@ucbalumnus
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/scion-xb-built-for-teens-drove-by-elderly-regular-car-reviews-79974.html
“most of them ended up in the driveway of over-50-year-old drivers with arthritis” 
It’s not about loyalty to a model. It’s about shortsightedness. @Scipio nailed it.
https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/27/heres-when-ford-will-stop-making-most-of-its-cars/
End dates of production of current models of Ford cars (model year of last major redesign for US market, current assembly plant):
Focus (2012, Michigan): May 2018. Michigan will build the Ranger and Bronco. Next generation Focus Active will be built in China.
C-Max (2013, Michigan): Mid-2018, probably same as the Focus.
Taurus (2010, Chicago): March 2019. Chicago will build the next generation Explorer and police version.
Fiesta (2011, Cuautitlan): May 2019. No announcement for what Cuautitlan will produce after. Next generation Fiesta is already for sale in other markets, but not planned for the US.
Fusion (2013, Hermosillo): Not announced, later than the rest. No announcement for what Hermosillo will produce after.
Mustang (2015, Flat Rock): Rumors that the next generation Mustang will be built at Flat Rock in 2020 or 2021.
Note that most of the current Ford car lineup in the US is rather old in terms of design age, and the discontinuation dates of the current models are not surprising. But there may not be any next generation replacements for some of them in the US market.
If you want a new C-Max or current-generation Focus, you do not have much time left to buy one.
@prezbucky, my H had a Fusion until recently. Although it was a nice car in many ways, it had bad sight lines out the back. It developed an intermittent problem starting that Ford could not diagnose. He finally said the hell with it, sold it, and bought a Camry: our first Japanese car.
Some companies like Mazda make great small, compact SUVs. In general, the US automakers have inferior products to their competition and they are doing what they can to try and keep up.
In addition, everything is moving towards electric technology and within the next 10 years, most cars will have autonomous driving. In the not too distant future, our 16 year old kids will not need a drivers license as driverless cars will be everywhere and will get them to wherever they need to go.
I would not count on driverless cars taking over in 10 years, but I would not be surprised to be able to see that happening during my lifetime. And EVs will be steadily taking over, but gas powered cars are still going to be here in 20 years or even longer.
Too much hype on both. Driverless cars are decades off. The current crop of engineers have no clue what they are doing when it comes to that type of automation. They need help from the airplane guys who will tell them they are a long way off.
EVs are fine and serve a purpose. But batteries still suck. It will be a while.
When shopping for a car for Lake Jr. a couple of years ago, we took a look at a used Mazda 3; the rather sporty hatchback version. What a great car! Nice feel. Good styling; and the price, compared to the competition, was a steal.
EV’s batteries are OK. The only problem is the price/mass production. According to a recent independent review, Tesla’s battery and its power management software tech apparently is significantly superior to the LG and Samsung tech that Nissan, BMW, etc. use, but Tesla Model 3 needs more work as body mechanics are lagging behind. And the infamous Elon’s robots just did not do as well as humans on the assembly line.