Ford Motor Co.’s move to drop sedans from its lineup is equal parts turnaround bid and a calculated bet on the future of driving.

Ford F, +0.22% late Wednesday surprised markets by saying it will stop making sedans for the North American market, killing such cars as the Fiesta and the Taurus.

Surviving the cut are the iconic muscle car Mustang, and an all-new Focus Active crossover, coming out next year.

If auto industry experts have it right, the move was the correct one.

It sharpens the company’s focus on U.S. drivers’ current preference for SUVs, crossovers, and pickup trucks. Ford also said it is exploring new vehicle types that combine “the best attributes of cars and utilities, such as higher ride height, space and versatility,” likely a vehicle with raised suspension to give it an SUV flavor.

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The move shows Ford is keeping an eye on the future, when it is likely that driverless cars will drive us from point A to point B, and the only driving most humans will be doing is driving for pleasure.

“The Mustang survived and essentially represents the role cars will play in the future—iconic performance vehicles. The rest of the market will be served by trucks and SUVs,” said Karl Brauer, an analyst with Kelley Blue Book.

The sheer number of cuts at Ford, from seven car lines to two in two years, is unprecedented in the auto industry, although it mirrors what Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV has been doing in the past couple of years, he said. It is “the right move given where the market for SUVs is today,” Brauer said.

Seven out of 10 cars sold in the U.S. are crossovers, SUVs, and pickup trucks. Such vehicles have made strides in fuel economy, easing driver concern about rising gas prices and gas consumption.

“The price of gas has risen but remains relatively low compared to historic highs,” Brauer said. “More importantly, the difference in fuel efficiency between a sedan and an SUV has contracted over the past 10 years,” and likely about even for most people’s fuel budget.

A 2018 Ford Focus sedan gets 28 miles of combined city and highway driving per gallon, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s fuel economy website. A 2018 Ford Escape compact SUV similarly equipped gets 24 miles.

A 2013 Ford Escape originally covered 25 miles of city and highway driving with one gallon of gas, and a 2008 Ford Escape covered 22 miles.

According to Edmunds, the average compact car 10 years ago did 26 miles per gallon, and the average compact SUV 22 miles per gallon. Currently, an average compact car achieves 29 miles per gallon, and an average compact SUV 26 miles.

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Price bands have narrowed, too, with about $5,000 separating a 2018 Ford Focus from a 2018 Ford Escape. Besides that, in survey after survey, U.S. drivers have expressed preference for the high-riding seating position of an SUV or pickup truck.

Ford’s sedan-killing move was part of a turnaround bid that also included plans to reduce its capital spending by $5 billion in the coming years and to fast-forward some financial targets to 2020 thanks to $11.5 billion in cost-cutting and efficiency measures.

The market cheered Ford’s moves and its better-than-expected first-quarter results. Shares rose more than 3% on Thursday. Ford stock was the fourth most active in the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.28% on Thursday. Post-earnings, it was the stock’s best performance since the second quarter of 2010, then it rose more than 5%.

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Ultimately, it will all boil down to whether Ford’s vision will match its vision, analysts at Morgan Stanley said in a note Thursday. They kept the equivalent of a buy rating on the stock.

“Announced initiatives suggest an urgency to improve. But in our view, the plan lacks specifics and faces execution risk,” they said. “We think a turnaround is achievable. Actions into the summer set the tone.”

As for killing the Fusion, Fiesta, Taurus sedans in North America?

“Virtually eliminating Ford’s (North American) portfolio makes a lot of sense,” the analysts said. “Better late than never?”