[Shotimes] SHO a Sales Success?

[Ron Porter]

Bill, your "generated 50,000 sales" is referring to the entire Taurus line
and additional sales that the SHO would generate, and not the annual SHO
sales number? IIRC, there was something like a commitment that Yamaha would
deliver at least 20,000 engines a year, and that seemed to be the SHO sales
target.

Another thing is the delay of the ATX. Going back into the time machine
here, but one of my Ford buddies was on the Taurus Product Development team
back in '89, and they were already working on the ATX.....and regularly
blowing them up!! I "think" the original plan was for an ATX in '90, but in
any rate, no later than '91, but that all got pushed back.

I'll be seeing him throughout the Michigan football season, so I'll have to
see what he remembers from that period.

Ron Porter

-----Original Message-----
From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]
On Behalf Of Bill Strobel
Sent: Sunday, August 29, 2004 4:38 PM
To: Times List SHO
Subject: [Shotimes] SHO a Sales Success?


Correct me if I am wrong but they are still selling the Taurus but I do not
see a SHO in the lineup.  Last year was 1999.  I do not think Ford dropped
the SHO because they could not keep up with demand but because nobody was
buying them.  The Taurus GL and Taurus LX those are sales successes the SHO
wasn't.  That does not mean it wasn't a good car it was, but the SHO was not
meant to be a Halo car but a car that generated 50,000 sales it year.  It
fell way short.  It has lots of company, good cars that were not sales
successes like the HEMI cars, the Dodge & Plymouth wing cars, the AC Cobras,
the Boss Mustangs, COPO Camaros, etc etc.  Each are doing well on the
auction scene but were not sales successes and died an early death.  If the
SHO had been doing well on the showroom floor, you would be able to go to
Ford today and buy a new one.  The base car is still available it just was
not economically feasible for Ford to order the parts and maintain the
repair parts in invento!
ry based
 on the sales numbers generated.  Why didn't the car sell?  Good question.
It got lots of great press, did well in the road tests, had 4 doors for
utility, they added an automatic, but when it comes down to it, the vast
majority of people still buy a car for utilitarian reasons going from point
A to point B.  Oh sure they would like a sporty car but just aren't willing
to pay the premium.  What it comes down to is the car was dropped because it
wasn't a sales success not because it wasn't a good car.  They are two
different things and should not be confused.  The public buys middle of the
road cars.  Always have always will.  The fact that the auto manufactures
have to relearn this every once in a while keeps guys like me (you) going
back to the dealership and buying cars.  There have been some exceptions
through the years like the Mustang 40+ years and going strong but even there
the big seller is the bread & butter models.  GM dropped the F-body even
though it was a bette!
r car
 than the Mustang on paper, in the road tests, bang for the buck, but in the
one arena that really counts the Mustang outsold it handily.  Lets not
rewrite history or look at our favorite car through rose colored glasses.
At the conventions I attended in the 90s sales figures were a constant worry
for Ford corporate and ways to increase them were always high on the list.
Look at the buildup for the 1996 model, the little sales kits given away
with the video, the drawing for the driving school etc, just the automatic
transmission available trying to appeal to the middle of the road guy, and
still the car only generates 10,000+ sales.  That was the beginning of the
end.  They gave it their best shot but could not sell it.  In 1996 the SHO
was the leader in Taurus marketing and it still would not sell in numbers to
make it worthwhile.  After that Ford gave up on the car eventually canceling
it.  The car is a good car but it was not a sales success.





Bill Strobel
Independent Towing
Fayetteville NC
		
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