Posted on 02/06/2007 7:34:06 AM PST by Spktyr
Ford will announce on Wednesday plans to rename its Five Hundred mid-size sedan "Taurus," according to a report by Dow Jones Newswires. The name change will be announced at the Chicago auto show.
A month ago, a report in BusinessWeek suggested Ford could revive the Taurus name, but it seemed unlikely at the time.
CEO Alan Mulally was quoted as saying Ford should have never dropped the nameplate in the first place. "I havent had time to do the deep dive on why we stopped investing in Taurus, but I'd like to," said Ford CEO Alan Mulally. "The Ford Five Hundred should have been the new Taurus."
In the same report, Ford's new marketing chief Barry Engle expressed a similar sentiment. Asked why Ford doesn't rename the Fusion or the Five Hundred "Taurus," Engle said, "stranger things have happened […] I don't know why we invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a name over 20 years and then walk away from it."
Ford revealed the redesigned 2008 Five Hundred at the Detroit auto show in January. Ford gave the sedan new headlights, taillights, and its three-bar signature grille.
Another 12 billion down the drain...
Is Matt Millen running Ford as well as the Lions?
Some people hate Ford because it's fashionable to do so.
Some people hate Tauruses because it's fashionable to do so.
It doesn't have to make sense, nor does it have to relate to reality. There's nothing rational about it.
Look for words related to "excitement" or "style" as a clue that rational discussion is not happening.
Really,
And so is the Volvo it was sprung from? Go drive the revamped 08' model.
CEO Alan Mulally. Nostalgic for crap.
I guess that homosexual niche market is working out for Ford very well.
AWD would have been great but they mated it with a CVT transmission which is questionable at best. I was seriously thinking about buying one last year but walked away because of the transmission issues.
No, the Volvo is actually better. Mostly because it's not put together by UAW goons.
I'm waiting for the dealer over here to get an 08 in (sales have been slow for their remaining inventory, I wonder why) but based on past experience, it will probably still suck. The suspension tuning was rubbish, and the very first one I drove a few years back with a CVT had the transmission grenade with 20 miles on the clock. The second one had a transmission that made some very disturbing noises. The third one I drove was a rental (last year) and it was pretty bad for the class. Not as embarassingly bad as the last Taurus, but in a class with the Chrysler 300, it's definitely not up to par.
In short residuals stunk from so many in fleet sales. Hard to get people to buy when the used values are going to be low and you could buy a Hertz Fleeter for a good price.
Designing a replacement with a different name from Volvo DNA that is a quantum leap was not such a bad idea.
I drive a Freestyle (Wagon Version) and got to drive an older Taurus back to back a few months ago. A world of difference.
Interestingly, Nissan seems to have gotten their CVT to work, unlike Ford/ZF. Most of those Muranos running around have a CVT behind a V6 and AWD - and they put it in their Maxima last year, no problems.
"Actually, the Taurus had good sales and became well known as the standard in fleet cars."
It was such a popular car that the Braniacs at Ford decided to stop making them.
I had a 1990 Merc Sable for 14 years. It drove beautifully until we -- yes -- traded it in.
Paint that car Guardsman blue with a white top and thats the car I learned how to drive in.:)
08' has new front and rear fascia, interior upgrades and 60+ more ponies. The CVT is gone, 6 speed is the norm. For what it's worth I really like the CVT and with 20K it has not grenaded.
Peter Principle in Action award!!!
Instead of being competent in producing good cars, they try to appear competent by changing the name. They are stupid enough to think a name change will solve their problems.
I owned a Taurus and I liked that car. We got more than 300,000 miles out of it before a poor job of replacing the heater core resulted in a severe overheat and a blown engine (probably could have saved the engine if I wasn't trying to nurse it home). It wasn't the best looking car I've owned, but it did what I needed it to.
One can only hope that it will be better. Until I get my hands on one, I can only go by past experience with the platform.
Here's a RWD V8 like mine:
My 1995 Lexus LS400 has been such a great car that I bought a second one, a 2000 LS400. Both were cheaper than buying new, and neither has needed anything other than routine maintenance.
The ride, steering, looks, and finish are very different than what we see here. I don't know what service history would be, but I've always wondered why it wasn't brought over here.
I know. I was kinda perplexed as to why they stopped making a car that businesses bought as standard fleet cars. It had decent sales throughout its life.
I think that they shouold have renamed it Pinto. That doesn't start with "F" either.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.