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.
Technically, I am a senior (now age 59) and bought a Taurus in 03. I wanted a sedan and the Japanese cars (Camry for ex) were more expensive and had less room. The real senior car would have been the Crown Vic. My Wife told me that was an old person's car.
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I am on my third Crown Vic, a police interceptor, I personally don't give a rat's rectum who calls it an old man's car, it rides and drives the way I want it to. I am an old man and proud to have made it this far, in fact I am old enough to remember when the Crown Vic was a young man's car. I sure wish I could afford a 1956 Crown Vic now.
Do you know how old those stories are? I heard the same stories about different models in the 1960s.
Well the contour was just bland.. the Mondeo is a sleek looking car.
Vipers are so beautiful. I'd take one over a Corvette, even thought the Vette is both "better" and cheaper.
Yes, they're old, but the union goons have been doing it at least that long - and they even crow about it on their web sites!
Plus, I OWN one of the vehicles they screwed up!
will the tranny fall out like on the "old" Taurus'?
I am thinking about Trading in my 2002 Z-28 on the goat. The Z-28 is faster but the 6-speed 400hp looks like a ton of fun.
Among others. Unless I misremember, it was the last American-made car to be the best-selling model in the US -- it's been all Civic, Tercel and Camry since then. It was also offered with a police package, and after the old Thunderbird was discontinued, it was Ford's fastest car and its NASCAR package.
It grew long in the tooth, but when it was introduced, the Taurus was hugely influential -- the curved lines you see on every almost every car model today can be traced back to the Taurus. It wasn't the most inspiring car in the world, but it wasn't a K-car, and it was a step in the US automakers' comeback. Which appears, sadly, to be short-lived.
No, but both being run by a Ford makes it painfully obvious where the problem is.
Sharp CAr!
I owned a 62 1/2 Ford Falcon Sprint, first introduced mid 1962. Had a 260 v8. 3 speed, bucket seats. console chrome. Drove the crap out of it. Something burned up the wiring so I parked it at my dad's farm. sat there for a few years. parted it out for $50.00.
Wish I still had it. Saw one the other day that was partially restored that sold for $11K.
I would take a classic anything over what we get now.
It is very hard to distinguish between manufacturers.
Except for the box car Scion. The ugliest pos I have ever seen on the road. Even the vans have no imagination anymore.
If it wasn't for American Automakers generously sharing their technology with those nations as a rebuilding gesture after their wars, the Japanese and Korean automakers would not be where they are today.
I have owned a 79 Ford Truck, a 91 Ford Truck, a 97 Ford Truck and bought a 2006 Ford Truck. Believe it or not, the price almost doubled between each model I bought.
Do I have a better truck? Absolutely. And my wife loves her 2004 Ford Escape. I think it is a mistake by not considering American Manufacturers. We both have been totally satisfied and feel like we have not settled for inferior. My wife used to own Toyotas. Not that she wouldn't go back. But why are they so much higher in price when there is very little difference in the product?
You may be right about Ford firing their marketing dept.
They are being outmarketed, but not outproduced.
It was the #1 selling car in America for several years running.
I rented a Taurus last year and loved it. It handled and rode great.
the Japanese and Korean automakers would not be where they are today.
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A valid point but once we gave them everything they needed they worked to improve every aspect of the business, from labor to management to assembly to marketing and sales. We didn't keep up and we're seeing the results now.
My boss, the company's owner, had a favorite expression. Don't tell me what you've done for the company in the past. Tell me what your doing for the company's future.
Interesting considering the Taurus had one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings of any car and was the number seller in America for several years.
I had one and drove it into the ground at 200,000, got another one and drove it about 3/4 of the way into the ground and gave it to friend's brother (hardship case).
Didn't go for a third.
did you even know that the Ford Fusion is rated higher
Web site link?
Yes, but that was the eighties and cars have moved on since then. And it hasn't been a "best seller" in over a decade.
The Model T was good in its day, too, but I still wouldn't want to drive one on modern roads.
http://www.geocities.com/cordobakaf/dodge_wildcat.html
And from 1969: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900772,00.html?promoid=googlep
"Strikes and Sabotage. Operating through an organization known as DRUM, for "Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement," the angries began last July by shutting down the old Dodge Main Plant in Hamtramck with a day and a half of wildcat picketing. They demanded, among other things, more black foremen, a Negro plant manager, abolition of union dues for Negroes and, for good measure, replacement of Chrysler Chairman Lynn Townsend with a Negro. On Jan. 27 another wildcat picket line closed Chrysler's Eldon Avenue axle plant for half a day. On one occasion, report United Auto Workers officials, a Chrysler foreman was doused with gasoline. Eight weeks ago, a company labor representative, a Negro, was stabbed in the back when he told a DRUM member that he was being suspended for repeatedly jostling a foreman.
Union officers insist that the fear spread by such incidents has damaged plant discipline because foremen shut their eyes to infractions rather than risk personal attack. The U.A.W. reports that troublemakers have set fires in some plants and damaged new cars by scratching the fresh paint with screwdrivers. Chrysler officials say that some machinery has been deliberately disabled. Douglas A. Fraser, head of the U.A.W.'s Chrysler department, warns: "Sabotage can be deadly, and some of that is going on.""
From 1972: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,905747,00.html
"Sabotage at Lordstown?"
"Hardly anybody calls it sabotage—yet. But last October somebody deliberately set fire to an assembly-line control box shed, causing the line to shut down. Autos regularly roll off the line with slit upholstery, scratched paint, dented bodies, bent gearshift levers, cut ignition wires, and loose or missing bolts. In some cars, the trunk key is broken off right in the lock, thereby jamming it. The plant's repair lot has space for 2,000 autos, but often becomes too crowded to accept more."
Plenty of evidence out there.
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