Rumormill: Ford Taurus X cancelled after MY 2009

John Neff — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:54:00 EST

click above for more high-res images of the 2008 Ford Taurus X

After a quick consult with some tea leaves and a few supplier sources, Jalopnik's Auto Insider is calling it: the Taurus X will be dead after the 2009 model year. While not a revelation to make you run out and stock up on bottled water, this possible early demise of the Taurus X is the latest example of how far off the mark the original Five-Hundred sedan and Freestyle were with consumers, and how Ford was ultimately unable to correct its aim.

The original 2005 Five-Hundred and Freestyle debuted to a slow sales start and were around until 2007, when then virgin CEO Alan Mulally made the decision to resurrect the Taurus nameplate on the refreshened 2008 models. Along with their new names of Taurus and Taurus X, each got corporate faces with three-bar grilles as well as the automaker's new 3.5L V6. Ford must've thought sales would pick up in earnest as the 2008 models were both more interesting to look and more powerful than the vehicles they replaced. But sales didn't pick up and Mulally recently announced another major change for the Taurus: a completely new version for next year that he calls, "the one we should have made originally." According to Jalopnik's informed insider, the Taurus X model is apparently not included in those plans.

It may be sad to see a vehicle cancelled that was supremely competent in most respects, but Ford's CUV lineup is already overflowing with product that overlaps, and soon the seven-passenger Flex will muscle in and demand some marketshare. Ford, of course, has not officially commented on the fate of the Taurus X, but if the tea leaves turn out to be true, we say farewell to the four-year-old CUV from Ford.

Gallery: 2008 Ford Taurus X

[Source: Jalopnik, Photo by Scott Olson/Getty]

Rumormill: Ford Taurus X cancelled after MY 2009 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CONFIRMED: Taurus, Taurus X and Sable return for 2008

Alex Nunez — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 02:02:00 EST

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Sedan, Wagon, Crossover, Ford, Mercury

Click for a mini gallery of Taurus, Taurus X and Sable

Let this be a lesson to Ford: if you have a web page up on your servers, it is LIVE even if you don't have a link published for it. The proof comes courtesy of Blue Oval News, where one of their forum posters played around with URL strings and found the splash pages for the 2008 Ford Taurus and Taurus X (née Freestyle), as well as the 2008 Mercury Sable (formerly Montego).

The materials were posted, and the rest, as they say, is history. The big news, of course, is the summary renaming of the Ford Freestyle, Ford Five-Hundred, and Mercury Montego to the familiar Taurus and Sable monikers. Ford honcho Alan Mulally made it no secret that he thought ditching the old names was a big mistake, and by resurrecting them, he and Ford hope that shoppers see them and welcome them back with open arms. It could work. There are plenty of people who don't follow this stuff with the level of fanaticism we (and you, the readers) do. For them, the idea of a New Taurus or New Sable will be of interest, even though we all know it's simply a matter of nameplate swapping.

It also helps that all three cars are restyled. The Taurus is the Five-Hundred that was rolled out in Detroit. The Taurus X loses the Freestyle name and gains the Edge's face, creating a family look for the crossovers. The Sable's new front end apes that of its little brother, the Mercury Milan. All the cars get the 260-horsepower V6 and some new stuff like Ford Sync will be available across the board.

While the initial reaction may be to dismiss this as an act of desperation, it very nicely sets up 2010, when the entire Ford lineup should be all-new. These are just renamed cars right now, but when they get redesigned, they'll be the all-new Taurus and Sable. They'll have had a couple of years to reconnect with the public and by then, all this naming hubbub is going to be a very distant memory. Especially to consumers.

Follow the jump for the press releases on all three.

Stay tuned tomorrow for much more on these cars, as the Chi-town crew will have live shots, full galleries, and (hopefully) video.

UPDATE: Full coverage on each car, including individual galleries, available at the links below:

[Source: Blue Oval News]

Gallery: FIRST LOOK: 2008 Ford Taurus, Taurus X, Mercury Sable

Continue reading CONFIRMED: Taurus, Taurus X and Sable return for 2008

CONFIRMED: Taurus, Taurus X and Sable return for 2008 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Feb 2007 02:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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