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What Are Your Thoughts on the Return of the Taurus/Sable?

530 messages,  Last post on Aug 22, 2008 at 11:00 PM

You are in the Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford Five Hundred, Ford Taurus, Mercury Sable, Future Vehicle, Sedan, Wagon

Messages Page 36 of 53

#350 of 530 Taurus sales. by pnewby

Oct 09, 2007 (11:16 am)

OK, if you take the fleet sales(esp. the rentals) out of all figures for both the 500 and the 2008 Taurus, how do those numbers compare? As for the all new claims, are the '08 Taurus (and X), and the '08 Sable not completely different than the last Taurii and Sables? I haven't seen the numbers, but at least I am glad Ford wants to lower rental sales. Other fleet sales are no as bad since they usually are kept for either several years or lots of miles. It is the rental sales that drive resale down since they are generally sold in 1-2 years with low mileage at a cheap price.

#351 of 530 Re: Taurus sales. [pnewby] by gregg_vw

Oct 09, 2007 (11:38 am)

Replying to: pnewby (Oct 09, 2007 11:16 am)
The 500/Montego sales started out badly and drifted down from there. 2008 would have been a totally dismal year for them, for now they would not only have already been sold to most of the people to whom they appealed, but they were designs getting long in the tooth. Giving them new but recognizable names, new engines, and more sound deadening has probably helped, in the sense that Ford can continue to sell a car in some numbers--even though unimpressive--that would have been even harder to sell had they stayed with the 500 moniker.
 
Now, if they could just get their act together and truly redesign the car to appeal to a wider audience, they might get somewhere. Toyota and Honda have shown that model cycles work best if they are limited to four or five years.

#352 of 530 Okay by jmn1

Oct 09, 2007 (12:21 pm)

Cna't fault you in that last statement.

#353 of 530 Re: Dealers Dumping Ford [jeyhoe] by barnstormer64

Oct 10, 2007 (6:58 pm)

Replying to: jeyhoe (Oct 07, 2007 9:45 am)
There are more men than just myself who wont buy a car named after a furry rodent whose claim to fame is it makes a nice neck wrap for riche women.
 
A Taurus is a rodent? Hmmmm.

#354 of 530 Re: Why the bad sales? [exalteddragon1] by barnstormer64

Oct 10, 2007 (7:00 pm)

Replying to: exalteddragon1 (Oct 07, 2007 8:24 pm)
Sell it as exiting, because I think people should see that side of it. What do you think?
 
It's basically a Volvo . . . Volvo never appeared "exciting". The Taurus isn't marketed at the crowd who *should* be considering "excitement" as the main criterion for buying a car.

#355 of 530 Re: Why the bad sales? [barnstormer64] by bobber1

Oct 10, 2007 (7:42 pm)

Replying to: barnstormer64 (Oct 10, 2007 7:00 pm)
Yeah the Toyota Avalon doesn't "excite" me either but it appears to be a great car that a lot of people like. The Taurus is very similar in targeting the same group of buyers.
 
If you want exciting look at the Fusion or Mustang.

#356 of 530 Re: Why the bad sales? [bobber1] by jmn1

Oct 11, 2007 (3:05 am)

Replying to: bobber1 (Oct 10, 2007 7:42 pm)
Good point.

#357 of 530 Re: Dealers Dumping Ford [barnstormer64] by jeyhoe

Oct 11, 2007 (8:43 am)

Replying to: barnstormer64 (Oct 10, 2007 6:58 pm)
"A Taurus is a rodent? Hmmmm"
 
Ummmm, I was referring to the other one. But you (hopefully) knew that. When is your next gig at a comedy club?

#358 of 530 Re: Taurus sales. [gregg_vw] by brucelinc

Oct 15, 2007 (8:52 am)

Replying to: gregg_vw (Oct 09, 2007 11:38 am)
I am disappointed and surprised in the sales of the new Taurus and Rodent...oops, I mean Sable. However, in this case, I put the blame squarely on Ford's marketing and advertising efforts rather than the cars.
 
These are da*n good cars! I have had several 500s as rentals. I also get Impalas and Camrys often. Last week, I had a new Taurus rental in Denver. The difference in power, quietness, and smoothness is night and day between the 500 and Taurus. Based on product attributes, there is no reason why the Taurus is not out-selling the Impala or any other car in it's class. Furthermore, I don't know why more people who buy Camrys aren't taking a look at how much more car they can get for the money. I think the Taurus meets or exceeds anything in its price/size class in just about every way.
 
My local dealers are advertising SELs for $19,500. That is a screaming deal for this car, IMHO. I am not a marketing guy but it seems to me that Ford needs to put a full court press on getting butts in Taurus seats for a test-drive. When the Montego was introduced, Ford offered me $75 to take a test drive. I don't know what criteria they used in selecting names for the offer but maybe they should do that again with the Taurus. When I drove the Montego, I found it to be slow, lethargic, and lacking in NVH control. They no longer have those problems.
 
In all the market segments in which Ford competes, I can't think of one where they have a more competitive entry.

Messages Page 36 of 53

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