[Sablewagon]

I just went to the Chicago Auto Show. Ford's exhibit was huge, overflowing with new product. Most of the limelight was shining on the new Five Hundred. That car, along with the Freestyle, appear to be the future of Ford's midsize offerings. Very little was said about the Taurus. The new Five Hundred will be built in the Chicago assembly plant, where Taurus was built. I guess Atlanta will still build taurus for the time being.
The Five Hundred is a real sweet car, with lots of fresh innovations, but it's kind of sad to see our beloved Taurus/Sable sent out to pasture.

Regards from,
Gene

 

[fvt]

Originally posted by Sablewagon@Feb 9 2004, 04:30 AM
I just went to the Chicago Auto Show. Ford's exhibit was huge, overflowing with new product. Most of the limelight was shining on the new Five Hundred. That car, along with the Freestyle, appear to be the future of Ford's midsize offerings. Very little was said about the Taurus. The new Five Hundred will be built in the Chicago assembly plant, where Taurus was built. I guess Atlanta will still build taurus for the time being.
The Five Hundred is a real sweet car, with lots of fresh innovations, but it's kind of sad to see our beloved Taurus/Sable sent out to pasture.

Regards from,
Gene

Hey Gene

That was the same deal in Philly Auto Show. The cars of the spot light were mostly GT and Stang 05. So, is it the end? well i don't know but one thing i know is these cars were good cars, NOT GREAT, but good cars. Sure once it reaches 100K + it has problems (which car doesn't). Now that I think about it (since my taurus is done with gasket problems) it was fun while it lasted but i knew i had to give it up sometime since it couldn't run forever. As far as future of taurus, I personally do not see a light at the end of the tunnel because of the 500s release. Still I think 500 is seriously underpowered. It needs more power to compete in the car market esp with 270HP accord ......

it is a great car, but not a sports car and assuming that it was a fast car was my big mistake. but what can you say, live and learn...

Take care
John

 

[ffvulcanpowah]

the impression i got was that the 500 was fords new flagship sedan. perhaps a crown vic replacement?? that would be a sad sad day when the crown vics go byebye.

 

[slider5634]

The Crown Vic can't go away. It's still widely used my the police nation wide. However, I do think that sadly enough Ford is going to let the Taurus quitely disappear from the picture.

 

[mwt]

I read in USA today a couple of weeks ago that the Crown Vic and the Marquis were the highest profit cars that Ford had. Old people roll in and pay cash for them. Also the cop market like previously stated. They are the only on frame cars that Ford still has with no major updates in 15 years other than cosmetics.

That means that Ford recouped its plant construction years ago and is is operating in the black.

 

[fvt]

yeah true, those cars look "old man" like but it is comfortable to drive. I also love its cousin Lincoln Town Car

Nice car, very comfortable.

 

[TrueBlue]

Ford's curent plan is to keep the Taurus in production until 2009. Sable will likely be gone before then.

 

[MySablesNameIsBruce]

gasp!! not the sable first? how rude... <_< they're twins, they need to stick together..

 

[slider5634]

I want my Sable to live forever too. The light bar really makes it stand out amongst the other cars of the world. They should update the body for a G5 and reiterate the light bar

 

[ffvulcanpowah]

Originally posted by slider5634@Feb 9 2004, 12:47 PM
I want my Sable to live forever too. The light bar really makes it stand out amongst the other cars of the world. They should update the body for a G5 and reiterate the light bar

now that i would seriously like to see. lightbar+modern innovation=sa-weet!

 

[XLSuruaT]

yeah, seriously, the lightbar is abolsute pimp!

From the way it looks, Ford has given up on the taurus. Since it is a large car, the 500 competes very well in the large car class, more so better than the taurus. I'm pretty sure the taurus will be axed after the futura and the 500 are confortably in the market. Maybe I missed this, but what platform is the 500 on?

 

[joe5.0]

BTW The Acord has 240hp, not 270.

 

[2FST4U2C]

Originally posted by XLSuruaT@Feb 9 2004, 05:10 PM
yeah, seriously, the lightbar is abolsute pimp!

From the way it looks, Ford has given up on the taurus. Since it is a large car, the 500 competes very well in the large car class, more so better than the taurus. I'm pretty sure the taurus will be axed after the futura and the 500 are confortably in the market. Maybe I missed this, but what platform is the 500 on?

iirc the volvo s60/80/v70 platform, someone correct me if i'm wrong here

 

[jason8225]

Originally posted by 2FST4U2C+Feb 9 2004, 07:43 PM-->QUOTE (2FST4U2C @ Feb 9 2004, 07:43 PM)

<!--QuoteBegin-XLSuruaT

@Feb 9 2004, 05:10 PM
yeah, seriously, the lightbar is abolsute pimp!

From the way it looks, Ford has given up on the taurus.  Since it is a large car, the 500 competes very well in the large car class, more so better than the taurus.  I'm pretty sure the taurus will be axed after the futura and the 500 are confortably in the market.  Maybe I missed this, but what platform is the 500 on?

iirc the volvo s60/80/v70 platform, someone correct me if i'm wrong here [/b]

That's what I was thinking...

Sadly enough, I have to agree that the Taurus will just have a sad, silent goodbye.

Not something I want to think about.

Oh well, let's enjoy them while they're here! I know we'll see them on the road for years to come!

 

[jj57]

The Ford "Panther" Cars (Crown Vic, G. Marq, Town Car, and Marauder) are the most profitable cars the company has.

As it is listed now, the taurus will continue until 2009 and the Sable until 2005.

Could this change? Sure, it all depends on the 500 and the Montego. The big drawback is can they compete cost wise?

Ford really needs to update the Taurus/Sable with more luxury amenities that are found on the Accord/Camry and make it at a reasonable price.

Wouldn't it be nice to have, EVEN AS OPTIONS:

-Heated Seats
-Memory Seats
-Better Fuel Econ
-More power
-DVD/GPS Nav system
-Revised Dash with a Better message center

And not all "old men" drive panthers, I am under 30 an own one. I like driving it better than the Sable to be honest.

All of these changes could have been done to better compete with the Accord/Camry and made a better car instead of a whole new platform.

 

[jason8225]

I completely agree with you JJ - rather than letting the Taurus "Fade Away" they should be adding some features and whatnot. The Taurus was the first production car with the adjustable pedals

But they eliminated the rear air vents and heated mirrors (I think) on the Gen 4's which was dumb. Plus I wish I had butt warmers. DVD players would definitely be nice, they are putting them in the explorers/equivalents and the new minivans, but they are just letting the Taurus slip away. If anything, they should let it go out with a "bang" and just start loading them up with features. It cannot possibly increase the production costs all that much by adding the few features you mentioned.

 

[93taurusSX]

I think I read somewhere that the 2009 plan also includes slowly (silently) shifting the Taurus's focus to fleets and the like (if it isnt enough as it is). It'll be sad to see the name end, but think about it guys, the new generation that will replace it has a chance to be more powerful, better equipped, and all that so it might actually compete directly with other cars that the Taurus used to be compared to (camry, accord, altima, etc).

 

[jj57]

What really is going to piss me off is the price of the new sedans. The AWD sedans will hit the $30K territory and the fact that the cheapest will be around $25,000 equipped with S**T.

They are going to be forcing people that wanted a mid-size car into a Focus.

And speaking of that, how much you want to bet that the focus may get a V-6 option, climate control.... ETC... to replace the creature comforts that you can no longer afford.

Instead of just upgrading what they had, they go ahead a F-up a perfectly good thing.

 

[slider5634]

I wonder what kind of responses we'd get from Ford if they saw this post.

 

[Reinhart]

Originally posted by slider5634@Feb 10 2004, 08:21 AM
I wonder what kind of responses we'd get from Ford if they saw this post.

They would not say anything and proceed with their plans.

Sometimes, the car business, especially the American business, doesn't make the kinds of cars that people want. They make what THEY think the people want.

As for the Ford 500, I like how it looks, but it looks too much like a Volkswagen Passat with a Ford badge on it. Unoriginality is sometimes a sign of mediocrity, IMO.

It's also too conservative. One of the main reasons why the Taurus and Sable were successful from 1985-1995 was that it had a design and shape that was truly bold and original back at that time. The 500 is too ho-hum to compete against the competition, especially from the imports.

It still painfully reminds me of being just another car. They really must put more pizzazz along with good engineering into their cars to give an incentive to the buyer. Otherwise, the buyer may look elsewhere if you can't keep his/her interest. - Reinhart