Ford brings back Taurus and Sable names
Famous names will go on redesigned versions of the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego




POSTED: 3:15 p.m. EST, February 7, 2007

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Ford Five Hundred will get a new old name for 2008 model year. It will be called the Taurus. And, as before, its Mercury cousin, now called the Montego, will be named the Sable.
The Ford Freestyle wagon, based on the same vehicle architecture as the Five Hundred and Montego, will be called the Taurus X.

"Taurus has been an icon for Ford's family sedan for more than two decades, and it's time to return this powerful name to where it belongs," said Mark Fields, Ford's President of The Americas, at the Chicago Auto Show. "Consumer awareness of the Taurus name is double that of the Five Hundred that it's replacing, and awareness of Sable is triple that of Montego," he said.


When it was introduced in 1985, the Taurus became instantly famous for its then-unusual rounded shape. For several years, it was the best-selling passenger car in America. The Ford Taurus was discontinued last year. The final year's production was made available only to fleet customers, such as car rental agencies, as the Five Hundred arrived in showrooms. The Five Hundred was frequently criticized by auto reviewers for seeming underpowered and for its extremely conservative design.

A redesigned version of the Five Hundred, featuring more chrome on the outside and a more powerful engine under the hood, was shown at the Detroit Auto Show in January. That car will now be called the Taurus when it goes on sale this summer. A redesigned Montego, now the Sable, and a redesigned Freestyle, now Taurus X, were debuted Wednesday at the Chicago Auto Show. The new Sable and Taurus X will get the same, more-powerful engine as the Taurus. They will also have the same six-speed automatic transmission.

 

Wow; that's great! Im not a Ford fan, but as long as its American...RIGHT ON!!!!

 

They finally named it by their true names. The Five Hundred was a dumb name to give that car. It had Taurus written all over it. I just hope they give it some actual performance again this time and theynever return to the Catfish styling theme as they did in the later years.

 

I agree it was a great move also. If previous owners of the Taurus are looking for a good car, they don't want to risk buying a 500, they probably would go with something they liked from previous experience.

 

The first correct thing Ford has done in a long time.

 

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Their marketing strategy is just screwed up. The car should have been the Taurus from the start but Ford wanted to be "bold" and name it something that had been popular in the sixties. The public never identified with it and now they are hoping to get some of those Taurus buyers back. Ford is struggling to keep it's head above water because of poor marketing and lackluster products.

 

I agree with the people above, a long held brand name like "Taurus" could really help boost sedan sales for Ford with the people who own a Taurus already...good job Ford I guess.