I like Automotive News [AN, sub]. Although AN often fails to ask American automakers the tough questions, at least they're not Detroit lap dogs, cheerleaders or apologists (like some news orgs I frequently name). But what's with their article on the Ford Taurus spy photo? It starts off innocently enough, chronicling the turn of events that led TTAC to post the shot (without any legal blow-back, I might add). "The buzz intensified when Ford's legal department moved quickly to force several of the Web sites to take down the picture — leading many to conclude that the photo was the real deal. The photo vanished from the Internet for about 24 hours before it reappeared and spread rapidly." And then, suddenly, they make a not-so-bold, not-so-Woodward-and-Bernstein run for the [allegedly] moral high ground. "But neither Automotive News nor our affiliate AutoWeek will run the photo. We don't have permission from the owner, we don't know where it was taken, and we wouldn't run a photo taken inside an automaker's property." Hang on; if they don't know where the shot was taken how do they know it was taken inside an automaker's property? And now that the photo's all over the place, why wimp-out? It gets worse. "If curiosity gets to you, just type '2010 Ford Taurus' into your favorite Web search tool."
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I would also like to debunk the myth that the photo “vanished” from the Internet for 24 hours.
Not true.
Jonny Lieberman :
I would also like to debunk the myth that the photo “vanished” from the Internet for 24 hours.
Yeah, that was the part made me WTF’icate too. The only way something “vanishes” from the internet is if your own router is down… :-)
Good looking car. Rear wheel drive?
rear wheel drive?
at a guess no. could be the angle of the photo but the front wheel archs are too big
@rtz:
No, it’s going to be front wheel drive. It just doesn’t make sense for Ford to go down that road. The current Taurus chassis is quite good, especially as it has been updated.
This needs to be a mainstream car for them – a Camry – rather than a niche car, like the Pontiac G8 or Charger.
Ford needs every MPG it can get, not to mention the interior packaging benefits of FWD and the ability to sell to people in the snowbelt that will only buy FWD/AWD.
The car will hit the streets in just eighteen months so all this is stupidness. Oh and the look is hot, I got a fever.
looks like 90 percent of cars being sold.
(As the boys at Autospies have pointed out) What’s that in the background behind the alleged redesigned Ford Taurus? Perhaps a Lincoln MKR?
At least it isn’t sporting the already aged electric razor grill of modern Fords.
I assume it is just a reskin of the existing car ???? Maybe even the doors are the same ?
The current Taurus is actually a pretty darn decent car with Volvo S80 safety engineering and about the best price per cubic foot of interior volume out there. The last time I drove a rental one the ride and handling were excellent for the class as well. It is a much better driving car than the Impala IMO.
taurus is going to be a european mondeo derivative spun off the mazda 6 platform.Most likely. This one looks injected with some toyota Avensis countenance in a mondeo sauce.
Looks well enough, quite a lot like the Euro-Mondeo.
The best part is that they killed the extra side-window behind the rear door on the current Taurus, a car I’ve never seen live in my life. That and the low beltline of the current Taurus make it look like an early 90s design.
taurus is going to be a european mondeo derivative spun off the mazda 6 platform.Most likely.
The Mazda6 platform is not the same as the Euro-Mondeo platform (strangely enough). I’m sure the two are closely related one way or another, but in Europe Mazda seems to want to make a point out of it that it is their own platform design. One thing that’s for sure is that the Mazda’s wheel base is a couple of inches shorter than the Mondeo’s.
Still, both cars are widely credited for their excellent driving dynamics as is the Euro-focus by the way, so at least Ford has got that one down.
JJ :
The Mazda6 platform is not the same as the Euro-Mondeo platform (strangely enough).
Does that apply to the new 2009 Mazda6 as well?
I love it when legal teams send cease and desist notices to websites to remove content from the Internet. As if, somehow, the content hasn’t been cached on proxy servers all over the world, people haven’t copied the pictures, blogged about, or podcasted about them.
To understand the legal community’s aversion to technology all one has to do is see that many of them are running Corel WordPerfect.
It looks nice enough, albiet a bit like an Escort which took some steroids.
Will this “American” car still be based on the Mazda 6 (Japanese) chassis, and will it still be manufactured in Mexico?
Nah, we’ll probably go ahead and get another Hyundai Sonata next year as our 2nd car (manufactured in Alabama, styled in California, partially engineered in Ann Arbor), or maybe a Subaru Forester (manufactured in Japan) or if gas prices continue to spike, perhaps a Toyota Corolla (manufactured in California, Japan and Canada). We need to be able to tow 1500 pounds with car #2 and the Prius cannot tow.
The current Taurus is on a Ford D3 / Volvo platform — not the Mazda6 (in the US the 6 is on the CD3, along with the Fusion and Edge). It’s obviously going to be on the same platform as the upcoming Lincoln MKS (D3 again).
I just hope there are smaller and more fuel-efficient engines in the works. 2.0L turbo, etc. No need for thirsty 3.5 V6s.
Thanks Detroit – I was gong to mention that.
I still think it resembles a Hyundai from that angle.
@mxfive4
Yes, it does. The Mondeo uses the EUCD platform, The new Mazda6 the CD3 platform…
Sounds like somebody didn’t get frisked for their camera phone before entering PDC.
Don’t hate it…actually the timing might be right. If it hits in 12-18 months, that’s about the time GM’s ADD will have set in and they will forget they even built the Malibu, let alone start thinking about a refresh.
And Ford will conquest a few hundred buyers from GM, this car will get mediocre notes from the press, and a few people will understand it is a heavier Mondeo/Volvo hybrid. I’m holding out for the next Fusion, though. Or maybe the badgeneered Mercury Sable. Oh yeah, that’s be sweet.
Nah, Ford will remove the coolness and replace it with ho-hum before they sell it to anyone. Think plastic hubcaps and beige styling.
It’s like the concept cars. They CAN build coolness but it seldom reaches the customer for under $40K. Of course I can’t see why a cool shape costs more than a cheap shape. Must be the marketting department’s fault.
Oh MAYBE that is the car they’ll sell in Europe while building us some much more beige vanilla…