The fourth-generation Ford Taurus is an automobile that was produced by Ford for the 2000 to 2007 model years. While mechanically similar to its 1996-1999 predecessor, major revisions to the bodyshell of the sedan were done to alter its controversial styling as well as add interior room; it was available in four-door sedan and five-door station wagon models.
The fourth-generation Taurus would be the final derived from the original 1986 model line. In 2004 and 2005, as part of its effort to increase the use of globally sourced platforms, Ford introduced the Volvo-developed Five Hundred and Mazda-developed Fusion to fill the slot of the Taurus in the Ford line (for non-fleet buyers, the Five Hundred also served as a replacement for the Crown Victoria).
The Taurus nameplate returned in 2008, as Ford renamed the Five Hundred to increase its sales.
Overview
Exterior
2000–2003 Ford Taurus SES sedan
When the third-generation Taurus debuted, it was hurt by criticism of its design, which was formed from oval derived design elements. The design was very controversial, and it strongly limited the appeal of the car. As a result, for the fourth generation Taurus, Ford designed it with a more subdued, angular design, as part of Ford's New Edge styling, in hopes of increasing the car's appeal. Instead of sloping back, this car's trunk stood upright in a more traditional shape, which greatly increased trunk space.[3][4] The roof was also raised into a more upright stance to increase headroom, which can be seen by the thicker C-pillar and larger area between the tops of the doors and the top of the roof.
The front and rear clips were also redesigned on the Taurus and Sable sedans; all body panels were brand-new except the doors. Station wagons received the new front clips but from the firewall back they were essentially the same as the 1996-1999 wagons. The Taurus now had the turn signals integrated into the headlamps, similar to that of the previous generation Sable. The front bumper was also redesigned to include a larger front grille which, like the previous generation, contained a chrome bar running through the middle containing the Ford logo. The rear clip was redesigned with a larger trunk and trunklid, as mentioned above, as well as giving the Taurus two large taillights as opposed to the rear lightbar used in the previous generation cars. Mounted on the trunklid was a large chrome bar containing the Ford logo, like in the front. In 2003 for the 2004 model year, the front clip was slightly redesigned, and the Taurus got a new front bumper and grille. The grille was made smaller, with the chrome bar removed, replaced by just a large Ford logo in the center. The taillights were slightly redesigned, originally to include amber turn signals, but this was cancelled at the eleventh hour. Instead, the rear was given larger reverse lights, and the chrome bar above the license plate bracket was deleted.
Interior
2005 Ford Taurus SE interior
As with the exterior, the interior was completely redesigned with a more conservative style, although some features from the previous cars were carried over. The dashboard had a more linear appearance, instead of curving around the driver. The "Integrated Control Panel" was carried over but enlarged, reshaped, and placed in the center of the dash instead of being tilted toward the driver. The Flip-Fold center console was also carried over but it was revamped as well. When folded out, it now rested against the floor instead of the dashboard, and had different cupholders and storage areas.[4] Unlike previous Tauruses, this one offered rear cupholders that either slid or folded out of the front console, depending on which console the car was equipped with.[4]
This Taurus' interior was available in two configurations; a front bench seat with a column-mounted shifter and the Flip-Fold center console, or bucket seats with a traditional console and a floor-mounted shifter. The configuration for a steering column-mounted shifter and a center console, which made a brief return for 1999, had been dropped. The interior also contained many new safety features; side airbags, tether straps, and a glow in the dark trunk release mounted inside of the trunk.[4] This interior also contained a new system which Ford called the " Advanced Personal Safety System". This system, at the time of a collision, would detect the driver and passenger's positions as well as seatbelt usage, and would inflate the airbags to match, possibly preventing airbag-related injuries.[5] For 2004, the interior got a minor revision. This included a new steering wheel with a center airbag pad that was shaped like an upside-down taco and new gauges with a diagnostic center that would tell if there were any problems with the car, as well as average fuel economy, replacing the outdated analog odometer. It also was able to perform a "system check" at the driver's request to make sure that the engine was functioning properly.
The two 1999 models were carried over, and two more were added. The most basic model was the LX, with the SE as the mid priced model. Two new trim levels were offered for 2000: the SE Special Value Group and the top-end model SE Comfort.[6] These new trim levels were renamed the following year to SES and SEL respectively. The SES and LX models were dropped in 2005, leaving the SE and SEL.
The SEL line received a few upgrades for 2003, to give it a more upscale image. Among the changes were a new instrument cluster, wheels, as well as a slight redesign of the dash, with woodgrain replacing the black trim. It also got woodgrain on the steering wheel rim and around the power window switches on the front doors.[5] Also in 2003, Ford created a Centennial Edition Taurus to celebrate Ford's 100th anniversary. This special Taurus included many extras, such as lighter wood trim, special leather seats, headlights with black accents, special wheels, a special leather case for the owner's manual, a leather jacket that said "Ford: 100 Years", a similar watch, and a letter from William Clay Ford, Jr. Production was limited to 4,000 units.[7]
For 2002, 2003 and 2004, the SES model received a "Sport" package, which consisted of five-spoked rims known as "slicers", and the Duratec engine standard. In addition, the exterior of the vehicle received Sport badging on the front quarter-panels, the chrome bar on the grille was changed to body color, the interior received two-toned cloth seats, a two-toned dash applique, special "Sport" floor mats, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel. This model was only offered in four colors.
The engines were carried over from the previous generation, with the Vulcan being the only available engine on the LX and SE, producing 155 horsepower (116kW) and 185lb⋅ft (251N⋅m) of torque, and as the base engine on the SES. The Duratec engine was optional on the SES and standard on the SEL, producing 200hp (149kW). For 2005, with the LX and SES models being dropped, the Duratec was only available on the SEL, and in 2006 the Duratec was dropped altogether, with the Vulcan becoming the standard and only engine available on the SEL. Some pre-2004 Vulcans were mated to the four speed AX4Sautomatic transmission; all other Tauruses of this generation received the AX4N transmission.[8]
Variants
Mercury Sable
2000–2003 Mercury Sable
The Mercury Sable, the sister model of the Taurus aimed at a more upscale audience, was also redesigned for 2000. Like with previous generations, the Sable shared all mechanical components with the Taurus with a unique body. The new Sable was also largely carried over from the previous model, with changes limited a new front fascia, rear fascia, wheels, a taller roof and trunk, and a new interior, though the interior was the same design of the Taurus with added woodgrain trim. Like with previous generations, the Sable offered the same powertrains and equipment as the Taurus. The Sable was again offered in GS and LS models in wagon and sedan body styles, with a new top-of-the-line LS Premium trim. An LS Platinum edition was also briefly offered. The Sable was updated in 2004 with a new grille, front bumper, steering wheel, instrument cluster, wheels and tail lamps. The Sable was discontinued in 2005 and replaced by the Mercury Montego (which would be renamed as the Sable in 2008) and Mercury Milan. This generation of Sable was not sold in Canada, as the Mercury nameplate had been discontinued there by the 2000 model year.
The last Taurus sedan was an SEL model like this one.
This generation of Taurus saw a significant sales slump compared to its predecessors.[9] Having already lost its status as the best selling car in America when it was surpassed by the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry in 1997, by 2005 it was no longer in the top ten in sales.[10] Production of the Taurus wagon was discontinued on December 8, 2004;[4] sedan retail sales halted after a short 2006 model year, and the Taurus became sold exclusively to fleets in the United States, while still being sold to retail customers in Canada. Production ended on October 27, 2006, as Ford idled the Atlanta plant, as part of its "The Way Forward" restructuring plan. The last Ford Taurus rolled off the assembly line around 7:00am,[11] destined for delivery to S. Truett Cathy, owner of Chick-fil-A.[12] Mr. Cathy's original restaurant was located across from the Ford Atlanta plant. There was no official event or function of any kind to mark the end of production.[13] The Taurus was replaced in Ford's lineup by the Five Hundred and Fusion sedans, while the Taurus wagon was replaced by the Freestylecrossover SUV.
How can it go away? It's the best selling car in America.
The 2008 Ford Five Hundred prototype, which was renamed "Taurus" upon Alan Mulally's request
The discontinuation of the Taurus sparked debate given its once-strong position in the market and Ford's well-publicized financial problems at the time. Analysts, customers and some interviewed Ford employees criticized the company for failing to invest in the car and keep it competitive, instead focusing all of its resources on developing and marketing trucks and SUVs.[15][16] A USA Today editorial entitled "How Ford starved its Taurus" noted that the Taurus' death was part of a broader trend of the Detroit Big Three willingly abandoning once-successful nameplates and divisions in search of "the next big thing", while their foreign competitors have been gaining market share by continuously improving their veteran nameplates.[17] This criticism was echoed by Autoblog, which held the Taurus up as an example of how Ford abandoned its successful products to chase emerging trends to varying degrees of success, a practice they blamed for Ford's struggles at the time.[18]The Truth About Cars similarly lamented how Ford neglected the Taurus to the point where it became a "rental car".[19]
Newly-hired Ford CEO Alan Mulally expressed similar opinions, telling the Associated Press the decision "perplexed" him when he learned about it; he recalled asking subordinates, "How can it go away? It's the best selling car in America!"[14] As the successor Five Hundred was struggling in the marketplace, Mulally viewed the decision to discontinue the Taurus as a "mistake that needed to be fixed", noting, "The customers want it back. They didn’t want it to go away. They wanted us to keep improving it."[14] At the time, Ford had already unveiled a face-lifted Five Hundred at the 2007 North American International Auto Show, which had revised styling and a more powerful engine. Partially blaming the Five Hundred's struggles on its name, Mulally decided that the revised vehicle should be marketed as the Taurus, the name he believed the Five Hundred sedan should have used from the beginning[14] as he believed Ford was better off continuing to use its older nameplates that maintained decent brand equity rather than trying to build up new ones.[20] The revised Five Hundred and Freestyle were showcased as the Taurus and Taurus X, respectively, at the 2007 Chicago Auto Show and went on sale that summer.
The Ford Taurus is an automobile that was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States from the 1986 to 2019 model years. Introduced in late 1985 for the 1986 model year, six generations were produced over 34 years; a brief hiatus was undertaken between 2006 and 2007. From the 1986 to 2009 model years, the Taurus was sold alongside its near-twin, the Mercury Sable; four generations of the high-performance Ford Taurus SHO were produced. The Taurus also served as the basis for the first-ever front-wheel-drive Lincoln Continental (1988–2002).
Mercury was a brand of mid-priced automobiles produced by American manufacturer Ford Motor Company between 1938 and 2011 with 1939 being the first model year. It stood as its own line within Ford until 1945, and thereafter formed half of Ford's Lincoln-Mercury Division. Created by Edsel Ford in 1938 to bridge the gap between the Ford and Lincoln model lines, its principal competition was General Motors' Buick and Oldsmobile divisions, and Chrysler Corporation's DeSoto and Chrysler brands.
The Ford Windstar is a minivan that was produced and sold by Ford. The replacement for the Ford Aerostar, the Windstar adopted the front-wheel drive configuration of the Chrysler minivans. From the 1995 to 2007 model years, three generations of the model line were sold, with the final generation renamed as the Ford Freestar.
The Ford Five Hundred is a full-size automobile that was manufactured and marketed by Ford from 2004 to 2007, and debuted as a 2005 model year vehicle. Deriving its nameplate from the ''500" suffix used by Ford on the Custom 500, Fairlane 500 and Galaxie 500 model ranges from the 1950s to 1970s, the Five Hundred was the larger of two model lines intended to replace the Ford Taurus. Within the Ford model line, the Five Hundred was slotted between the Fusion and Crown Victoria.
Mercury Cougar is a nameplate applied to a diverse series of automobiles sold by the Mercury division of Ford from 1967 until 1997 and from 1999 through 2002 model years. While the nameplate is associated with two-door coupes, at various times during its production, the Cougar was also marketed as a convertible, four-door sedan, station wagon, and a hatchback.
The Mercury Montego is a nameplate that was applied to three separate generations of vehicles marketed by the Mercury division of Ford Motor Company. Taking its name from Montego Bay, Jamaica, the nameplate made its first appearance for 1967 in the Canadian market as part of the Mercury-derived Meteor model line. For 1968, the Mercury Montego made its debut across North America, becoming the Mercury counterpart of the Ford Torino intermediate-size model line for two generations.
The Mercury Grand Marquis is an automobile that was sold by Mercury from 1975 to 2011. Introduced as the flagship sub-model of the Mercury Marquis, the Grand Marquis became a stand-alone model line for 1983, serving as the largest Mercury sedan. Subsequently, the model line would serve as the sedan counterpart of the Mercury Colony Park station wagon; it would later serve as the basis of the revived Mercury Marauder.
The Mercury Sable is a range of automobiles manufactured and marketed by the Mercury brand of Ford Motor Company. Introduced on December 26, 1985, as the replacement for the Mercury Marquis, the Sable marked the transition of the mid-size Mercury product range to front-wheel drive.
The Mercury Milan is a mid-size car that was marketed by the Mercury division of Ford Motor Company. Named after Milan, an Italian city, the Milan was sold across the 2006 to 2011 model years in a single generation. The smaller of two model lines developed to replace the Mercury Sable, it indirectly succeeded the Mercury Mystique as the smallest Mercury sedan.
The Ford Tempo is a compact car that was produced by Ford from the 1984 to 1994 model years. The replacement for the Ford Fairmont, the Tempo marked the first use of front-wheel drive by Ford outside of the subcompact segment. Along with transitioning to front-wheel drive, the Tempo marked significant downsizing over its predecessor. Mercury marketed the model line under the Mercury Topaz nameplate. The model line was produced as a two-door coupe and a four-door sedan through its production.
The Ford Taurus SHO is the high-performance variant of the Ford Taurus. Originally intended as a limited-production model, the SHO would be produced for the first three generations of the model line, from the 1989 to the 1999 model years. After an 11-year hiatus, the model was revived for 2010, continuing through the 2019 discontinuation of the Taurus model line.
The Ford Fusion is a mid-size car that was manufactured and marketed by the Ford Motor Company. From the 2006 through 2020 model years, two generations of the Fusion have been produced in gasoline, gas/electric hybrid, and gas/plug-in electric hybrid variants. The Fusion was manufactured at Ford's Hermosillo Stamping and Assembly plant in Sonora, Mexico, alongside the Lincoln MKZ, and formerly the Mercury Milan, both of which share its CD3 platform.
The Ford Edge is a range of crossover SUVs manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. Introduced for the 2007 model year, the Edge is the first mid-size CUV marketed by Ford in North America; the model line is currently in its second generation. Deriving its name from a trim package of the Ford Ranger, the Ford Edge is positioned between the Ford Escape and the Ford Explorer within the Ford product line.
Full-size Ford is a term adopted for a long-running line of Ford vehicles with a shared model lineage in North America. Originating in 1908 with the Ford Model T, the line ended in 2019 with the Ford Taurus, as Ford withdrew from the full-sized sedan segment in North America. Across 111 years, 15 generations, and over 60 million examples of the model line were produced across over 50 model nameplates. By contrast, the longest-running single nameplate worldwide is the Chevrolet Suburban, in use since the 1935 model year.
The Ford Freestyle is a crossover utility vehicle that was sold by Ford from 2005 to 2009. Largely marketed as the successor to the Ford Taurus station wagon, the Freestyle was the CUV counterpart of the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego four-door sedans. Sharing the Ford D3 platform with the Five Hundred and Montego, the Freestyle was produced with both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive configurations and six- or seven-passenger seating.
The first-generation Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable are automobiles produced by Ford as the first of six generations of the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable. Launched on December 26, 1985, as a 1986 model, the front-wheel-drive Taurus was a very influential design that is credited with saving Ford from bankruptcy, bringing many innovations to the marketplace and starting the trend towards aerodynamic design for the American automakers in the North American market. Ford of Europe had launched the 1980s move to aerodynamic design for the company with the 1982 Ford Sierra.
The second-generation Ford Taurus is an automobile that was produced by Ford from 1991 to 1995, which served as the second out of six generations of the Ford Taurus. The second-generation Taurus shared all of its mechanical parts with the first-generation Ford Taurus, yet its exterior and interior were nearly completely redesigned. However, its exterior still strongly resembled that of the first-generation Taurus, leading many to believe that the second-generation was simply a facelift of the first-generation Taurus. However, this is partially true because the wagon model, from the B-pillar to the rear of the car, was a carryover from the first generation. The second generation of Taurus proved to be very popular, selling 410,000 units in its first year, becoming the best-selling car in the United States. It would hold this title until 1995, when it was discontinued and replaced with the third-generation Ford Taurus.
The third-generation Ford Taurus is an automobile that was marketed by Ford from the 1996 to 1999 model years. While the chassis underpinnings were largely carried over, the redesign gave the Taurus its first complete exterior redesign since its 1986 introduction. Slotted between the compact Ford Contour and full-size Ford Crown Victoria, the third-generation Taurus was again offered as a four-door sedan and as a five-door station wagon, marketed alongside the Mercury Sable.
The fifth generation of the Ford Taurus is an automobile that was manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company for the 2008 and 2009 model years. Marking the return of the nameplate after a hiatus of less than a year, the revived Taurus is a midcycle revision of the Ford Five Hundred full-sized sedan. After its retail withdrawal following the 2007 model year, the Crown Victoria was replaced by this generation of the Taurus, making it the flagship Ford sedan for the first time.
The sixth generation of the Ford Taurus is the final generation of the model range manufactured by Ford. Introduced for the 2010 model year, the sixth-generation Taurus is the second generation of the model line produced as a full-size car; it was the heaviest sedan sold under the Ford brand worldwide. While sharing its D3 chassis underpinnings with the previous generation, the sixth generation marked the first North American use of Kinetic Design design language.
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