China is getting an all-new Taurus, debuting at the Shanghai Motor Show next week, but U.S. buyers will continue getting a version of the 2015 Taurus.
Look for Ford to be one of the U.S. manufacturers making big news at the Shanghai Motor Show next week when it will unveil a completely redesigned version of its big Taurus sedan.
The new model is expected to be both lighter and quicker, which should help continue to gain traction in a market where it has jumped from also-ran to fourth-largest maker. But U.S. fans may be in for a disappointment because it appears that the new Taurus won’t be coming to the States, at least not immediately.
Confirming the new Ford Taurus will debut in Shanghai, spokesman Aaron Miller described the sedan as, “an all-new vehicle designed specifically to meet the needs of Chinese customers.”
Once the nation’s best-selling passenger car, the original Ford Taurus was pulled from production in 2007 after becoming little more than a direct-to-rental-fleet model. Ford brought it back a year later, but grew it from a midsize to full-size model, basing the reborn Taurus on a platform it shared with former Swedish subsidiary Volvo.
The new model received mixed reviews, in part because of its hefty mass and conservative design – a sharp contrast from the breakthrough styling of the original 1986 model’s aerodynamic shape. That’s translated into modest sales, nowhere near the volume of the first Taurus sedan’s peak years.
Its been expected for some time that a redesign was due. And it has been indicated by various sources that Ford would migrate to a version of the CD platform now used for the smaller Fusion sedan. That would be lighter and more fuel-efficient and would also allow it to be produced on the same line as the Fusion.
Whether it would be built in the U.S. has been a big question, however, and the debut of the new Chinese model does not seem to clear that up. But with weak U.S. demand, some sources say Ford will stick with the old model here until it reaches the end of its planned lifecycle. It might then vanish from the line-up or be replaced by another full-size offering.
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But full-size sedans are becoming a larger endangered species in the U.S., generating barely a quarter the volume of midsize models. They also weigh down a manufacturer’s fleet fuel economy average, a problem what with the upcoming 54.5 mpg CAFE standard set for 2025.
China has also seen a push to improve fuel economy. But there is still a strong market for larger vehicles among business executives and government officials.
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Ford has promised to launch 15 new vehicles in China by the end of 2015, and has already brought out a number of products, including several Lincoln models introduced there last year.
Ford was a latecomer to the Chinese market but has been playing a fast-paced game of catch-up. The Detroit maker’s latest move comes with last month’s opening of a new, $760 million assembly plant in Hangzhou, about 100 miles southwest of Shanghai. The new facility will bring to 1.2 million Ford’s rated annual capacity in China, and comes as Ford grows into position as the market’s fourth-largest manufacturer.
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The Hangzhou plant opens just as the Chinese car market begins to cool, along with the rest of the economy, for the first time in more than a decade. Nonetheless, Ford CEO Mark Fields, who was on hand for the plant dedication, was optimistic, declaring, “This world-class facility will help us accelerate the delivery of high-quality, innovative products to our customers in China.”