Autoblog

Mercury, after nearly being introduced to oblivion, was rescued from the void because Ford needs a brand that could be devoted to small cars. The Ford brand, still fighting off oblivion itself, has recently been devoted to fresh, new designs that provide consumers the flair and features they've been looking for.

Two of the hitches in those plans are the Mercury Sable and the Taurus X. The Sable, sister of the Ford Taurus, has remained so unloved that even Jill Wagner couldn't save it (through no fault of her own). In these days of the Flex, Edge and Escape, the Taurus X is a conveyance from the Myocene era. To paraphrase Sesame Street, two of these things are not like the other... and so they are being killed, according to The Detroit News.

Ford hasn't confirmed the demise of the two cars. However, sales of both are in decline, they fall outside the missions of their respective brands, and Ford is furiously retooling plants and planning new rollouts. In light of all that, the real question might be: why put off until tomorrow...

[Source: The Detroit News]

Click image for photo gallery

With Ford's new safety-centric campaign for the Taurus underway, it's looking like we should probably get ready for the Oval to stay on-message regarding erstwhile Freestyle as well. After all, the Ford Taurus X wagon crossover equaled its sedan brother's five-star ratings in NHTSA crash testing, and today comes word from the automaker that the Taurus X has received a sloppy, wet smooch from the IIHS as well after the car earned the organization's Top Safety Pick label. The Taurus X scored a "Good" rating (that's the highest one it can receive) in the IIHS's crash test regimen, something that the automaker's sure to tout when it advertises the refreshed and renamed family truckster.

Ford's PR is pasted after the jump.

[Sources: Ford, IIHS]

Episode #57 is a breezy little number, clocking in around 32 minutes long. Though on the short side, it's action-packed! We recap the Chicago show, paucity of activity and all. For starters, we return to one of our favorite subjects recently, the impending Pontiac G8. Let's just say it's even better up-close. Next, we ruminate over the all-new Scion xD and xB. The little Toyota offspring were all that happened on the second day of the show, and the aging boomers there were thrilled with the updates to these cars. Nothing like nailing your target market, eh? Before wrapping up for the night, the boys take a ride through the return of the Taurus and Sable nameplates, and how successful that move may prove to be. Capping Podcast 57 is the one bit that's not Chicago-related; the upcoming unveiling of Dodge's Demon roadster at the Geneva show. It looks nice, but we're dubious that it has any production plans, though this is Chrysler, which is capable of turning a show car into reality better than most. Enjoy the 'cast!

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Making both a bold and simple move, Ford's North American boss Mark Fields confirmed this morning what we already knew, that the Taurus and Sable brands will be resurrected for 2008.

Fields, delivering the keynote address at the Chicago Auto Show this morning, said the Ford Five Hundred nameplate will be dropped in favor of the venerable Taurus badge. The Freestyle crossover vehicle will also be renamed the Taurus X, and Mercury Montego will switch to the Sable nameplate. All three vehicle will be introduced to the press later in the day, though we were first introduced to the new "Taurus" in Detroit.

Fields said only four in 10 consumers were aware that Ford offered a vehicle called the Five Hundred. Yet the Taurus nameplate, which was killed last year, had built up 20 years of strong brand recognition and was recognized by 80 percent of shoppers. Fields also said Taurus was Ford's third-best-known brand behind F-Series and Mustang. During the early '90s, the Taurus was America's best-selling car five years running. About seven million Taurus models were sold in 21 years, and Ford estimates nearly 3.5 million are still on the road.

Check out more of our thoughts, a complete transcript of Mark Fields' speech, and VIDEO of him delivering the announcement after the jump.

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:

• Ford's Mark Fields announces Bold Move: Bring back Taurus & Sable brands
• Chicago Auto Show: Mercury revives the Sable for 2008
• Chicago Auto Show: 2008 Ford Taurus X unveiled

[Source: Blue Oval News]