Ford and General Motors are doing a little house cleaning, and a few models from each brand are expected to get discarded in the near future. On the chopping block on Ford’s end are the Taurus and the Fiesta. They’re expected to be joined by the Chevrolet Sonic after a Wall Street Journal report revealed that all three models are now on borrowed time in the U.S.

Death in the Blue Oval Family

The WSJ report wasn’t sugar-coating anything. According to its sources, the Fiesta will no longer be offered in the U.S. this year. That’s actually not a shock because Ford never brought the latest generation to the States after it debuted in other regions back in 2016. A 2018 model was still made, but declining interest in the model made it expendable, something Ford’ B-segment program manager, Robert Stiller, confirmed last year. So, the Fiesta’s out.

The Fusion’s exit was also hinted at a few months ago after reports surfaced that Ford had canceled the model’s mid-cycle update. Now, a different report is claiming that the Blue Oval is moving forward without the Fusion in its lineup. There’s still no timetable on the aging nameplate’s status, but don’t expect to see it around very long. Admittedly, this is a bit of a bitter pill to swallow, especially for those who, at one point in their lives, owned a Taurus. It’ll never be considered one of Ford’s most iconic models, but it is leaving a lasting legacy as one of its most popular models, particularly in the 90’s when it was routinely going up against the likes of the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. But alas, the Taurus has fallen victim to the deadly cocktail of slow sales and consumer indifference.

Speaking of slow sales, how about we say a little prayer to the Chevrolet Sonic, as well?

GM Signed a Death Warrant Too!

The General’s little subcompact has been on a sales tailspin in recent years, and it appears that GM doesn’t want any part of it anymore. The same WSJ report indicated that as early as this year, we could be seeing the end of the Chevrolet Sonic in both sedan and hatchback forms. Like the Fiesta and Taurus, the Sonic’s fate was sealed because of falling sales figures and the lack of a viable business case to continue producing it.

Considering how much the U.S. industry has evolved in recent years with the advent of electrification and autonomous driving technology, automakers are being forced to get rid of anything that can be considered dead weight. It’s harsh to describe the Ford Fiesta and Taurus, as well as the Chevrolet Sonic, in those terms, but it is the reality facing a lot of companies these days. Resources are at a premium these days, and if it’s being put on models that don’t yield positive returns, then they have to go. Those resources could be put to better use elsewhere.

And so, here we are. Three models that used to populate the roads of America are all headed for the chopping block. It’s sad to see these models go, but that’s the auto biz for you.

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Read our full review on 2014 Ford Taurus.

Read our full review on the 2017 Ford Fiesta.

Read our full review on the 2017 Chevrolet Sonic.

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