Jim Burt/TCC Daily Edition 11/21/02
Ford is trying to rekindle interest in its Taurus sedan with its first national TV campaign in two years, and also trying convince anyone who will listen that the car is not being mothballed.
“A lot of people seem to think we are letting the car die on the vine, and that’s not the case at all,” said Ford spokesman Jim Cain. Ford breaks a TV and print campaign for Taurus Friday.
The Taurus created a design revolution in 1986 when it was first introduced. Its jellybean shape made the flying bricks of the 1970s look out of date in a hurry. And Taurus led the U.S. in sales for five straight years ending in 1996.
The 1996 makeover of the Taurus, though, was the beginning of the end of its leadership. The proliferation of ovals and curves was too fancy for the old-line Taurus loyalists, and too ugly for younger buyers cross shopping Camrys and Accords. The car was remade for 2000 with new exterior panels and a freshened interior, with decent results. Ford will sell over 300,000 Tauruses this year, but half of those or more will be fleet sales to rental companies and corporate customers.
“The car has become identified as a fleet car and when that happens, the retail business and the residuals suffer,” says Texas dealer Jerry Reynolds. A 2000 Taurus, for example, will bring less than $10,000 on the used market, according to Edmunds.com.
An average Taurus this month before customer cash costs about $19,500, according to J.D. Power and Associates. It has about $2,300 in customer cash incentives.
The Taurus is also one of Ford’s highest quality passenger cars, scoring close to the industry average on Power Initial Quality Survey.
“It still represents a great value, and there are a lot of people who won’t buy anything else, because of that,” says Reynolds.
Many of those people are older folks. The average age of Taurus buyers has gone from 49 to 52 in just two years. And the car sells best when it has zero-percent financing and other spiffs, such as a free leather interior.
After the Chicago Taurus plant is converted to Ford Five Hundred and Freestyle production, Ford will continue to build the current Taurus in Atlanta. It will maintain the Taurus’ more than 50 percent fleet business, turning the vehicle into a “value” model for people who are loyal to Ford and don’t need the latest thing.
Ford chief operating officer Nick Scheele recently compared the Taurus strategy with that of the Crown Victoria. Ford won’t remake it, but rather will just keep tweaking improvements and sell it as long as it turns a profit. Chevrolet is said to be pursuing a similar strategy with the current Malibu, which becomes the fleet-geared Classic in 2004 when a new Malibu bows.
Ford is trying to rekindle interest in its Taurus sedan with its first national TV campaign in two years, and also trying convince anyone who will listen that the car is not being mothballed.
“A lot of people seem to think we are letting the car die on the vine, and that’s not the case at all,” said Ford spokesman Jim Cain. Ford breaks a TV and print campaign for Taurus Friday.
The Taurus created a design revolution in 1986 when it was first introduced. Its jellybean shape made the flying bricks of the 1970s look out of date in a hurry. And Taurus led the U.S. in sales for five straight years ending in 1996.
The 1996 makeover of the Taurus, though, was the beginning of the end of its leadership. The proliferation of ovals and curves was too fancy for the old-line Taurus loyalists, and too ugly for younger buyers cross shopping Camrys and Accords. The car was remade for 2000 with new exterior panels and a freshened interior, with decent results. Ford will sell over 300,000 Tauruses this year, but half of those or more will be fleet sales to rental companies and corporate customers.
“The car has become identified as a fleet car and when that happens, the retail business and the residuals suffer,” says Texas dealer Jerry Reynolds. A 2000 Taurus, for example, will bring less than $10,000 on the used market, according to Edmunds.com.
An average Taurus this month before customer cash costs about $19,500, according to J.D. Power and Associates. It has about $2,300 in customer cash incentives.
The Taurus is also one of Ford’s highest quality passenger cars, scoring close to the industry average on Power Initial Quality Survey.
“It still represents a great value, and there are a lot of people who won’t buy anything else, because of that,” says Reynolds.
Many of those people are older folks. The average age of Taurus buyers has gone from 49 to 52 in just two years. And the car sells best when it has zero-percent financing and other spiffs, such as a free leather interior.
After the Chicago Taurus plant is converted to Ford Five Hundred and Freestyle production, Ford will continue to build the current Taurus in Atlanta. It will maintain the Taurus’ more than 50 percent fleet business, turning the vehicle into a “value” model for people who are loyal to Ford and don’t need the latest thing.
Ford chief operating officer Nick Scheele recently compared the Taurus strategy with that of the Crown Victoria. Ford won’t remake it, but rather will just keep tweaking improvements and sell it as long as it turns a profit. Chevrolet is said to be pursuing a similar strategy with the current Malibu, which becomes the fleet-geared Classic in 2004 when a new Malibu bows.