More Ford news. Job cuts and end of Ford GT. Update: End of Ford Taurus

[Tornado]

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Ford's cut is way way forward[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT] [SIZE=-1]
In January, Ford's American boss Mark Fields announced the "Way Forward" rescue plan which is to cut 30,000 workers from its North American division. Now after Alan Mulally joined the company as CEO, "Way Forward" is way way forward. Ford has announced to cut another 14,000 white collar employees in the North America, equivalent to one-third of its salaried work force !! at the same time, the factory closing list will grow from 14 plants to 16 plants, and that will be brought forward from 2012 to 2008 !!

Of course, cutting so many people and plants implies Ford estimated its sales will continue to slide. Now it says its market share in North America will drop from last year's 18 percent to between 14 and 15 percent in the future. That should let Toyota to get pass it. In global basis, it's third position could be threatened by Volkswagen group after the production slash.

As I always say, cutting production is not a solution to the problem. The most important is to launch good cars to lure customers back. Disappointingly, Ford has no such plans. The only new car in its pipeline is a 7-seat crossover based on the Fairlane concept (that ugly car is no way to save Ford !!). Besides that is Lincoln MKS (based on Volvo S80 platform) but you have already known it. Facing European and Japanese premium cars it will be another sales failure anyway. Perhaps most shocking is that Ford will continue to build the ancient Lincoln Town Car. Rather than killing it together with its assembly plant, Ford decided to move its production line to another plant. This reveals how bad the situation is: Ford has no good products and no choices to replace the aging Town Car.

Fairlane concept

No wonder Alan Mulally estimated its sales will continue to slide in the coming years and it won't return to profitable until at least 2009. The good news is: at least he is more realistic than the dreamer Bill Ford Junior.

Not good, eh?
At least Mulally seems to be trying to fix the company.
Well, now for the confirmation of the death of awesome:

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Goodbye Ford GT

By this Thursday (Sep 21), Ford will end the production of its GT mid-engined supercar. By then a total of 4,038 cars will have been built. American car enthusiasts will definitely miss it.

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[SIZE=-1]A shame Ford couldn't manage to market the car in relation to the other Fords in the brand. Pick one up fast! They stop building it tomorrow!
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[Robin]

Its a real pity that this is all happening to Ford, but really they should have identified these problems earlier on and modernised to compete with imports... now its kind of too late! I suppose its the same story with Rover, but on a much smaller scale, bad management and poor decisions ment that opportunites where not taken.....and eventually it fell apart.....

The last resort for Ford (and most companies) is cut jobs... its not pretty but maybe they will be able to survive as a smaller brand.....they really got to big for there own good..... funnily enough Ford Europe and for example Vauxhall are doing very well and always have done compared to their american owners I suppose the markets are just so different.....

As for the GT...... thats a real pity..... what a great car like the original..... It was great when they actually decided to make it from concept and it looked just as good..... although I do remember Clarkson's one and the loads of problems he had with it !!! First he waited like a year for it, then the alarm always went off randomly, the battery would always die, the engine had problems, it was too big for UK roads and parts had to be sent for the US to fix it.....and find someone in the UK who knows how to fix it!

Hopefully it will live on as a kit car or private company replica thingys like the original GT40 ones that are out there.....

Robin

 

[1X83Z]

You know, I attribute this entire drop in sales and jobs - the ENTIRE THING to Ford's inability to predict various market trends, mainly the rise of the 250hp 3.5-liter V6. I honestly think if Ford and GM merge historians are going to look back and say, "if they had 50 more horsepower and another half-liter of displacement, they wouldn't have merged."

 

[YSSMAN]

What's Wrong With Ford, By Brad Ysseldyke:

Looking at the drastic changes that the three major American automotive powers have made over the past few years, one has to question the rationality of each brand and how well they have accomplished their tasks. Out of the three, General Motors seems to have come out of it with an optimistic and positive attitude, with products people want to buy, and options to fix their lineup. Cars like the Aura, Cobalt, HHR, Solstice/Sky, and even a few trucks have managed to keep hold of their market share, and stimulate interest in the brand.

DaimlerChrysler, although having interesting and small-scale successes on hand, are undoubtedly in the worst shape of the three... Waiting for whats comming instead of taking care of whats now is going to be the thing that kills DCX, but we can reserve that discussion for another thread...

But this is about Ford, whats wrong with them, and what can be done to fix it.

First, the good news. Ford finially got smart and dumped Billy as CEO, as he was blindly driving the comapany into the ground. Lets hope the new guy can take care of stuff, otherwise we may begin to see the collapse of the world's third-largest automaker.

Overall, my biggest problem with how Ford is handeling everything is the fact that it seems is though they don't have a solution for all of their problems. It is either someone else's fault, or a small mis-step in the design process, but never the fault of the idiots at Ford who make the big decisions. It is time for the heads of the company to become resonsible for their actions, step-up, and create products that people in America want to buy...

Take the Lincoln MKZ (formerly the Zephyr), argueably one of the dumbest ideas in Ford's history. Being that it is essentially an overly-lux Mazda 6 that won a drag-queen contest. No one in their right mind is going to buy a MKZ over a CTS, as they are nearly the same price, the Cadillac having twice the refinement of the MKZ.

Not having a plan for Lincoln in the way that GM revitalized Cadillac is going to hurt them even further down the road. It can be argued that far too many on Lincoln's sales are dependant on vehicles such as the Navigator and Mark LT, both of which not being that much better than the Expedition and F150 they are based uppon. Lincoln needs RWD to succeed in the luxury market, otherwise they are going to be regulated to comeption with Buick, a slot that Mercury used to hold quite easily.

...Speaking of Mercury, when was the last time they made a car anyone cared about? Maybe instead of dumping money into models that nobody cares about at different brands, Ford should be spending money to revamp the Mercury lineup to actually make them appealing to average folks once again.

Which all goes back to Ford. Why oh why isn't there a direction for this brand anymore? For a short period of time it was the "Year of the Car," while plenty of attention went to trucks nobody cares about, and Billy pushed his Hybrid program on an model that didn't need it. The Ford brand needs to be placed uppon a clean sheet, and completely revamped. Models like the Fivehundred and Edge aren't going to cut it anymore, and I think Ford is going to realise that very soon.

...And the business over Land Rover and Jaguar, not to mention Aston Martin is getting quite stupid as well. Why sell the brands that argueably hold the most promise for the company as a whole? Certainly they are losing money by continually developing new products, but they also stand to gain more money by making these cars some of the most-desireable luxury vehicles on the planet.

I've outlined my plan for Ford before, so I won't do it again here...

 

[Tornado]

Take the Lincoln MKZ (formerly the Zephyr), argueably one of the dumbest ideas in Ford's history. Being that it is essentially an overly-lux Mazda 6 that won a drag-queen contest. No one in their right mind is going to buy a MKZ over a CTS, as they are nearly the same price, the Cadillac having twice the refinement of the MKZ.

That is the biggest crime Billiam did. He killed the LS (which was debateble as to whether it was better than the CTS, but it was 7 years old and still was definately not far behind. Imagine what a new one would be like...) and replaced it with that sack of crap overpriced Taurus (which I know isn't actually accurate, but who cares? It might as well be, for all the good being Mazda based will do it).

 

[TopHat]

Geez, Ford needs a rear-drive coupe FAST.

Maybe, take the Mustang Platform and build an economy car off of it?

(A new Falcon anyone?)

 

[Tornado]

That is essentially what the Lincoln LS was (though in reverse, as the Mustang was based on the derivative of the chassis after the LS was). Ford has to put forth effort into selling the good cars they have already before they make more good cars that they won't try to sell.

 

[harrytuttle]

A shame Ford couldn't manage to market the car in relation to the other Fords in the brand. Pick one up fast! They stop building it tommorow!
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I was under the impression that the GT was planned to be a short run right from the beginning.

http://www.caranddriver.com/previews/6737/2005-ford-gt.html

It makes sense because that's not really Ford's market, but it's also an idiotic idea because the GT was so damned good. It's the most accomplished, best engineered, best assembled Ford since...well, the original GT40! It could have stayed if for no other reason than to continue making money. Large numbers had finally arrived at a time when the market was not in a recession, and making sales was easier than fish in a barrell.

Maybe we'll see the Daytona coupe remake, but with the Mustang GT500 around, it's not quite as special as a mid-engined Le Mans echo.

 

[Tornado]

I was under the impression that the GT was planned to be a short run right from the beginning.

That's not what I meant. I know it was going to be a limited run car. I meant it was a shame that Ford couldn't use the GT to push the other cars in the brand, as I only saw a very limited run of print ads and next to nothing on the television front. In short, people bought it because it was awesome, and not necessarily because it was a Ford. If Ford could have made it so both applied, like with the Corvette and Viper, I'm sure they would at least seem marginally better right now.

 

[kennythebomb]

I work at Ford in Dearborn as a design engineer. I work with Ford's autocad program of choice, Catia.

Basically what I do (or will do) is design inner body panels and position latches in liftgates, configure holes and welding spots and how parts go together, etc.

I have a white-collar job that is in no danger of being cut. I am a co-op student from Kettering University and the company would be nuts to lay me or my other co-op friends off.

I know first-hand why Ford is experiencing problems.

All day I sit in the office with hardly anything to do, so I observe. I have nothing to do because this was my first term and after getting training, I only had time to complete a couple projects for them. I'm about to go back to school.

A significant reason for why Ford needs to cut jobs is that there are many older guys just waiting for retirement, who sit there and talk all day... in other words not doing any work. These older men typically only have two-year degrees and have problems learning the new program, Catia. Thus, the harder work is delegated to people like me who have had recent training in the program and who can actually comprehend how to use it.

Besides flagrant mis-use of company time, so many parts we design have to be re-designed after some engineer decides he wants it done some other way. Our cars are delayed for months because people are rushing to get something done, instead of truly taking the time to get it right the first time.

Also, people in my building are mad for overtime... all they want is overtime, overtime. Instead of working efficiently during the 40 hours, bodycad likes to wait until the weekend to work.

Another thing I notice is that people are content with what they have been doing for years. Ford will go with the cheaper part and not spend the extra money to really make the best product they can.

That said, I love my job at Ford and really can't see myself doing anything else. I have a stable job, and by the time I will actually hire in, Ford shall be well on it's way to recovery.

What Ford needs is to get rid of the UAW altogether so that the lazy old people can be fired and younger people that do their work will take up the slack. The union is choking this company, because sooooo many people get away with being incompetent employees. This **** would never be allowed in a Japanese company.

I firmly believe that Ford is making a quality product that is comparable to most other brands out there. The problem is that consumers still equate Detroit with the crappy cars of the 80s. Fortunately, quality has become a huge priority, and most people I know who own or drive newer Fords don't have too many problems with them.

In terms of exciting cars... I think Ford's design studio is generally doing a good job. The Fusion/Zephyr/Milan is an attractive, well-built car. The Mustang's latest incarnation does not excite me as a base model... but the Shelby version definitely is a sweet car. The styling of the Ford 500 is being fixed 👍

I think what Ford needs to do is just spend the money on the cars and make them absolutely as good as they can. Within a few years people will notice this. Althought the consumer base may shift to a more upscale person.... I think it would be worth it. Get rid of the union, fire unproductive people, and redesign a few cars and we have a profitable company.

 

[TopHat]

Hooray for insider tips!

This might really be looking good!

Also, will ford ever get a better base powerplant for the mustang?

 

[harrytuttle]

That's not what I meant. I know it was going to be a limited run car. I meant it was a shame that Ford couldn't use the GT to push the other cars in the brand, as I only saw a very limited run of print ads and next to nothing on the television front. In short, people bought it because it was awesome, and not necessarily because it was a Ford. If Ford could have made it so both applied, like with the Corvette and Viper, I'm sure they would at least seem marginally better right now.

Well, you can't use a limited run car to push anything over even the medium-term. If a high-end product with lots of pre-production hype (which really is advertising) is only going to last two years, then advertisements aren't really necessary. In fact, since the GT is so contrary to everything else Ford does, it doesn't make sense to have it be the beacon calling people into dealerships.

But Ford definitely should have kept the GT. They should have tried to evolve the idea, establishing SVT as a real sub-brand (or something like that). The GR1 could have followed alongside, and who knows what else. The GT would be just like the Corvette & Viper: vehicles that are not representative of anything else the company does, but are the best efforts each company has to offer.

No matter how you look at it, ending GT production is a loss.

 

[YSSMAN]

^ Certainly so, but keep in mind who we are talking about here. Ford has had plenty of oppertunities to do things "well" to satisfy plenty of people, but they often drop the ball much faster than anyone else.

Yes, the GT certainly is a loss in every sense of the word. But even then, we knew it was going to happen from the get-go. I belive it was Ford's offical plan to only build the car for three years, and thus they followed through. Granted, it was a great product, but it had plenty of problems in the early part of production. How many times were they recalled?

Ford's follow-up to the GT sadly seems to be lost in the "fog" that covers their offices right now. Of course one could say that the GT500 is indeed the successor to the current position of "top-car" in the Ford lineup, thus making it the successor to the GT, but it isn't the true supercar that Ford would "need" to replace it. We had the Shelby Cobra, and then we had the Shelby GR-1. Guess what? Neither were approved...

...So what is stopping Ford from building a car we would all want to drive? Politics of business? A shrinking pile of money? God only knows...

My guess is that the GT platfrom was full of too many problems to fund a complete re-do, added to that having enough money to design and build the V10 engine to go with it.

Too bad... There could have been a great rivalry to come from Ford once again...

 

[a6m5]

I hear what the author of the original article is saying. Instead of cutting down on production, they should be trying to replace the sad lineup with new, better models. This however is easier said than done. I'm sure the new Ford management looked at all the options, and were forced to go into the survival mode.

I agree with you guys on the Ford GT. Ford's brand image is taking a beating now. By not only keeping the GT(I understand it was supposed to be a limited run), but making it better, they could have helped the company save some face to the Ford fans.

One thing that worries me about all this is the SVT. I've said from the beginning and I'll say it again. Ford needs SVT. Unless you are pickup man or Stang fan, Ford makes pretty boring cars. They should give some serious consideration in investing some funds into the program.

I don't know what Ford is gonna do, but I'm convinced that Ford's key to survival is the compact-to-midsize car market. Fusion is during OK, so I think Ford is OK at the midsize right now. Focus is a big problem. When they do finally release the new Focus, is it going to be replaced by another (soon-to-be)outdated European Focus? It will be a much smaller catch-up they'll be playing this time than with the current Focus, sure, but I firmly believe that it was FMC's unwillingness to invest in something like this that got them in trouble in the first place.

I hope they make out of this mess OK, but they can't be expecting to get out of trouble by just cut backs and layoffs. They need to invest a lot of money and effort more than ever, and very wisely, too.

 

[YSSMAN]

I'm sure the new Ford management looked at all the options, and were forced to go into the survival mode.

The thing is though, it seems Ford's "survival mode" is baisically a "stick your tail between your legs and run away from the problems" type of resolution. Ford seems to be restricting their product development teams by not allowing them to create new and exciting programs to excite the lineup here in North America.

But riding on the Fusion, Mustang, and Edge (as their current promotional and advertising situations seem to show) is a very bad idea. Granted, the Fusion is a very good car, but the Mazda 6 bones that it is based uppon are indeed getting old. As for the Mustang, we are just a year or two away from its general disruption of dominance with the Camaro and Challenger on the horizon as well. The Edge on the other hand, although new and indeed interesting, doesn't really present itself as a model that will sell incredibly well to begin with.

With what I like to call "Ford Flight" happening at levels in which I haven't seen before in my life, they need produts that excite the general public and draw them into the showrooms. The Mustang simply CANNOT carry the other models on it's back anymore, as Ford desperately needs another "hit" for the regular folks like what GM and DCX have had.

What do we need?

- The Fiesta, to compete in the growing small hatch segment
- The C1 Focus, to replace the rather old (circa 1999) Focus here in North America
- The Mondeo, to bring some exciting shapes and designs back to the Ford lineup, something to actually compete with Honda and Toyota
- A V8-powered Fivehundred, to appeal to the older folks, and to actually be a "serious" full-size American sedan. Of course, it would be sold with AWD-only, as FWD would be a big no-no in that situation.
- Cut Explorer production, or eliminate the prodcut all together. With the Edge comming around, why have the product overlap?
- Redesign the F150 for power and fuel economy, similar to the new GMT900s and the next-gen Tundra. Ford says one is "on the way," but they may have allready missed their chance, given the slowing sales of the F150.

That is of course a general overview of what to do with the Ford brand itself. There is plenty more than needs to be done with the other brands as well, but that would take a while to design and write out for right now...

 

[a6m5]

Well, "survival mode" as in, "if we don't make these cuts right now, we will be concluding our business this year". We don't have the details of the Ford's complete financial situation, so who knows how big of a mess they might be in?

I do like the suggestions you made. Only disagreement I had was with the Explorer. I hate that truck(I know, SUV), but people buy them. I guess it's kind of like with you and Toyotas. You don't understand it, but people buy them. Here too, Ford cheaped out and pulled the extremely small makeover. Current Explorer to me, are as sad as the Freestar(Windstar), but Ford still sell some. Explorer, along with Focus, is a vehicle that I think Ford should invest good money in to make them all-new again.

 

[kennythebomb]

But Ford definitely should have kept the GT. They should have tried to evolve the idea, establishing SVT as a real sub-brand (or something like that). The GR1 could have followed alongside, and who knows what else. The GT would be just like the Corvette & Viper: vehicles that are not representative of anything else the company does, but are the best efforts each company has to offer.

The Viper *is* representative of the rest of the vehicles Dodge has to offer. Take a peek at the commercials showing the entire SRT line-up... the viper is the star taking the leading role.

The thing is though, it seems Ford's "survival mode" is baisically a "stick your tail between your legs and run away from the problems" type of resolution. Ford seems to be restricting their product development teams by not allowing them to create new and exciting programs to excite the lineup here in North America.

But riding on the Fusion, Mustang, and Edge (as their current promotional and advertising situations seem to show) is a very bad idea. Granted, the Fusion is a very good car, but the Mazda 6 bones that it is based uppon are indeed getting old. As for the Mustang, we are just a year or two away from its general disruption of dominance with the Camaro and Challenger on the horizon as well. The Edge on the other hand, although new and indeed interesting, doesn't really present itself as a model that will sell incredibly well to begin with.

With what I like to call "Ford Flight" happening at levels in which I haven't seen before in my life, they need produts that excite the general public and draw them into the showrooms. The Mustang simply CANNOT carry the other models on it's back anymore, as Ford desperately needs another "hit" for the regular folks like what GM and DCX have had.

What do we need?

- The Fiesta, to compete in the growing small hatch segment
- The C1 Focus, to replace the rather old (circa 1999) Focus here in North America
- The Mondeo, to bring some exciting shapes and designs back to the Ford lineup, something to actually compete with Honda and Toyota
- A V8-powered Fivehundred, to appeal to the older folks, and to actually be a "serious" full-size American sedan. Of course, it would be sold with AWD-only, as FWD would be a big no-no in that situation.
- Cut Explorer production, or eliminate the prodcut all together. With the Edge comming around, why have the product overlap?
- Redesign the F150 for power and fuel economy, similar to the new GMT900s and the next-gen Tundra. Ford says one is "on the way," but they may have allready missed their chance, given the slowing sales of the F150.

That is of course a general overview of what to do with the Ford brand itself. There is plenty more than needs to be done with the other brands as well, but that would take a while to design and write out for right now...

This is a well thought out post.

I have a friend who is working on prototype diesel engines for the F-150... they are more than aware of what needs to be accomplished for that motor. The trade-off is with more power, less fuel economy.

Well, "survival mode" as in, "if we don't make these cuts right now, we will be concluding our business this year". We don't have the details of the Ford's complete financial situation, so who knows how big of a mess they might be in?

I do like the suggestions you made. Only disagreement I had was with the Explorer. I hate that truck(I know, SUV), but people buy them. I guess it's kind of like with you and Toyotas. You don't understand it, but people buy them. Here too, Ford cheaped out and pulled the extremely small makeover. Current Explorer to me, are as sad as the Freestar(Windstar), but Ford still sell some. Explorer, along with Focus, is a vehicle that I think Ford should invest good money in to make them all-new again.

Ford basically has very little investment capital these days. They can't spend money if the reserves aren't there.

Watch out for an exciting new Lincoln 2-door..

 

[YSSMAN]

This is a well thought out post.

I have a friend who is working on prototype diesel engines for the F-150... they are more than aware of what needs to be accomplished for that motor. The trade-off is with more power, less fuel economy.

The thing is though, they don't need just one engine, they need to get them all pulled out and signifigantly modified or replaced all together. Their current 300 BHP workhorse model simply isn't powerful or fuel effient enough to get the job done, particularly when compared to the rival GMT900-based Silverado.

...I had herd while watching CNBC the other day that Ford announced that a 2008 redesign of the F150 was in the way, but they never were specific as to how it would work out. New frames? New design? New power packages?

Given that the F150 is unquestionaly the most important product in Ford's lineup, one would think that they would litterally be throwing money at the product development teams to make it the best truck sold in North America, bar-none...

 

[harrytuttle]

The Viper *is* representative of the rest of the vehicles Dodge has to offer. Take a peek at the commercials showing the entire SRT line-up... the viper is the star taking the leading role.

What are you comparing? The front grille? Because that's about all that the Viper shares with the rest of Dodge (Ram SRT-10 notwithstanding). It's the only car with real motorsport heritage. It's so track-oriented right from the showroom, the other cars practically feel like they're from a different company. There's some average sedans, a few minivans, a bunch of trucks & SUVs...and then there's the Viper. Why do you think it's always excluded from all the sales promotions?

Actually, they do have the same crappy interiors....

 

[cpl_richie]

Its too bad that different products from different regions couldn't be sold by Ford in USA. I think the local Ford product here in Australia is pretty reasonable and I think would sell pretty well over there. The extra cash from U.S. sales would make Falcon truely world class.

If only... ....

 

[Tornado]

Truthfully the Falcon wouldn't make any difference. The Crown Vic ratehr unashamedly sits where the Falcon would, and it is most likely cheaper for Ford to build that than to ramp up production in Australia and have to pay to ship them over. In addition, the Falcon isn't much newer than the Vic anyways, so it would most likely be a waste of time anyways.

 

[YSSMAN]

Certainly so, but with the new Falcon on the way, why not make it a global-platform like the Zeta/VE chassis that sits beneath the Commodore? Ford will lose-out on market share if they do not develop a great mid-size RWD, as the Crown Victoria and Fivehundred combo simply won't cut it. Granted of course, Ford says there is a new mid-size RWD chassis in the works, but details were slim.

My guess? Its the D2C chassis from the Mustang, made a bit larger, and matched with an IRS. That of course could signal that the Mustang will recieve an IRS as well for the reported 2008 revamp...

 

[harrytuttle]

Its too bad that different products from different regions couldn't be sold by Ford in USA. I think the local Ford product here in Australia is pretty reasonable and I think would sell pretty well over there. The extra cash from U.S. sales would make Falcon truely world class.

If only... ....

When I first looked at those cars, I thought "Why doesn't Ford just bring those over here?" Then I realized that people would finally know that Ford can make a better muscle car than the Mustang. They look better, and from what little I've read, they're both more powerful and drive much better. If Ford is looking to get out of its retro slump (which it seems to actually be enjoying), Australia is ripe for the picking.

 

[usedHONDA]

a shame it is discontinued

 

[Tornado]

Bump: End of an Era

Taurus end of the road

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After years of struggling and rely on cheap fleet sales to keep surviving, Ford is going to end the production of Taurus tomorrow (Oct 27). The Taurus was born in 1985 and nearly 7 million units have been built.

And to replace it, they sell the slightly less lackluster Ford 500. Ford must be run by geniuses or something. At least when the Cobalt replaced the Cavalier it went from "Worst FWD car on the Market" to "Unashamedly Mediocre." The 500 just goes from "Dead Last" to "Dead Last, but somewhat better." Let us pause to remember the Ford Taurus; the car that saved Ford, only to be mercy killed after 5 years of apathy.
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[SlipZtrEm]

As far as I knew the plan was to have the Fusion and Five Hundred sort of joint-replace the Taurus, catering to two different types. Though I do agree that the Five Hundred is a pretty half-assed job... the coming 3.5L might help, but I doubt it.

 

[a6m5]

I agree. Five looks pretty sweet, but it does leave quite a bit left to be desired. Fusion is nice, but it's not a homerun. I'd probably still take Camry or Accord, unless the deal is much nicer on Fusion. Then again, if it's based on a Mazda, it might handle nicer. At least better than Camry(going by reputation).

 

[JCE]

The Fusion and Five Hundred are indeed both sort of flling the gap left by the Taurus. In my opinion this is a great idea, Ford needs an entry level saloon (Focus), mid sized saloon (Fusion), and large saloon (Five Hundered). The Focus and Fusion are spot on and are great reliability with a good range of options--and in the Fusion's corner a great V6 engine with plenty of passing power. The Five Hundered just needs 1 thing really, power. And the new 3.5L V6 from the Edge put in next model year it should be a good competitor. It is after all very comfortable, well equipped, and has an option for AWD with a 6spd autobox.

 

[YSSMAN]

Reflections on the Taurus:

After nearly 21 years of the Taurus on the roads, I'm sad to hear the name go away. Certainly it will continue to be in the hearts and minds of the people at Ford as a car that "saved the company" from utter destruction. Even as a GM guy, comming from a GM/DCX family (I had two uncles at Ford, they're weird, lol), I would be happy to admit that the Taurus was a great car... In it's day.

Ford did what Ford does best, take a great car and completely destroy it and its reputation in less than two model generations. The cars wever never signifigantly updated enough to make a difference, changes only "adequate" to keep the car rolling as a portable money-maker. Too bad really, as they could have revived the name to make it a great car.

...I hear all this talk today on CNBC about how they are going to replace or recapture the magic of the Taurus, and the simple answer is that they won't. Unless Ford pulls their heads out of their rear ends, actually spends some money in the development of a model, or hell... Gives us the models that we want, the Taurus will be a relic of the past.

The Fusion, for now, is a good-enough replacement. What we need is the Mondeo, but untill the folks in Detroit figure that out, things aren't going to get any better...

 

[SlipZtrEm]

What always confuses me is the fact we had the Mondeo before (well, sort of, as the Contour). Have North America's tastes really started to mirror the Europeans so much more in the past 10 years that it now makes sense?

I was under the impression the Contour was discontinued because of a lack of purpose. Back then, people had the small car (Escort) and large car (Taurus), and with the amount of space between those, in size, prize, and power, Ford couldn't justify the Contour. I like to think that's the reason why the Altima was suddenly bumped up a class; there wasn't anything there. Of course, now it's a lot closer to the Maxima, but that's another matter entirely.

Basically, I wonder if value-minded North American folks would really want a Mondeo.