I get your arument. And i don't have any real #'s in front of me but i'll even go ahead and say that the current 3.0L 221hp Fusion v6 and 240hp Malibu SS's performance #'s are very close if not identical even though the Malibu SS is marketed as a performance piece by Chevy while Ford markets the Fusion as just another midsized sedan with hopefully the SVT coming soon (with 270+hp, AWD, 6spd which should blow Malibu SS out of the water).

But i think you picked the weak link in the SS lineup....the malibu. If you look at the other SS's, the Cobalt SS, the 5.3L Impala and Monte SS's, the Trailblazer SS, the Silverado SS....you'll see that they're better than what Ford CURRENTLY offers (performance wise).

So while some of the SS's may do nothing for us, the fact that they're sportier than what Ford currently offers STILL holds true.

 

While the Fusion still has the "Mach 3 bars of death", it will still be hideous compared to anything Chevy has, imo.

 

Exactly. How convenient that you keep picking on the Malibu SS (which is akin to something like the Toyota Avalon, sure it's got some guts but doesn't portray a "performance" image.)

All I am saying is a short 2 years ago, it looked like Ford was, and would be for some time, the bar-none king of everyday performance. Today, the Focus's popularity has cooled with the redesign, SVT is all but dead, and on the top end the GT(40) says goodbye with no replacement in sight (apparently). In the meantime, Chevy plugs away with a decently successful SS lineup, we're on the cusp of a great new Camaro, and a new RWD Chevy sedan may be close behind that.

I'll give Ford the Fusion, it's a pretty nice looking car that certainly trumps the Malibu in most every way (perhaps even Malibu SS), but Fusion doesn't have any performance-oriented image either.

 

This is the reason that I mentioned the Fusion specifically. I did not pick on the Malibu.......... however, I did have to use it, as it is the Fusion's direct competition from GM.

Nothing more, and nothing less.

Both Ford and GM would do good to build more "excitement" into their vehicles. That is the absolute truth.

 

Ford sold 14k+ in Jan 2006 - more than any other car they make, and roughly 10K more than the Monte Carlo you mentioned.

As an FYI....Ford car sales (just cars, not trucks) were up ~27% in Jan 2006 over Jan 2005. Chevy car sales for the same period were up ~19%.

Source: www.autonews.com

 

Hmm, I did not know that. I thought for sure it had been completely phased out for the Fusion/Five Hundred combo. Sure enough, judging by Ford's website it appears the 2005 model is the last Taurus.

Taurus is one of those old trusty models that still seems to sell despite the odds I guess.

 

Ford's new trucks have "the Look"...I look for these things to start flying off the lots...just need more....umph....People I talk to at work, who own new ones, say the new Triton, seems slower and less powerful than the previous version...???
I say, they both need to quit whining and prove it on the street, make sure there's NO question who leads....

 

The '04+ F150 is alot heavier than the previous version. Also, the drive by wire did not integrate well with the old 4-speed auto. This makes the truck slow off the line, which is sad, since the 5.4 has so much low end torque.

Expect to see a significant difference, when the 6-speed auto is in the F150...................... even with the same output.

 

The Taurus had TWO high production factories churning them out, and pretty much was able to hit the Toyota Camry/ Honda Accord market dead between the eyes. If Ford had invested in nothing more than a reskinning of the Taurus and added one of those new Ford interiors, we'd still be seeing Taurus denying Toyota enough sales that it wouldn't be threatening GM (Taurus was the best selling car in America and within the top 3 most all of it's existence).

For the life of me, I still don't understand the logic of replacing one car line with the extra expense of 2. The Five Hundred is very well made, and the Fusion is not just well made, but looks more expensive than it really is (the Fusion is actually a steal based on looks and how it's made), but if Ford had channeled that in a new Taurus..... well.


The notion that Ford better compares to the imports is something I agree 100% with. Ford "feels" more like an import (save the Mustang) in the way it's put together and the materials they use.

GM is coming along (starting with the Lecrosse), but although I think the Cobalt is really good, the boring Focus from an assembly and feel standpoint, is more in line with imports.

 

I think that Ford decided on the two new cars, instead of the Taurus, because they felt the Taurus name had become too damaged.

However, who really knows.

 

Taurus has not really been competitive since its redesign in 1996. While it was able to ride its predecessor's coattails and reputation to rack up a few more good sales years, eventually the market caught up with it. For the last few years most of sales have come from fleet buyers.

On the list of shortcomings: odd styling (the 1996 was trying to be innovative like the original 1986 but failed), shoddy build quality, cheap interior, lacklustre powertrains, and a numb driving feel. Whereas the original Taurus was groundbreaking for its time, the second generation was midpack at best. Accord and Camry weren't mainstream contenders in 1986 but certainly were in 1996 and Taurus hadn't advanced nearly enough to meet the challenge. For the last ten years Taurus has been a lot more than a reskin away from seriously taking on the imports.

 

I thought the Taurus was dead, but I just saw a TV commercial advertising New 2006 Taurus SEs for $12K even though they have a sticker price on the window of $22K, those cars are going to have some great re-sell values in a couple of years, and that is what hurt the Taurus name so bad.

 

Actually, any time you sell multi-millions of a vehicle in just a few years' time, the resale tanks regardless of what the vehicle is. A few years after booming sales, the used car lots are full of them, the classifieds are loaded with them, and people have to drop the price to move them - your basic supply/demand scenrio (based in a free-market where there is TRUE competition between two guys on opposite sides of the street! )

It's unfortunate, but true. After a booming success comes the fall back to earth.

 

That's not entirely true. Any time you pump up sales beyond what the market would naturally demand, that's when you hurt resale values.

You can have blockbuster sales year in and year out and not kill resale values. Just look at Civic, Accord, or Camry. Those cars are always among the sales leaders in their segments, yet also have the highest resale value.

If a car is good enough to have a naturally high demand as a new car, it will have a high demand as a used car and thus keep its value. But if a car like the Taurus has a low demand as a new car yet you cram the market with way too many of them, the corresponding low demand for used cars is what causes its resale values to suffer.

 

GM doesn't put much attention to their middle line, although they are starting too. (they mjst have noticed how toyota has made a killing selling cracker boxes). I wont worry too much about toyota for now. domestics still have a big edge on trucks, sports cars and SUV's. toyota makes no sports car to my knowledge and they aren't selling a ton of their trucks. toyota makes a hell of a 4 banger, but their trucks don't even get the gas mileage that the GM trucks get from what i've read.