Ford is bringing the Taurus back!

[TheDebbieDee]

Interesting article I ran across on MSN.com. I didn't even know the Taurus had been retired.......

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Dispatch/CanANewTaurusSaveFord.aspx?GT1=9114

[madinmaryland]

1. The CLI model??2??

:hide:

[TheDebbieDee]

2. Very funny..........

I'm gonna send the spelling nazis after you! :-)

[madinmaryland]

7. Sorry, couldn't resist!!1!!

A thousand lashes for me..

:spank:

[Bake]

20. No, the Pinkley Taurus ...

Credits to Bob&Tom for that one.

Bake

[brooklynite]

3. Maybe its just me...

...but wouldn't it make more sense to build cars people want to drive (say, with better gas mileage) that simply re-brand the ones they don't?

[Little Wing]

4. Ford dumped Taurus when the whole country seemingly wanted to go SUV

It makes sense to bring it back

[brooklynite]

10. But they're not...

All they're doing is renaming the Five Hundred midsize sedan. If it was selling, they wouldn't have to rename it.

[Little Wing]

12. Fine, whatever. As long as there's increased focus on sedans

/pun intended


did they kill off the Focus yet?

[B3Nut]

16. Focus is still around

But it's a warmed-over version of the original Focus that debuted in Europe in 1998 and here in 2000. Minor cosmetic changes and a new engine, chassis is pretty much the same. I liked my Mazda Protege-based Escort ZX2 coupe I used to have better, though...that poor car thrived on neglect. I wasn't very nice to it.

Europe has a new Focus that seriously rocks, it's based on the Mazda3 platform and is available with the Volvo inline five (I think the Volvo is the S30 or S40, it's Mazda3-based as well.)

Europe gets the Ford Fiesta as well, a great small hatchback. We get the leftovers. I went shopping last year for a European-esque subcompact hatch for not too much bread and an '06 Kia Rio5 followed me home. I've put 30K on it in less than a year...I love the little car. Of course, I've become anally religious about keeping to the maintenance schedule...not going to kill this car with abuse like I did my last one.

Todd in Beerbratistan

[TommyO]

17. No, in fact it's redesigned to be uglier for 2008!

[jakefrep]

19. Which means it's still better looking than the Civic & Corolla nt

[TommyO]

22. You have something there!

One of the nicest looking new compact cars for 2008 looks to be the Saturn Astra (strongly based on the Opel Astra)

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/cce?Category=GALLERY&DateRange=20061101-20071201&Range=1&objectclass=1&Module=1&Class=11&photofoldermultisearch=2007_chicago,saturn,astra&photofoldermultisearchand=1&Execute=1&Count=1

add: Best of all it's a hatchback, one of the best body styles that balances passenger and cargo utility, IMHO.

[jakefrep]

24. Saturn seems to have upgraded itself tremedously...

....over the last couple of years. I might think about them for my next vehicle.

[TommyO]

25. I'm not ready for a new car, but the Aura XR is very nice.

The same excellent engine that the Cadillac CTS offers, a very effective six speed transmission (co-developed by GM and Ford if I'm not mistaken), decent passenger space and a cavernous trunk. There were some cheap-feeling plasticky bits, but far less than on other domestic cars in it's price range, on par with some of the same things that I've seen in my brother's Honda Accord.

The upcoming Chevy Malibu is based on the same platform and engine combination, but also will offer a four-cylinder option and looks to have decent styling as well.

[bif]

15. Another brilliant Ford move!

[MissMillie]

18. the fact that the Camry was outselling the Taurus didn't help things for Ford

Camry has been the best seller in that class for a long time now.

[Kali]

5. now there is a crappy car to drive

they should bring back the escort

[AllegroRondo]

6. why not the Pinto?

at least it came in pretty colors like powder blue and sunshine yellow.

[trof]

8. Better be a hybrid or plug-in if they want to sell it.

[Ryano42]

9. I am buying my Taurus from Pinkley Ford...

Nothing is betten than a Pinkley...

:hide:


:rofl:

[KitchenWitch]

14. Oh my!

:rofl:

[Deja Q]

11. Where will they build 'em? They closed their St Paul, MN plant...

[RubyDuby in GA]

21. And the Atlanta plant that was the original plant for it and the Mercury counterpart

[Burma Jones]

13. I had a Taurus - Second worst car I ever owned, behind a Fiat 850

That Taurus sucked mightily....I next owned a Geo Tracker and then a Volvo S70 T - they were far superior

[Auggie]

23. Why don't we wait to see what they build before prejudging?

[TommyO]

26. You can see the new Taurus

by looking at the current Ford Five Hundred. They're changing the name, doing a freshening, and putting in a more powerful engine that gets the same mileage. I think they're also doing some suspension tweaking.

[Auggie]

27. Really? Major disappointment and total wasted opportunity!

[LostInAnomie]

28. Does this thread's title really deserve an exclamation point?

I mean seriously, it's a Taurus.

[TheDebbieDee]

31. I like exclamation points!

Don't you?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

29. I thought he died

Did he come back?

[Wapsie B]

30. Bring back the SHO!!

http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2005/08/SHOnTell/