OK, does anyone think that the Ford execs were smoking dope when they re-named the Ford 500 “Taurus”? Like changing the name is going to make people want to run out and buy this ugly A$$ car? They changed very little on the supposed “Taurus” 2008 from the pathetic looking Ford 500. I hear about design problems from the other big 2 American auto makers, but Ford has been dismal for quite a long time when it came to design and marketing. The Fusion is only slightly better looking than the 500/Taurus (in my opinion), but they could have come up with another design for the new “Taurus” and not tried to fool people into thinking it is anything other than the Ford 500 re-named only. Thoughts anyone?
I had heard that the Taurus nameplate was being dropped. Did Ford change its mind and decide to rebadge the 500? Is this a case of “twins” where the 500 is also being sold as a Taurus?
Actually it was a great marketing move. Most peple know what the taurus is, and who makes it. they know what to expect and where to find one. The same cant be said about the 500. Its all about brand recognition and the name Taurus had it, while 500 did not. Also it is not a simple rebadge, they changed almost 1000 parts in the car includeing the motor. I think it was a great move as killing teh Taurus name in teh first place was as dumb as it comes.
Ford Taurus has something that every sellor dreams of, name recognition. Its a critical item in marketing and it already exists so why throw it away when you have it there for free.
I believe it was #3 in the recognized Ford models names besides ??? and Mustang.
I think it was a great move on Ford’s part.
Then they should have been “smart enough” to NOT have ever named the car Ford 500 to being with, ya think???
I still think they were smoking dope in the board room when they decided any of this. The Ford 500 is an ugly old man car for sure. I personally didn’t like the Taurus, but many other people did. People are not as stupid as you might think. Changing the name on a car that is not a Taurus isn’t going to get people to buy it. In fact, if they wanted to keep their Taurus sales, they would have tweaked the existing Taurus AND added some other models as options.
The only Ford I would consider at the present moment is the Fusion and it’s not really anything to crow about either. I think Ford COULD offer a lot more than they have at the present moment, but the name thing makes them look clueless and naive about what people want and expect. It is STYLING that sells new models and the Ford 500/Taurus (whatever you want to call it) doesn’t have it. I predict the sales tanking.
I don’t buy Fords, so I’m probably unqualified to answer, but from that point of view I tend to agree with the others that it wasn’t a bad move. I don’t think anybody ever bought a Taurus for its looks, so your argument about the perceived beauty is not really relevant. I’d say the name “500” probably means nothing to anyone. “Taurus” sounds strong and reliable, and people who know the brand (even ones who would never own it) recognize it as a reliable, if unexciting, family car. I suspect there are a lot of people who buy cars who don’t follow the history of each brand name.
I think Ford always wanted to call the new car a Taurus, but the first year it was being made they were still making the old Taurus. I don’t recall if the old Taurus hung on for 2 model years of the 500, but I know in the end it was a fleet sales only car.
They had a similar issue years ago with the Mustang. They had a new model they wanted to call the Mustang, but at the last minute decided to keep the old Mustang and upgrade it so the replacement became the Probe.
The 500 is a name they’ve used before, but in conjunction with another name. The Galaxy 500 was a 60s era car. My father had one with the factory 8-track option.
Mitsy, not everyone is as dismayed as you with this car’s appearance. A lot of buyers like its looks just fine, and they are impressed with the things that truly matter such as interior space.
The marketing staff at Ford know that the 500’s styling is not its weak point, no matter what you claim. Their concern now is name recognition. I think the name change is a shrewd move on their part.
To each his own, you might say shrewd, I might say delusional.
I think there was definitely some dope smoking done. I just don’t think it was by Ford or the 6 repliers, however.
No, maybe it was the poster before mine who was. However, I think Ford is a joke overall. No wonder my Dad would never buy one.
Yes, they did. I read Automotive News magazine, a trade journal about the buisiness of the industry, and they had a recent article on the subject.
Personally I don’t think it’s sell one single car. But Bill Ford seems to have the company far more focused on smoke, murrors, and “global platforms” than he on product.
Does anyone seriously think ford will sell more or less of these things by changing the name? Do they think their customers are idiots?
For years, every-time ford has had a popular product they recycle the name endlessly, who do they think they are kidding.
Ford wants people to drive them, Name recognition can get people in the door for a test drive. Is anyone sniffing at the Dodge Charger? (OK, Craig, we all know that you are ;^) ) The auto magazines have always rated the 500 highly. Ford’s idea is that if they can get more people to drive the 500s, more people will buy them.
I don’t really know anything about the taurus/500 (I may have rented one at some point, but I don’t really remember). Personally, I think the “new” chargers look a little silly (but I do sort of like the look of the originals).
I just find it hard to believe that many people would make a decision to buy (or even test drive) a car based on the use of a recycled name. I’m probably wrong, ford seems to have an entire marketing department that thinks it’s a good way to sell cars.
I don’t buy Fords either but seems to me I thought the 500 didn’t look bad from the back. To me Taurus means cheapo fleet salesman car with no resale value, and hard seats. Plus they had some transmission problems. So for me, using the Taurus name for a different car is a real discourager. I might have looked at a 500 but would never look at a Taurus.
I agree the 500 name tag is a joke. The first thing I thought of when I saw a 500 was “it’s a Taurus” pure and simple.
Since I happen to currently drive several Fords, along with a few others, I happen to think the Taurus/Sable line is a fairly decent automobile. My last Sable, when sold less than 2 years ago, had 420k miles on it and was still running/driving well.
The new Dodge Chargers? Ugly and resembles a 300 IMHO.
Speaking of delusional; what was Toyota thinking when they started painting refrigerator boxes white and tacking on a Scion B badge?
I think they even had an ice in the door option. 
Bing, know what you mean about hard seats, used to rent them every week on business. Was like sitting on a picnic bench. Guess they didn’t get enough feedback on that issue.
What does it matter? I read an artical saying that Ford was losing about $2000 for each one of these that they sold. I do not buy Fords, and was confused by hearing radio adds saying that they were selling the Taurus again. I had thought that they had another vehicle that just came out of the pipeline. Definitely smoke, and mirrors.
I must admit that GM has worn out, and reused old badges many times over the years as well.
Confusion is part of the problem here. I mean, does Ford really want 2 cars that are the same exact car using 2 different names? I agree with another poster that people are not stupid enough to believe it’s the same car that the Taurus was. It does not help, in my opinion, that the “new” Taurus is really the Ford 500 with the same ho-hum body style. If they had done a complete makeover and made it less of an old geezer’s type of car, it might be more appealing, but I still believe it’s too much of a Crown Victoria type of car (way too big for a lot of people) and it isn’t going to sell like the former Taurus cars did - not that I was a fan of them, but I know many people were.
Bottom line is this, there seem to be very few choices out there among the Big 3 auto makers if you are looking for mid-size.
Also, the Charger is more eye-appealing to me, BUT I read in Consumer Reports that the first ones got very poor gas mileage. That would be enough to make me not want one. Not sure about the ones that came out this year.