[Shotimes] (OT) Forbe's article about Ford

[Mark Kelley]

My concern is that focus shifts too far the other direction and we have
another Contour on our hands (i.e. too small).  You're right about the
Taurus being too big in its current state but Nick Scheele (being European)
may be thinking in terms of the Euro Accord and shrink the Taurus too much.

Mark

> -----Original Message-----
> From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net
> [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Ron Nottingham
> Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2002 7:26 PM
> To: SHOtimes (Team.net)
> Subject: Re: [Shotimes] (OT) Forbe's article about Ford
>
>
> You are correct, the Euro and JDM Accords are smaller than the US Accord,
> but the current US Taurus is too large, almost the size of the
> current Crown
> Vic (not really, but it looks it).  The current Taurus is 10 inches too
> long, and to me it looks like it has been stretched.
>
> To me, what happened to the Gen3 Taurus, was Ford lost focus of
> the correct
> target (Honda Accord/Toyota Camry), and set it's sights on a different
> target, the ChryCo LH sedans, which weren't any competition, and
> never sold
> in enough numbers to warrant such a redesign.
>
> And looking at the specs for the current Accord sedan (length:189.5 in,
> width: 71.5, height: 57.1, wheelbase: 107.9) and the Camry
> (length:189.2 in,
> width: 70.7, height: 57.9, wheelbase: 107.1) compare favorably with the
> Gen1/2 Taurus (length:188.4 in, width: 70.8, height: 54.3,
> wheelbase: 106.0)
> vs. the current Taurus (length:197.6 in, width: 73, height: 56.1,
> wheelbase:
> 108.5) vs the Dodge Intrepid (length:203.7 in, width: 74.7, height: 55.9,
> wheelbase: 113.0).  The Intrepid may be a nice car, but it is not the #1
> selling car in the country, so why set your sights on that target?
>
> Ron N. - Dalton, GA
> 90 SHO
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mark Kelley" <mrkelley64@earthlink.net>
>
>
> > Something that occurred to me on my drive home from work is
> that the Euro
> > and Japanese Accords are smaller than the American Accord (not
> sure about
> > the Camry) because that aren't the right size for American tastes.  Nick
> > Scheele needs to keep that in mind before he downsizes the Taurus (or
> > whatever replaces it) due to his belief that Americans want
> smaller cars.
> >
> > Mark
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net
> > > [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Don McKinnon (AST)
> > > Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2002 4:28 PM
> > > To: mrkelley64@earthlink.net; shotimes@autox.team.net
> > > Subject: RE: [Shotimes] (OT) Forbe's article about Ford
> > >
> > >
> > > I really like this article!
> > > http://www.forbes.com/columnists/2002/10/29/cz_jf_1029flint.html
> > >
> > > "The way to fix the problem is to build a better Taurus. Keep it
> > > longer, but
> > > get more powerful motors. Your engines are no match for the
> > > competition, and
> > > you need a punchier four-cylinder for Taurus, too. "
> > >
> > > and...
> > > "Meanwhile, rear-wheel drive is coming back into vogue, and Ford,
> > > which has
> > > the only rear-wheel-drive big U.S. sedans in production (the
> Ford Crown
> > > Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis), could take advantage of this
> > > fact. But
> > > instead of turning these into competitive products, the automaker is
> happy
> > > to let them age and sell the Fords to taxi drivers and cops, and the
> Mercs
> > > to geezers like myself. "
> > >
> > > Don McKinnon
> > > 95 MTX
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net
> > > [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Mark Kelley
> > > Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2002 2:04 PM
> > > To: shotimes@autox.team.net
> > > Subject: [Shotimes] (OT) Forbe's article about Ford
> > >
> > >
> > > We've all heard the bad news about Ford.  This Forbe's article points
> out
> > > some of the strengths of Ford:
> > >
> > > http://www.forbes.com/home/2002/11/04/cz_jf_1104flint.html
> > >
> > > I find it interesting that some of the observations made in the
> > > article are
> > > the same as some observations posted on this list.
> > >
> > > Mark
> > > _______________________________________________
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