Ford ditches the sedans

Ford has announced it will cleave an additional $11.5 billion from spending plans and discontinue several sedan models in North America, reports The New York Times and Bloomberg. Ford aims to reach a global profit margin of 8% by 2020. To achieve this, the carmaker is also weighing up selling some operations in Europe and South America, per the Times. Ford's chief financial officer, Robert Shanks, said more expensive steel and aluminum prices had hurt the company's margins in North America. The discontinuation of sedan models means Ford will eventually sell only Mustangs and the all-new Focus Active crossover, to be released in 2019, reports Bloomberg. The move reflects a broader trend in the auto industry, as Americans increasingly prefer trucks and SUVs.