This is what they're currently telling us is a Taurus. Check out the razorblade face!
Posted on 01/31/2008 4:21:51 PM PST by Spktyr
Ford executives belittle Taurus design while pushing next version EXECUTIVES TRASH CURRENT TAURUS' DESIGN, PUSH NEXT LINE OF SEDAN DETROIT - Belittling your product probably isn't a great marketing tool, but two top Ford Motor executives recently criticized the looks of the new Taurus sedan, with one comparing it to doofus cartoon character Homer Simpson. While speaking in Detroit this month, Chief Executive Alan Mulally and Derrick Kuzak, head of global product development, took shots at the current Taurus. During a speech to industry insiders, Mulally hinted that a new, nicer-looking Taurus is coming in the next year or so, adding a crack about the current car. "The new Taurus that you're going to see in the next year or so is the one we should have made originally," he said while addressing a seminar. "It is just fabulous." Kuzak went even further while speaking to a group of analysts. He projected a slide with the portly, balding, doughnut-devouring Simpson standing above a Ford Five Hundred, the sedan that was renamed the Taurus last year. Next to Homer were cartoon images of Superman and Mr. Incredible, each above small drawings of sleeker versions of the Taurus that could hint at the next generation of the family sedan. "As you walk from a Homer Simpson design to a Superman design, it's all about millimeters matter," Kuzak told the analysts. He pointed to minuscule differences in the bumpers and the proportion between the window glass and the body side. He also noted the need to fill the wheel well with the right-size tires. "That's only delivered when the engineering team does not dumb down the design because of engineering and manufacturing feasibility concerns," Kuzak said.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
"The move, though, failed to resuscitate already sagging sales. Ford sold only 68,178 Taurus and Five Hundred sedans last year, down 19 percent from 2006."
For all of you who thought that bringing back the Taurus name would help sell cars... how exactly do you like your crow prepared?
“Taurus” not selling ping!
What, exactly, do you have engineers for, anyway?
Read “engineering and manufacturing feasibility concerns” as “beancounters refused to pay $1 more per car to make it not suck.”
I’m surprized the suits at Ford have little care or concern for the Ford Taurus/500/Whatever.
These are just FANTASTIC rental units.
Please!
I hope that was sarcasm. While I haven’t had a chance to drive the new “Taurus”, the prior “Five Hundred” was the worst car in its segment, IMHO.
I work with a guy who worked at Ford for 10 years and he left because he got sick of the place, especially the lip service given to “Quality.” He says they went to all-day quality seminars, but when push came to shove on the shop floor, it was business as usual.
Not surprised. This is the company that had the ad slogan: “Have you driven a Ford LATELY?” The implication being “we don’t suck nearly as much as we used to”.
Back when Ford’s slogan was “Quality Is Job 1,” they never did say just *what* quality was Job 1. It certainly wasn’t design or build quality. Looks like it was “UAW Thug Salary Quality.”
Yes, it was sarcasm.
But the new Taurus has a more refined 3.5 V6 that the 500 did not have.
Now whether that makes much difference at all.....
I don’t know.
No, it’s not going to make a difference.
They had the right idea in the first place, get rid of the Taurus nameplate.
*Everyone* in my age group (thirty-somethings) associates “Taurus” with “crap.”
Also, looking at the other cars in the class (bigger-than-Camry sized), almost everyone else has an optional V8, rear wheel drive, a manual transmission, all-wheel drive or some combination of the above for the same price as the FWD/AWD V6-only Taurus.
The Taurus cannot win against the Chrysler 300 or the Pontiac G8.
These were two high-level executives, so it wasn't a loose canon thing. This is guaranteed to hack off dealers, and it makes their advertising look very disingenuous. Ford dealers are hurting right now. I recently dropped by a few, and it was like walking into a house where someone was dying. After dealers take delivery of these cars, they have to sell them. If Ford trashes their own cars, these dealers may end up having to take several thousand dollar losses per vehicle just to move them. Bottom line, at $6.64 a share, I'd still have to see Ford do SOMETHING right before buying. PS. The new Mustang is still cool.
The original Taurus is how a friend of mine, a 19 year old mechanic that sheered sheep for extra money, bought a house. He told me that 80% of the vehicles he worked on were Taurus’s. I also noticed that he never owned a Ford.
When the Hyundai Genesis near-luxury model gets here, even Lexus, Infiniti, BMW and Mercedes will lose market share:
http://www.hyundaiusa.com/vehicle/availablesoon/Genesis_Coupe.aspx
This is what they're currently telling us is a Taurus. Check out the razorblade face!
Also, check out the fake porthole/vent on the fender! Yes, that’s STOCK.
So, basically what you’re telling us is that he sheared sheep for a living, and then earned more money by shearing other sheep?
Taurus, that’s like a horoscope sign isn’t it?
My 4 year old Ford Explorer has a cracked body panel below the rear window and needs to have the rear differential worked on after 60,000 miles.
The dealer said both are common problems, but they don’t affect safety so there is no recall.
I’ll consider buying a Ford again in, say, 2030.
If they are still in business.
At that time, odds are good my 2008 Toyota Corolla will still be running...
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