It’s like the concept cars. They CAN build coolness but it seldom reaches the customer for under $40K. Of course I can’t see why a cool shape costs more than a cheap shape. Must be the marketting department’s fault.

And Ford will conquest a few hundred buyers from GM, this car will get mediocre notes from the press, and a few people will understand it is a heavier Mondeo/Volvo hybrid. I’m holding out for the next Fusion, though. Or maybe the badgeneered Mercury Sable. Oh yeah, that’s be sweet.

Yes, it does. The Mondeo uses the EUCD platform, The new Mazda6 the CD3 platform…

I still think it resembles a Hyundai from that angle.

I just hope there are smaller and more fuel-efficient engines in the works. 2.0L turbo, etc. No need for thirsty 3.5 V6s.

Will this “American” car still be based on the Mazda 6 (Japanese) chassis, and will it still be manufactured in Mexico?

Nah, we’ll probably go ahead and get another Hyundai Sonata next year as our 2nd car (manufactured in Alabama, styled in California, partially engineered in Ann Arbor), or maybe a Subaru Forester (manufactured in Japan) or if gas prices continue to spike, perhaps a Toyota Corolla (manufactured in California, Japan and Canada). We need to be able to tow 1500 pounds with car #2 and the Prius cannot tow.

To understand the legal community’s aversion to technology all one has to do is see that many of them are running Corel WordPerfect.

Does that apply to the new 2009 Mazda6 as well?

The best part is that they killed the extra side-window behind the rear door on the current Taurus, a car I’ve never seen live in my life. That and the low beltline of the current Taurus make it look like an early 90s design.

taurus is going to be a european mondeo derivative spun off the mazda 6 platform.Most likely.

The Mazda6 platform is not the same as the Euro-Mondeo platform (strangely enough). I’m sure the two are closely related one way or another, but in Europe Mazda seems to want to make a point out of it that it is their own platform design. One thing that’s for sure is that the Mazda’s wheel base is a couple of inches shorter than the Mondeo’s.

Still, both cars are widely credited for their excellent driving dynamics as is the Euro-focus by the way, so at least Ford has got that one down.

I assume it is just a reskin of the existing car ???? Maybe even the doors are the same ?

The current Taurus is actually a pretty darn decent car with Volvo S80 safety engineering and about the best price per cubic foot of interior volume out there. The last time I drove a rental one the ride and handling were excellent for the class as well. It is a much better driving car than the Impala IMO.

No, it’s going to be front wheel drive. It just doesn’t make sense for Ford to go down that road. The current Taurus chassis is quite good, especially as it has been updated.

This needs to be a mainstream car for them – a Camry – rather than a niche car, like the Pontiac G8 or Charger.

Ford needs every MPG it can get, not to mention the interior packaging benefits of FWD and the ability to sell to people in the snowbelt that will only buy FWD/AWD.

Yeah, that was the part made me WTF’icate too. The only way something “vanishes” from the internet is if your own router is down… :-)

Not true.