Without reading every post on the 5.8 million loss and 'what does Ford have to do to.."
This points out the problem
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TCS Daily always has good reads on almost any subject and this is no exception.
The 500 could have been the answer but Ford now appears to be afraid of stepping outside the box... they forgot the lessons of the Taurus, the original and current Mustang, and to a lesser extent the MN12 {89-97} Thunderbird... just LOOK for MN12's on the road and you'll see what I mean. Maybe Ford felt it was burnt by the 2 seater Bird.. but that has nothing to do with 'bread'n'butter' car lines. Going back to the original and current Mustang, it wasnt the car nuts made it successful, it was that it was all new but old at the same time and caught the eye of those who barely knew what 'V-6' means.
Gen 1 Taurus is still my favorite, I like the big box. I was thinking today they should keep the Taurus and just make it more reliable, but then I thought maybe they are reliable, I suppose if you sell a gagilion of them you are going to hear about a lot breaking down. People come here and complain about their 30k minivan breaking down and it amazes me. My 110k 99 Windstar is still kicking a lot of ass, suppose it could be because I maintain it. Not trying to diss Mecurcy but I've also wonder why not ditch Mercury to save money? Maybe someone could explain to me what the point of Mercury is? Looks to me like they just sell Ford's with a different name.
I thought a number of years ago, Ford was going to dump the Mercury line and expand the Lincoln line. At the same time GM was talking about dumping either Olds or Buick (I don't remember which), and Chrysler was dumping Plymouth. I guess D-C was the only one to follow through with all those plans. Bummer! The others might not be so strapped if they had followed through also.
Now, yes, especially since all GM can do anymore is cookie cutter, "badge engineered" cars from different now-non-existant "divisions" that were once semi-autonomous "real" divisions.
Merc came along in '39 to compete against Chrysler and GM's upper line cars, Buick and Olds, and to a lesser degree, Pontiac, which back then wasn't much more than a gussied-up Chevy with Oakland-designed straight 8s. It set up Ford to be a "full line" manufacturer, like GM and Chrysler already were. Sloan's GM was able to offer cars covering the entire price range, from the lowly Chevrolets, to the regal Cadillac, and just about everything in between. The trick was, that while they shared Fisher bodies and very basic "corporate" styling, each division had their own free rein to build power plants, suspensions, interiors, exteriors...everything else, relying on GM corporate on Woodward Ave. only for financing through committees. Ford and Chrysler's cars were somewhat more alike and were built in some of the same plants, although they did not share engines all that much until the late '60s.
It worked, especially after the "whiz kids" at Ford, hired by "King Herny II" after the war, came up with their hot looking slab sided Fords and Mercs in '49, essentially putting a lot of lipstick (and a new independent front suspension) on obsolete flathead drive trains that had formerly lived in really obsolete looking cars. Not long after the highly successful '49-'50 models dominated the market, Ford ran around Chrysler as the #2 of the "Big 3" and has stayed there ever since.
Why dump Mercury now? All Merc is now is a trim option, nothing more. Back in the '60s, Merc still had their own version of the FE, the 410, but everything else was getting very much the same, especially with the 390s. GM still had all bases covered, with similar looking but very different cars in terms of mechanicals and prices. Once GM started dissolving the Sloan model of semi-autonomous divisions, various GM divisions actually started begining to have a problem with duplication of product, with GM's goal being to have all V8 cars powered by the cheap-to-build Chevy small block and all V6 cars powered by Buick. A few lawsuits held that back for awhile, but it eventually came to pass. By then, the whole raison d'être for competitors having competing lines started to fade. Chrysler actually knew this far earlier and dumped their moribund De Soto line, which was supposed to compete with Oldsmobile in the '50s, in 1961. I think that the guys in Highland Park saw what happened to King Henry II over in Dearborn with the Edsel fiasco, and decided to cede that market slot to GM completely. Besides, they already had Buick cornered with their Chrysler line, and "sporty" versions of Chrysler models could easily compete with Olds, and they did.
Now, Fords and Mercs are the same vechiles, just with what is optional on the Ford version being standard of the Merc. The only changes that start happening at all are when you get to the Lincoln level, and even that's again mostly window dressing (to attract ghettoids) and more standard stuff, much of which isn't available on the baseline Ford. Would stopping making those extra badges, grilles, taillights and other "distinctive" parts help Ford's bottom line? I don't really think so, but, a look at Merc's sales figures for years now tells me that no one buys "Mercury" anymore, unless they can grind out a better deal on a Merc that has stuff on it as standard that would cost more by buying the Ford version with options. Despite attempts to burnish the Mercury name with the failed Merkur and Cougar projects in the last couple of decades, the name generally means the same to younger people now that Oldsmobile meant to them...vanilla sedans with lots of phony wood, fluffy seats and not much else. GM's mismanagement also made Olds go that way, especially after they screwed up marketing the really fine Aurora by following it up with basically "badge engineered" Intrigues and Aleros. You could get the same car next door at the Pontiac dealer for less as a Grand....Am or Prix.
Was never seriously considered, especially after Billy Boy came on board. I think Nassar wanted to trash Mercury after the Cougar project fell apart.
Uh, dude...you need to take in the value of a good newspaper now and then. Oldsmobile ceased being a GM brand name a couple of years ago. The plan was to absorb potential Olds buyers into the Buick name, but rather than that happening, many former Olds people went to Chrysler for the LH cars!
Oh yes, ford knows how to do one thing right, the F150... and for that little thing they call the ranger that hasn't seen a styling change since 1993... well its day is coming to an end. nearly every body panel off that oudated excuse for a pickup is identical from 93 all the way to
Pathetic really. There is noth> Without reading every post on the 5.8 million loss and 'what does Ford have
I bought my 2002 Ford Taurus back in Winter 2002. I still remember driving that car home for the first time.
My Taurus is the luxury decked out model. SEL 24 Valve. Leather, CD Changer, Auto Climate control, 4 Air bags, adjustable pedals, the works.
Not a single major issue with this car. Plus it's always been well maintained according to the owners manual. The only problem I'd had with it is the brake lamp switch on the brake pedal that went south one day. And of course, the car needed new spark plugs sooner than the manual suggested at 100,000 miles. Plugs needed replacement at 90,000 miles when the engine showed rough idling.
My car had been all accross America already with well over 100,000 miles on it. It's been to the highest road in North America Pikes Peak Colorado. And the Lowest point in America, Death Valley California. Its seen the whole west coast and it's seen the east coast. The car has been to the dirty south including such cities like Charleston SC and Atlanta GA. It's also seen the blizzards of North Dakota and Minneapolis Minnesota. It's seen the scorching summers of South Texas and California's central valley. It's been to both Canada and Mexico. The car had seen the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston Texas just 1 month before Hurricane Rita touched down.
My car has NEVER left me stranded before. The car has Always started right up whenever I turned the key.
Gas mileage varies from 20 in the city and 30 for long distance highway driving. And of course it takes the cheap stuff. 87 Octane. Ford Recommends BP Petroleum/ARCO.
I will never get rid of this car. It's true that each brand makes a cars with a certain feel/character to them. But the only way anyone will take my beloved Taurus away from me now is if they pry my cold dead fingers away from the steering wheel.
I'll always have my '02 Taurus. For sentimental reasons.
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