So Ford's in big trouble, yet they dropped the Taurus wagon a few years ago and as yet haven't a replacement. The Taurus wagon was a very good selling vehicle. I know many who bought it in the 90s. IMO a Fusion wagon would be the replacement, not the very heavy 500.
I have a few friends needing to replace their old Taurus wagons soon. Obviously they will have to look beyond Ford.
I am with you. The freestyle is a nice car, but its NOT a taurus wagon and it has not sold very well.
Bob
January '05 was the last production of the wagon.
A Fusion wagon would/could be launched directly at the Mazda cousin, & the Audi/VW Passat crowd, especially if the 5 speed stick makes the trip into it. I'd be interested... the last 5 speed Taurus wagon was the MT5...
Rob
trainfan1 wrote: ... the last 5 speed Taurus wagon was the MT5...
Yeeccchhh, don't remind me. The MT5 Taurus and wagon were a great idea and were pretty cool cars, but Ford spun way off into left field with that 2.5 motor. I think they came from the factory blowing oil. I once swapped a 3.0 Vulcan into an MT5. Now that was a nice combo and likely would have sold well. I suspect that the trans and clutch wouldn't have held up for the long term, being designed for the Escort\Tempo. It was great for the 1.5 years that I drove it though.
Someone mentioned the "heavy" Ford 500. I haven't really compared, so how much heavier than a Taurus is it? From my casual looking it appears to be about the same size. I've never had or needed a wagon, but I agree that Ford needs a comparable model to the Taurus wagon. Compared to the Escort or Crown Vic wagons of a few years ago, the Taurus seemed to be just about the right size for many segments of the wagon buying population.
How come they stopped making the crown vic wagons? Not a big seller?
five hundred 3643
Taurus 3316
Isn't the upcoming Ford Edge crossover (new name for 'station wagon') also based on the Mazda6/Fusion/Milan/Zephyr/MKZ platform?
Mini vans ate up the traditional station wagon market along with it having the stigma of a "mom with a pack of kids" car, even though it was quite functional
It is, but it has that "Crossover SUV" high profile that really isn't attractive to buyers who really want a "car".
Rob
Actually the Freestyle has sold better than Ford originally expected. My Mother has one, and it is much better than the Taurus Wagon I owned years ago. More room inside, better ride, equivalent fuel economy. In July Ford sold more Freestyles than Crown Victorias, 70% as many Freestyles as Five Hundreds (5,441 Crown Victorias, 7,881 Five Hundreds, 5,580 Freestyles). At one point Ford was planning to drop the Freestyle when the Edge is introduced, but they revised that when the Freestyle became such a large percentage of the Five Hundred/Freestyle mix. After all, even if it is called as an SUV, the Freestyle is just a Five Hundred Station Wagon.
Ed
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