New Ford Taurus Arriving in Showrooms
June 15, 2007

I was at a Ford dealership Thursday when the first 2008 Ford Taurus arrived at the showroom. The dealership positioned the pearlescent white car right at the door so it could not be missed.

The big question is how will the Five Hundred renamed the Taurus play? Will Taurus be recalled as the blockbuster innovator it was in the 1980s? Or will it be seen as the dying-on-the-vine rental car it became at the end of its life?

The sales staff inside the dealership wonder the same. They are about evenly divided on what the Taurus name stands for. Now they’ll see what customers think.

Advertising for the new Taurus, which tries to reestablish the nameplate and promote the Taurus as the safest full-size car in America, launches Monday.

Ford’s campaign is expansive, using online television, radio, billboards and print ads, targeting young families and the millions of previous Taurus owners.

In announcing the return of the Taurus name at the Chicago auto show in February, Ford’s President of the Americas Mark Fields said it would take years and millions of dollars to establish the Five Hundred with as much name recognition as the Taurus.

Ford claims about 40 percent of car consumers surveyed recognized the Five Hundred as a Ford while nearly 80 percent knew a Taurus was a Ford, making it the third most recognized nameplate at Ford.

The name change accompanies some upgrades to the vehicle itself. Its new front end and taillamps hint at its family relationship to the popular Fusion. The powertrain is upgraded to a 263-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 paired with a six-speed automatic transmission. Ford said it has made more than 500 changes to the vehicle.

Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:13 AM under Ford , News | Comments (0) | digg this | Seed Newsvine