Mullaly: New New Taurus on the Way
After rebadging the lackluster Five Hundred as a slightly-blingier-but-still-lackluster Taurus, Ford CEO Alan Mulally's still trying to recapture the magic. The Detroit News reports Big Al's talking about jacking-up the Taurus nameplate and sliding a new car under it in 2009. Speaking in Detroit yesterday, he hinted that a new new Taurus would arrive on the scene in the next "year or so." What's more "the new Taurus is the one we should have made originally" (you mean originally originally or later originally?). And then Mulally clammed-up, saying "I've probably said too much." The usual fictional unidentified "other company sources" told the DetN the new new Taurus would be built on the same platform as the existing one with totally new sheet metal, a new interior, better fuel economy and an optional EcoBoost engine. Viva la evolution!
More by Frank Williams
Comments
Join the conversation
The platform is actually from the MKS. Still "D3" but think D3 v2.0. The body lines and greenhouse will be like the MKS, not the current Taurus. It's certainly not "overdue" for a refresh. We lived with the 2002 Camry for five model years. It just NEEDS a new exterior and interior. There's a difference (and one just as applicable to the old Camry as to the current Taurus). The SHO is supposed to return with this update as well (3.5 EcoBoost - I liked the name TwinForce better, too, but I understand the marketing reasons). There are also rumors that Ford's first V6 hybrid application will be on the Taurus (quickly followed by the Edge), but that is completely unsubstantiated at this point.
The Explorer America with the 2.0L EcoBoost will be interesting... It will probably lack adequate low-end torque (even with a 6-speed automatic manual transmission) until Ford gets the HCCI mode running.
I'm glad Ford is serious about contending the larger end of the sedan market. For years now they have failed to be serious players in the small, medium and large sizes. Fusion finally came out and did a good job in the medium size, put small and large are not hitting on all cylinders right now. The original Taurus had lots of nifty little features like dual visors and such which gave it a bunch of little oh, that's nice touches for it's day. Cost cutters took that stuff out with the various redesigns. The original Taurus was also on the leading edge of automotive design and certainly didn't look like a poorly done up sizing of an old Passat design. I look forward to the day when Ford has three great sedans on the market and strong trucks in both the small and large sizes. Right now Ford has a great large truck and a pig of a small truck. Get 'er right and get 'er done!
RobertSD, hope you're right about "D3 2.0" for the '09 Taurus. I went to the MKS preview website and found its wheelbase of 112.9 inches exactly matches that for the current Taurus. The MKS interior looks nice; maybe Ford is finally "getting it" and that will enhance the forthcoming Taurus as well.