Part of the reason it was the "best selling car" was because it was stupendously cheap and lots of rental car companies and fleets bought them, even though they were horrible POS.
If you remove the fleet sales, Taurus was only a top seller for a couple of years after introduction - which is why Ford stopped breaking down sales into fleet and normal, to make their numbers look better.
I don't believe a fleet manager or rental car buyer would seek cars with a known poor reliability record because the price was right. Breakdowns are an enormous drain on profits for a rental car company since they also degrade goodwill. The last thing they want is an angry customer stranded at the side of the road.
~ Blue Jays ~
Given that Ford has a very successful 20-year run with the Taurus, had years of favorable reviews, and set the standard for mid-sized sedans for years, I'm sure that all manufacturers would have loved to have made the Taurus. An opinion of "horrible POS" flies in the face of available evidence.
I sure that every manufacturer in the world would love to make a car you would deem a "horrible POS" if it would be a successful as the Taurus. I don't think that they would care one iota that you didn't like it or wouldn't drive it.