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Ford Five Hundred/Mercury Montego

3617 messages,  Last post on Sep 21, 2008 at 8:07 AM

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What is this discussion about? Ford Five Hundred, Mercury Montego, Sedan

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#3568 of 3617 Re: Now [exalteddragon1] by gregg_vw Feb 07, 2007 (2:05 pm)
Replying to: exalteddragon1 (Feb 07, 2007 1:17 pm) I don't think it will affect resale at all. Due to tne Montego's low sales and lack of recognition, resale isn't anything to write home about. Becoming the Sable isn't likely to upset that applecart. Heck, if the Sable actually sells in better numbers, it could help the Montego. Replies to this message: charts2 (Feb 07, 2007 2:34 pm) jaxs1 (Feb 07, 2007 3:17 pm) chuck1 (Feb 07, 2007 9:34 pm) and 1 more...
#3569 of 3617 Re: Now [gregg_vw] by charts2 Feb 07, 2007 (2:34 pm)
Replying to: gregg_vw (Feb 07, 2007 2:05 pm) The problem with sales of the Ford Five Hundred isn't the name. Car critics have been saying for the past couple years the car is too mainstream, to bland, nothing exciting. Call it what you want, sales will not increase with a warm over freshening for 2008, and a name change to Taurus, a car name that was fleet champion throughout its 21 years of service. It served its purpose during its run, were in different times now where exciting looking cars are in the pipeline from all manufactures. The 2008 Taurus will look more like the Fusion. Consumers are too smart for that. Lets see where sales are of this NEW Taurus a year from now. Replies to this message: jaxs1 (Feb 07, 2007 3:17 pm) chuck1 (Feb 07, 2007 9:34 pm) pnewby (Feb 08, 2007 7:13 am)
#3570 of 3617 This is all about the NEXT Ford 500/Montego by xfilerguy Feb 07, 2007 (3:08 pm)
If you think that Ford changed the name of the current 500/Montego expecting big sales increases you are smoking something. This is all about the NEXT redesign, and positioning Ford for the future.   My bet is that the next "Taurus/Sable" will be smaller than the current 500/Montego, which is HUGE!! It will be more in-line size-wise with the old Taurus, which was already bigger than the CamCords. In turn, the Fusion will move down a step, and will be made based on the European Mondeo platform (stretched and revised, much as the current Fusion is on the stretched Mazda 6 platform), but still built in Mexico and still called the Fusion. I for one loved my Contour and hated the fact that Ford abandoned the segment and the Mondeo platform. There was a market for a car between the entry-level Focus and the Taurus. That car was the contour, and now the car is the Fusion...see where i'm going? To compete against the Camcords, you might need two sedans -- a smaller, more fuel-efficient 4 cyl model (Fusion) and a larger, more powerful model (6 cyl Taurus).   This will give Ford their performance-based midsize sedan to compete on the sport side of the equation, while they also will have a more camry-like staid sedan in the Taurus, though the exterior will likely get a major refresh to make it sexier ala the new Malibu or the last Altima.   I also believe Ford will stop selling the Taurus/Fusion to rental fleets altogether, as this will help their resale value. Ford will also go to a bumper-to-bumper 5 year 100,000 mile warranty. These "bold moves" will help the company regain the trust of the american buyer.   If these moves fail (which I don't think they will), say hello to Ford, a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota. Replies to this message: gregg_vw (Feb 07, 2007 6:46 pm)
#3571 of 3617 Re: Now [charts2] by jaxs1 Feb 07, 2007 (3:17 pm)
Replying to: charts2 (Feb 07, 2007 2:34 pm) Taurus is a better name and much more recognizable name than 500 was regardless of how many previous Tauruses were sold to fleet. This is a different car and they are not selling that many to fleets anymore. The old body style Taurus probably ran on for at least 3 or 4 years too long without a complete redesign. Now, the redesign is finally here. It looks like they fixed everything except greatly improving the looks and making it sexy-looking. The new grill is not enough to make the car stylish, but at least bland styling is better than wild styling that goes wrong. They are replacing the weak engine with one that at least has competive power. It will finally have stability control, AUX input, nav system, Bluetooth and so on that it had been lacking compared to the competition. I am sure sales are going to improve somewhat since this is "better" than it was, but it just won't sell anywhere near to levels of Camry and Accord. Replies to this message: chuck1 (Feb 07, 2007 9:34 pm) pnewby (Feb 08, 2007 7:13 am)
#3572 of 3617 New Sable by savetheland Feb 07, 2007 (6:09 pm)
New Sable looks better on photo than new Taurus. Now Taurus/Sable compete more with Avalon and 300 than with Camry. But take into account that Camry was not a competition to original Taurus - Taurus was competing with Accord. Camry was non-descript compact car. Then it became larger car in 1992 and after that competition started and finally it unseated Taurus as a best-selling car in USA.
#3573 of 3617 Re: This is all about the NEXT Ford 500/Montego [xfilerguy] by gregg_vw Feb 07, 2007 (6:46 pm)
Replying to: xfilerguy (Feb 07, 2007 3:08 pm) The current Mondeo platform is plenty roomy and needs no stretching whatsoever to compete in the midsize segment (unlike the Contour which had a ridiculously small back seat for its size). The Fusion offers no more usable room. The Fusion is not going to move down any step. The Mondeo could, however replace the redundant Milan, and thereby give Mercury something interesting and different to sell.   The Taurus and Sable will sell better than the 500/Montego, mot because they are different, or gobs better, but because people know the names, and millions of people either owned those names or rode in them or rented them. Not true with 500/Montego. Since Ford cannot revise those two cars as fast as the market demands, at least more folks will be exposed to what decent rides they are as they stand. It is a brilliant move in a rough time, and the cheapest thing they could do to increase sales. The dumbest thing they did was to change the names in the first place.
#3574 of 3617 Re: Now [jaxs1] by chuck1 Feb 07, 2007 (9:34 pm)
Replying to: jaxs1 (Feb 07, 2007 3:17 pm) All Taurus in my company are being replaced by 500's. I have one on order for my Taurus replacment. BTW...61K in 21 months on the '05 Taurus and no issues whatsoever and 23mpg!   And I see alot of other fellow "Industrial Salespeople" tooling around in the 500's as well.   I don't know how resale is affected going in to "fleets" as opposed to "rental units".   I don't know how significant the private fleet numbers are. Replies to this message: pnewby (Feb 08, 2007 7:13 am)
#3575 of 3617 Sable is official by savetheland Feb 07, 2007 (10:35 pm)
You can see it at Mercury's website   http://www.mercuryvehicles.com/sable08/?intcmp=B_08SableInts_MVHomepage_08SableI- nterstitial_20070207#   To say truth I like Montego name better. Sable does not sound right for the car even though I own one and does not have the same equity as Taurus. But whatever - new Sable looks less massive than Montego. But certainly it is move upward for Sable.
#3576 of 3617 Re: Now [chuck1] by pnewby Feb 08, 2007 (7:13 am)
Replying to: chuck1 (Feb 07, 2007 9:34 pm) I've always been told that true "fleet" sales will not hurt resale since they are generaly either longer term or higher mileage units (maybe both), and don't get sold cheaply to keep newer low mileage cars to attract customers. Kinda like people that buy CVs from the police dept. after the cops have decided they are worn out. Companys and the gov. sell them when it is less expensive to replace than it is to maintain. I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule, but the majority follow the rule.
#3577 of 3617 FYI by KarenS HOST Feb 08, 2007 (7:16 am)
New topic for anyone interested.   What Are Your Thoughts on the Return of the Taurus/Sable?

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