The Taurus Could Rise Again At Ford
1/5/07, 07:40 AM
#5
Ford really tarnished the Taurus name when they left it on the vine and let the car pile up on rental lots
Unless they were to re-introduce the car as a benchmark midsize sedan to use the Taurus name that would be good, but it could also backfire with the association to fleet sales over the past ten years.
What Ford (and all domestics) have to do, is build a great car right from the start, keep updating it on a regular basis and people will associate that name with a good product. Some of the longest running import nameplates have been doing that (Civic, Corolla, Camry). Ford has done well like that with the Mustang and F150 brands, horrible otherwise
Unless they were to re-introduce the car as a benchmark midsize sedan to use the Taurus name that would be good, but it could also backfire with the association to fleet sales over the past ten years.
What Ford (and all domestics) have to do, is build a great car right from the start, keep updating it on a regular basis and people will associate that name with a good product. Some of the longest running import nameplates have been doing that (Civic, Corolla, Camry). Ford has done well like that with the Mustang and F150 brands, horrible otherwise
1/5/07, 09:16 AM
#6
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I always thought it would have been a good idea to name the Five Hundred
"Taurus 500", similar to the "Galaxie 500" of old. That way the car would have some name recognition, and the "500" part would signify that this was an upgrade, something improved over the previous Taurus.
Besides, the Five Hundred looks like an evolution of the original Taurus bodystyle. If it had a blanked out body-colored grille panel with blue oval in the middle, it would look like the original Taurus.
"Taurus 500", similar to the "Galaxie 500" of old. That way the car would have some name recognition, and the "500" part would signify that this was an upgrade, something improved over the previous Taurus.
Besides, the Five Hundred looks like an evolution of the original Taurus bodystyle. If it had a blanked out body-colored grille panel with blue oval in the middle, it would look like the original Taurus.
1/5/07, 09:28 AM
#7
Legacy TMS Member
1/6/07, 09:41 AM
#8
Ford marketing is a master of destroying any brand equity that Ford develops. Don't forget that Ford was going to destroy the Mustang's brand equity by turining it into a small FWD car.
While Mulally is checking into why Ford destroyed the Taurus, he should spend some time figuring out why and how Ford has stopped investing in the very profitable Panther cars (CV, GM, TC) and while he's at it he should look into why and how Ford screwed up the D/EW-98 (Lincoln LS - 2 seat T-Bird) and even the MN-12.
Ford has a LONG history of destoying it's brands.
Back in the late 1950s, the Fairlane was Ford's top of the line full size car.
By end end of the 1960s, the Fairlane name had been plastered on a long list of lower and lower model cars until it was the name used on fleet stripper Torinos.
Look at some of the brand models Ford destroyed or tried to destroy over the years:
Galaxie
LTD
Fairlane
Falcon
Thunderbird
Cougar
Ranchero
Cobra (anyone remember the Cobra II - Mustang II with a big hood decal?)
Taurus
Sable
Lincoln Mark
Town Car
Continental
Cobra Jet
One has to ask themselves why Toyota has been very successfully selling Corollas for 30+ years and Camrys for 20+ years while Ford continually plays name games with its best and most popular models. As much as Ford has tried to screw up the Town Car and Continental, both names have a million times more name recognition than MK-LT, MKZ, MKR, MKS, MKX & MKZ will ever have. I doubt the MK names will last 5 years before they're shelved.
While Mulally is checking into why Ford destroyed the Taurus, he should spend some time figuring out why and how Ford has stopped investing in the very profitable Panther cars (CV, GM, TC) and while he's at it he should look into why and how Ford screwed up the D/EW-98 (Lincoln LS - 2 seat T-Bird) and even the MN-12.
Ford has a LONG history of destoying it's brands.
Back in the late 1950s, the Fairlane was Ford's top of the line full size car.
By end end of the 1960s, the Fairlane name had been plastered on a long list of lower and lower model cars until it was the name used on fleet stripper Torinos.
Look at some of the brand models Ford destroyed or tried to destroy over the years:
Galaxie
LTD
Fairlane
Falcon
Thunderbird
Cougar
Ranchero
Cobra (anyone remember the Cobra II - Mustang II with a big hood decal?)
Taurus
Sable
Lincoln Mark
Town Car
Continental
Cobra Jet
One has to ask themselves why Toyota has been very successfully selling Corollas for 30+ years and Camrys for 20+ years while Ford continually plays name games with its best and most popular models. As much as Ford has tried to screw up the Town Car and Continental, both names have a million times more name recognition than MK-LT, MKZ, MKR, MKS, MKX & MKZ will ever have. I doubt the MK names will last 5 years before they're shelved.
1/7/07, 02:08 PM
#12
Wow, and just when I started to have a bit of faith that Mulally not being a car guy wasn't a sign of impending doom. Of all the discontinued Ford names I might recurrect were the decision up to me, Taurus is not among them. The first Taurus was great, a truly ground-breaking machine. Unfortunately, most people are far more likely to remember the second generation which doesn't exactly bring visions of Camry-killers to mind. Galaxie merely calling the name "tarnished" was actually very polite of him.
By the time Ford finally let the Taurus name sink into automotive lore it was more akin to a mercy killing than a fond farewell. Yes, it's unfortunate that Ford let it get to that point, but since my trusty time-machine is in the shop I would argue there isn't much that can be done about it now and the adamage is done.
If this is Mulally's idea to turn the brand around then I suggest Bill Ford point him strictly toward issues involving corporate governance and structuring and strictly away from anything to do with product.
By the time Ford finally let the Taurus name sink into automotive lore it was more akin to a mercy killing than a fond farewell. Yes, it's unfortunate that Ford let it get to that point, but since my trusty time-machine is in the shop I would argue there isn't much that can be done about it now and the adamage is done.
If this is Mulally's idea to turn the brand around then I suggest Bill Ford point him strictly toward issues involving corporate governance and structuring and strictly away from anything to do with product.
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