Ford Taurus: What’s in a Name Change? Not Higher Sales
October 12, 2007

At the Chicago auto show in February, Ford's President of the Americas Mark Fields announced -- with much fanfare -- the return of the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable names as well as the addition of the Taurus X moniker, in hopes of boosting name recognition and ultimately increasing sales.

The 2008 Ford Five Hundred became the Taurus; the Mercury Montego was renamed the Sable and the Ford Freestyle transformed into the Taurus X.

Thus far the name changes haven’t hiked sales; in fact, sales are way below previous peak levels under the less-famous names.

So what will new marketing guru Jim Farley do?

Farley’s To-Do List

Fixing Taurus, Sable and Taurus X sales will be one of many items on the to-do list of Farley, who was hired away this week by Ford from Toyota. Farley, 45, group vice president of Lexus in his most recent job at Toyota, will be Ford's first global chief marketing and communications officer.

Farley is the first hire by Ford CEO Alan Mulally since taking over at Ford more than a year ago. In an interview with AutoObserver Thursday, Mulally said Farley’s two major assignments will be: to create awareness and excitement for Ford's new models, which are undervalued in the market; and feed back into Ford's product planning process what customers want and need in their vehicles.

Reversing Taurus’ Fortunes

Even before Farley’s arrival, which occurs in the next couple of weeks, Ford has been plotting how to reverse the Taurus/Sable/Taurus X sales situation.

In announcing the name change in Chicago, Fields said the reason for the change was name recognition and money. Taurus is recognized by 80 percent of consumers. At the same time, Fields argued it would take millions of dollars and years to build the Five Hundred and Montego names to the level of the Taurus and Sable, with no guaranteed success.

But the name change has not helped the Ford trio.

In September, Ford sold 3,562 Taurus models, compared with the 6,054 Ford Five Hundreds it sold last September. It was even fewer than the 4,482 Taurus models Ford sold in August. The Five Hundred’s high-water mark was 13,555 vehicles sold in July 2005.

In September, Ford 1,551 Sable models, just slightly more than the 1,375 it sold in August and off the pace of the Montego in the same months of 2006.

In the conference call on September sales, George Pipas, Ford’s top analyst for U.S. sales, said part of the reason for the lower sales is the fact that large full-size sedan sales industrywide are lower as consumers downsize their transportation.

“No question, there is a general downsizing in all categories,” he said. “Buyers who used to trade large for large are now trading large for a smaller vehicle. People who traded an Explorer for an Explorer are more likely to come down. One of things we’re finding in the small-car segment is it is not just an entry point but is becoming a destination for the downsizing that occurs in vehicles and other categories.”

Ford’s large sedans are affected by this phenomenon and are also hit by Ford’s intentional reduction in fleet sales. But, he acknowledged, sales are “now where we’d like them to be.”

Taurus X Misses the Crossover Surge

Though sales of large sedans, indeed, are down, the same cannot be said of the crossover segment in which the former Freestyle now Taurus X competes. Sales of crossovers, including Ford’s crossovers, are soaring, but that surge has passed by the Taurus X.

Taurus X sales in September were 2,517, down from the 3,801 Freestyles sold last September and even down from the 3,722 sold in August. The Freestyle’s high-watermark came in July 2005 when Ford sold 9,937 units.

And Ford thought Five Hundred, Montego and Freestyle sales were underwhelming.

Name Confusion and Marketing

Automotive critics agree the new Taurus, Taurus X and Sable are much improved over the Five Hundred, Freestyle and Montego they replace. So what’s to blame for slumping sales?

Name confusion, for one. Even salesmen in dealerships are referring to the Taurus as the Five Hundred, the Sable the Montego and the Taurus X the Freestyle.

The bigger issue is marketing.

Ford Taurus advertising has been carrying the dull message of “rated the safest full-size car in America.”

In addition, Ford spokesman Jim Cain pointed out, Ford’s biggest promotion of late –- the  model year-end clearance, did not include the Taurus and others since they are 2008 models launched only a few months ago. Cain said the automaker is seeing an improvement in awareness now that those models are included in Ford’s newest “Swap Your Ride” advertising initiative.

Shot like a reality TV show, the Swap Your Ride ads chronicle the experiences of competitive-make vehicle owners form four markets as they evaluate new Ford models. The commercial featuring the Toyota Avalon swapped for a Ford Taurus ranked as one of the Top 10 most recalled new TV ads in September, according to the research firm, IAG.

In addition, Ford is encouraged by increased Web activity for the trio while it also promotes the Sable heavily in dealer ads.

Cain said the automaker has other marketing plans for the trio of models planned for the fourth quarter, much of which is not being announced yet. One element for the Taurus will be a customer loyalty program for owners of the old Taurus.

IAG TOP 10 MOST-RECALLED NEW TV ADS
August 27 - September 23, 2007                        
1.  Kmart Martha Stewart Everyday
2. Campbell's Chunky Soup
3. Burger King Spicy Chick'n Crisp
4. Campbell's Chunky Fully Loaded
5. Campbell's Chunky Soup
6. Ford  Swap Your Ride (Toyota Avalon swapped for Taurus)
7. Pizza Hut Dipping Strips Pizza
8. Subway Fresh Fit Meals
9. Subway Fresh Fit Meals
10. AutoZone Z-Net
Source: IAG Research (http://iagr.net)

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