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Ford Revives the Taurus

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

February 12, 2007

• Truck and SUV Sales Plunge in August • GM Aims High-Mileage Cruze At U.S. Market • GM Offers Employee Prices to Spur Slow Sales • U.S. Consumers Favor Japanese and German Automakers • Automakers Report Huge Drop in Sales • GM Cuts Prices for February • Toyota Sales for 2007 May Surpass GM • New GM Sale May Challenge Bargain Hunters • GM Hangs on as World's No. 1 Automaker • Saturn Outlook Gets High Marks from Consumer Reports • Summer Car Sales Start to Sizzle • Consumer Reports Lists Best New Car Deals • Chrysler Dumps Remaining 2006 Inventory on Used Car Market --- • More about Auto Sales ...

The new management at Ford Motor Co. is bringing back the Taurus and Sable nameplates in a desperate hope that renaming the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego sedans for the 2008 model year will produce bullish sales for the troubled automaker.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally and Ford's President of the Americas Mark Felds consider the Taurus nameplate to be an icon.

As a 1986 Ford model the Taurus led the automaker to revived profits and remained the best-selling car in the U.S. from 1992 through 1996. Sales began to fall in the late 1990s, though, and in 2006 production ended.

The Toyota Camry is the number-one selling car in the country now and s also the number-one competition for the newly renamed Taurus.

The soon-to-be Ford Taurus which is still known at the Ford Five Hundred has a base price of $23,785, compared with base prices of $19,090 for the Toyota Camry so the competition is likely to be intense.

"Honestly, we never should have walked away from the tremendous equity we built in the Taurus and Sable names," Fields said. Since joining the automaker last year, Ford CEO Mulally has publicly questioned the wisdom of dropping the Taurus nameplate.

When the Taurus was first introduced, the car became famous for its rounded shape. By 2006 the car was synonymous for dull transportation.

In its current configuration, the Five Hundred seems underpowered and reflects the conservative attitude at Ford. A redesigned version of the Five Hundred features more chrome and a more powerful engine under the hood. That car will be rebadged as the Taurus when sales begin in the summer.

The old Taurus was best know at ConsumerAffairs.com for coil springs that would break without warning and cost several hundred dollars to repair.

Jerry in Robbinsville, North Carolina was among those who experienced the problem with Taurus springs.

"I have replaced the front struts on my 2002 Taurus twice," he wrote. "I have replaced tires twice. The car was and still is unstable and makes noises as you are driving. It goes clunk, clunk, clunk"

Alan faced a similar problem in Thompson, Ohio this year.

"My wife was driving our 2002 Ford Taurus to work in mid December. The left spring broke into 3 pieces on a smooth road Fortunately she is not a fast driver and was not hurt."

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