affordable end of the price spectrum, one being a sedan and one being a smaller SUV. Dealers believe rivals are seeing enough success in these categories to justify alternative offerings from Ford.
Related: With the Ford Escape Gone, Dealers Fear Losing Massive Chunk of Customers
Cheaper Sedan and SUV Are Needed
Ford
Although larger SUVs perform well in the United States—the Ford Explorer was the best-selling three-row crossover in America last year—a number of small sedans and SUVs continue to sell in high numbers. This group includes the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Chevrolet Trax, and Subaru Crosstrek. All made the list of the top 20 best-selling models in the U.S. last year, and Ford has nothing to rival them.
“As Ford dealers, we know that our truck lineup, our commercial vehicle lineup and our SUV lineup is the envy of the industry,” said Steve Blasing, chairman of the Ford National Dealer Council, in an interview with Automotive News. “Everybody would love to have that lineup. But with that said, all the dealers will love to see an affordable SUV and a sedan that competes with the imports. So actually two.”
Presently, Ford doesn’t have any truly affordable subcompacts on sale. It ended production of the Escape late last year and the EcoSport has been gone for several years, which means its cheapest SUV is now the Bronco Sport with a starting price of $31,845—that’s a lot more than the subcompact Trax and Crosstrek. The automaker has no sedans, either, but Ford CEO Jim Farley said earlier this month that rising car prices mean the brand won’t rule out the return of the three-box body style.
The Kia K4 and new Nissan Sentra demonstrate that there’s still very much demand for affordable small sedans.
Five Affordable Fords On The Way
Ford
Late last year, Ford said it was working on launching five affordable models by 2030. One of these will be an electric pickup truck that’s expected to be priced at around the $30,000 mark. The Blue Oval’s new Universal EV platform could spawn other styles of cheaper EVs, too. If five new models are coming, we can safely assume at least two will be SUVs of some kind.
But Ford isn’t limiting itself to affordable EVs. The brand also plans to release more hybrids, as it has fallen far behind its Korean and Japanese rivals in this category. It currently has nothing to compete with the likes of the Civic Hybrid or Corolla Cross Hybrid.
Related: Ford Updates Plans: 5 New Affordable Vehicles by 2030
The New-Car Affordability Crisis
Late last year, the average price of a new car in America again topped the $50,000 mark. Consumers are taking out longer car loans and grappling with higher interest rates, and the dearth of cars below the $25k mark is exacerbating the problem—just recently, the cheapest sedan in America, Nissan’s Versa, was discontinued.
Expensive, highly specified pickup trucks continue to sell in large numbers, raising the average price of new cars. But some brands are responding, as Kia launched a new K4 Hatchback that starts at under $25,000.
Ford’s brand presence remains strong, and a new sedan and crossover at under $30k could be exactly what it needs to stay relevant for buyers with tiger budgets.
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