http://www.autoblog.com/2008/08/11/m...ead-next-year/

 

Taurus X makes no sense with the Flex on the market so i could definatly see that one.

 

Cars like Frees ... Taurus X were replaced by minivans back in the mid-1980s. So I really don't know why would Ford try to fight back against minivans almost 25 years later.

Seriously, people didn't want these kinds of cars back then, why would they want them now?

 

Yeah the Taurus X is invisible styled like an Explorer from 10 years ago... Plus Ford really doesn't need three large crossovers virtually the same size on the same platforms competing with each other. I can see the Edge vs Flex designs because they are different and may appeal to different folks.

I wonder how many people have come to the Ford dealership expecting the Flex to be the size of a Scion Xb? That's where Ford's weakness is right now is not having youthful affordable economy minded vehicles in place. Bringing the Euro Fords over to build here may help that, but they need fresh innovative designs.

As far as the Sable goes, I don't think anyone will miss it... It had the prettier nose than the Taurus but the rest of that car looks like a recycled 1998 Passat which is a noticably dated look these days. The Sable is smack in the midde of the premium Taurus and the MKS. Lincoln needs a reason to sell MKS.

I think the revitalization and repositioning of Mercury will be great. It yeilds an outlet for premium small cars that are not appropriate for the Lincoln brand while allowing to continue a storied brand which has the potential to bring back interesting models from the past that just do not fit into Lincoln's portfolio. For instance I would rather have a Mercury Cougar than a Lincoln MK named equivalent with no history or past.

 

The most popular cars back then were the mid-size personal luxury two door market.... About the end of the 1980's it shifted to four door sedans when imports started taking over because of quality and reliability. Most of those imports were four door only cars. Many domestic manufacturers started pumping out four door versions of traditional two door cars which explains things like the Lincoln Continental four door, Cougar sedans, Cutlass, Regal and Grand Prix sedans... The Taurus came along with it's aero body and changed the entire game. You got the aero look of the Thunderbird in four doors and that effectively killed the larger two door coupe market. Plus the Taurus influenced every manufactuer to adapt the rounded off aero look.

Meanwhile minivans were the rage for larger familes and that evolved into people moving from their Tauruses into their Explorers... So the SUV rage took over because they were the macho and tough image over the dustbuster soccer mom shuttles. Gas was stil cheap and bigger was again better.... History repeats itself as a fuel crisis forced downsizing like the mid-1970's as smaller more efficient vehicles started selling while new large vehicles sat on dealer lots and used ones suddenly became worthless.

I do expect that smaller people movers like the ones in Europe will finally take over as well as increased used of birth control...

 

Before minivans most people who needed a space went with a station wagon. If there was a 5 or 6 members family 2 door coupe wasn't gonna get the job done.
When minivans came they replaced station wagons. And now almost 30 years later Ford is trying to bring back a station wagon?

By the way, I didn't know Continental and Cougar ever had more than 2 doors.

 

There was even a Cougar Wagon.

 

One word: Redundant.

Flex, Edge and Escape cover all the bases. Why do you need yet another crossover utility miniwagon?