Changing Five Hundred's name to Taurus doesn't boost sales

Amy Wilson
Automotive News
October 8, 2007 - 12:01 am ET


DETROIT — Bringing back the Taurus name hasn't translated into a sales boom for Ford Motor Co.'s large sedan formerly known as the Ford Five Hundred.

In fact, the 2008 Taurus has gotten off to a slow start since going on sale in June. Combined September sales of 4,230 units of the new Taurus and the old Five Hundred are 30.1 percent below sales of the Five Hundred in 2006. Combined sales were down 3.2 percent in August.

“We're not where we want to be,” Ford sales analyst George Pipas said. “But the retail sales trend is in a positive direction, and that's good.”

It's not an inventory issue — the 2008 Taurus is widely available, Pipas said. Instead, he attributed the year-over-year decline to several factors:

* A tough comparison against September 2006 sales that were fueled by a blowout clearance sale advertising 0 percent financing for 72 months. By contrast, with inventories in better shape this year, the 2008 Taurus carried financing of 5.9 percent for 60 months in September.

“I assure you, if we put 0 percent for 72 months on it, it would stack up to the Five Hundred sales last year,” Pipas said.

For October, Ford added $500 to the $1,000 cash incentive already available on the Taurus.

* A midlaunch advertising hiatus. Taurus ads were halted for about four weeks before resuming on Labor Day.

Ford marketers feared the ads would get lost in the 2007 clearance sales frenzy.

* A sluggish full-sized-sedan market. That segment is “very weak” this year, Pipas said, with many competitors “loading up on fleet to beat the band.” Retail sales in the segment are soft as buyers downsize into smaller cars.

But Pipas said retail sales for the 2008 Taurus appear to be on the upswing. He said a good performance would be the sale of 60,000 Tauruses to retail customers during the car's first full year.

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...710080356/1078

 

Maybe if they stamped "FO SHO" in the back bumper, it would appeal to the younger crowd.

 

Why would it generate more sales? That's like saying let's change the name of the LS 460 to Camry. We all know that the Camry sells way more than the LS but by changing the name of the LS will not generate any mores sales of the LS.

Everyone loves a come back kid. Ford should bring back the original Taurus/Mondeo, redesign it to be more reliable, dependable, desireable and less expensive than the Camry and that will bring back sales. It wouldn't be overnight but that's what CEO Alan Mullaly should do. Keep it simply and do a great job. The Taurus would then be the come back kid...

 

The problem is not the name, it's the product. The original Taurus was a standout back in the 80's. But today the car is well in the middle of the pack.

This is the solution for Ford. Bring this across the pond http://www.fordeurope.net/pictures/p17_sectionid/198 and call it whatever you want. It will sell.

 

Well that's pretty obvious. It was a stupid move by Ford in the first place.

 

It was desperation, I'd say.

This is a pretty American approach to a problem... make it a marketing issue instead of a product-development issue. Ford should look at the actual car and see where it is deficient. Instead they make it about the label so they slap Taurus over the problem. They also thought putting the Taurus name on the slow-selling, what was it called?, At any rate they now call it the Taurus X.

Chrylser did the same thing back in the 80's when they called almost everything Lebaron.

 

So true.

The Taurus was a great car. And it was a mid-sized sedan, which represents the biggest market for consumers (with the exception of pick-ups). But the old Taurus was swept away by competitors such as the Camry and Accord.

Now, the new Taurus is a full-sized sedan, which is bigger but not better. It competes with the Avalon, Lucerne, and such; which are niche vehicles for more rear passenger room, but not as popular (nor cost efficient) than mid-sized sedans. At the end of the day, it still is a "Crown Vic"...

 

Desperation can be seen in many of the actions that the American automakers are undertaking these days. Desperation at least shows that the American makers know they're in big trouble, but desperation can also lead to a lot of stupid moves, like this one.

 

You really only have once chance to launch a car. Changing names in the middle of a product cycle only confuses people. Sure the Taurus name is better, but they should have called it that from the get go.

 

Damn you are so right.



That is one nice looking car. And its a FORD?

 

No. The Five Hundred was (and is) a far better car than any of the previous Taurus models....and the 1995-2000 models were hideous-looking to boot, and sales dropped. The Taurus never had an AWD option either, like the Five Hundred does.

The 0 percent financing for 72 months was a good idea. I think if Ford would bring that back, it would solve a lot of the car's sales problems. I like the car myself......it is one of my Top Five picks in domestics....and I was also opposed to remnaming it Taurus,

 

Yes, the Mondeo is a nice car, but I don't agree that it is the solution for the Taurus/Five Hundred's sales figures. The Mondeo is too small, to rounded-off, too aerodynamic, and too streamlined for the Five Hundred's base market.....those like me (and others) who like the Five Hundred's larger size, squarer design, and more conservative interior.....and its AWD. Perhaps the Five Hundred's real problem is that there just aren't enough people like me anymore who like conservative auto designs....everybody today wants the jelly-bean look.

If Ford actually DID offer the Mondeo here, all it would do is take sales away from the mid-sized Fusion and Milan, not the larger Five Hundred/Montego.

 

Fine, then screw the Fusion and bring the Mondeo.

All the "Tauruses" I see here have the word "BUDGET" stuck on the rear bumper and its off-white. I've only seen one Taurus that wasn't a rental (oddly enough, still in that off-white colour). I don't think I've seen the new Taurus is another other colour... yet.

 

I do believe that is the problem. The market for the car the Taurus/500 exists in is shrinking too small to be viable anymore. The original Taurus was a direct competitor to the Camry and Accord. Somehow it doesn't fit in the market just above. They've put the name on a car which has a different mission than the one car which originally carried it.

Ford should sell the Mondeo and call it the Fusion (as good as the current Fusion is I doubt it is as good as the Mondeo), ditch the Taurus/500 altogether and let Lincoln or Mercury have a product for that group of customers.

 

I'm sure if NASCAR required manufacturers to have homologation of the race cars, SALES WOULD BE OFF DA HOOK. err for the v-8 rwd camry that is