Ford Brings Back Taurus and Sable Nameplate

To kick off the Chicago Motor Show this morning, Ford Motor Company’sPresident of the Americas, Mark Fields, announced something significant. Over the media breakfast, the keynote speaker said that in a bold and simple move, Ford would drop the names of its Five Hundred and Montego sedans, bringing back the Taurus and Sable nameplates respectively. Meanwhile, the Ford Freestyle crossover will be renamed the Taurus X. The switch coincides with the introduction of the 2008 model year products, all of which have been significantly re-engineered.

The logic behind the name change is simple: Ford improved the design and upped the performance of its new cars and doesn’t want relatively unrecognizable names to hamper sales. Consumers know what the Taurus and the Sable are. After all, North Americans have had over twenty years to get accustomed to these vehicles. Since its launch in the mid ‘80s, over seven million were made. The Taurus was the top selling midsize car in North America for five consecutive years running in the early ‘90s. According to Fields, only four in ten know what a Five Hundred is, where as eight in ten know the Taurus nameplate. In fact, Taurus is one of the best known Ford products sold inNorth America, ranking third after the iconic Mustang and the ubiquitous F-150 pickup truck.

Prior to its update, the Five Hundred was well awarded. It received the IIHS’ Gold Award for 2006 model products and Consumer Reports rated the vehicle a recommended buy. Fields also backed the model up saying that 70 percent of those who test drove the Five Hundred bought it. Now it’s just a matter of getting people excited about the redesigned vehicle and getting them to blue-oval dealerships. Call it a frivolous move to garner attention, but it’ll probably work. No doubt there are current Taurus owners who’d find themselves very happy behind the wheel of an all-new model.

The one thing that’s not as cut and dry is the Freestyle’s name change to Taurus X. If it’s all about familiarity, what’s wrong with Taurus Wagon? It may be true that the Freestyle was marketed as a crossover vehicle, but at its heart it’s still a tall wagon, and a seven-seat wagon at that, similar to the old one, in concept at least. As with a growing number of Ford products, the new Taurus and Taurus X get the three-bar grille and geometrical headlamps. The Sable has been altered to look more like its smaller sibling, the Mercury Milan.

All three vehicles receive the same powertrain, Ford’s new Duratec 35 3.5-liter V6 that makes 260 horsepower and drives through a six-speed automatic gearbox. Offering 30-percent more power and a slack-free transmission, these new models are sure to leave previous memories in the dust. More than 500 (a coincidence, surely) changes were made to make the new Taurus quieter, more comfortable, more refined and overall a better vehicle.

The new Taurus, Taurus X and Sable will be available starting this summer.