The Ford Taurus - a former revolutionary identification plate that Ford Motor Co. has already killed once, until Alan Mulally arrived and gave new life - once again has an uncertain future, at least on this side of the world.
US sales of the Taurus, like many large car, tanking, 28 percent through July. Ford unveiled a redesigned Taurus in April but said he only intended to be built and sold in China.
Ford has not revealed the updates for the Taurus in North America, suggesting that the current generation, introduced in 2009 and updated in 2012, will live on dealer lots for at least a few more years. If sales continue to fall, analysts speculate Ford could eliminate the US production of the same and either import the small volume you need here from China or leave the segment of full-size sedans for its Lincoln brand, to be launched Continental next year.
Chris Lemley, a Ford dealer in Medford, Mass., Said he maintained his interest in more Tauros, but has received very few each month. He estimates Ford prefers to maximize the production of highly profitable Explorer plant in Chicago, where both vehicles are built.
"If they want to keep Tauro long term, they need to produce and sell more of them in the short term," Lemley wrote in an email. "Right now, we are below the threshold level of inventory to participate meaningfully in the D segment [size]."
Mulally, who studied the development of Ford Taurus while working for Boeing, had a clear affinity for the sedan. Being hired as CEO in 2006, he criticized the logic of Ford neglecting one of his most recognized names and ordered the Five Hundred - a full-size car, while the first Taurus was a medium-sized - quickly revised and renamed to become Ford's flagship sedan. When he retired last year, he took home with him to Seattle Taurus.
But Ford Taurus has allowed to languish, showing little interest in doing the necessary to compete with the redesigned Chevrolet Impala and Toyota Avalon investments. Mulally has gone to the market and full-size sedan 18 percent this year, the Taurus is likely to get even less.
Ford has given no clue as to what you can do.
"Taurus continues to play an important role in our line of vehicles in North America paper," he said Ford spokesman Said Deep.
About 20 percent of the Taurus become police vehicles. That business is an incentive for Ford to keep the Taurus in the US, to some extent, despite the Police Interceptor utility, based on the Explorer, it is much more popular, and sales of the sedan version are falling .
Despite criticism Mulally movement nine years ago, replacing the median Taurus sedan with the merger has been positive for Ford. Towards the end of his life, the old Taurus was omnipresent in lots of rental cars and absent from the lists of most car buyers consideration. But Ford Fusion jumped back into contention with Toyota and Honda, especially after a redesign of 2012, which was the kind of bold styling most sedans were gone.
In fact, the current Taurus has suffered in part by the success of the merger. Despite being a larger class, the Taurus has a little less room for front and rear legs, front headroom and passenger volume than the Fusion, leaving some of the reasons, other than a large trunk, to pay the highest price is Taurus. The Taurus starts at $ 27,930, including shipping, about $ 5,000 more than the Fusion.
In the US, Ford sold more mergers in July has sold 2015 Taurus in all, excluding police cars. Is the rate of full-year US sales of 45,000 Taurus, including police cars, which would be a lower level, and mergers 290,000.
"You would have trouble finding consumers out there - especially the desirable demographics [young people] - that would be in the car and having any knowledge of it and affinity for it," said Karl Brauer, senior director of ideas for KBB. "There are so many strikes against almost any car in that category and then a little more against the Taurus." "
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