Ford Taurus

Not to be confused with the Ford Taunus.

The Ford Taurus (from Latin "bull") is a midsize car sold by the Ford Motor Company in North America. Introduced in December 1985 as a 1986 model, Ford sold nearly 7 million Tauruses during its 20 years of production. The Taurus also had a Mercury sibling called the Sable. Most Tauruses were built in either Chicago, Illinois (until 2003), and in Atlanta, Georgia.

This model was a bold new step in US automobile design. For the first time in many decades, an American manufacturer was building a world class car, inspired by successful European designs, which were making huge inroads in the US premium sedan market. Ford took a huge gamble in basing its bread and butter car on the 1984 Audi 5000, which in turn was patterned on the radical 1975 Citroen CX.

The car was given a minor facelift in 1992 and a major redesign in 1996, followed by two design updates in 2000 and 2004. Between 1992 and 1996, the Taurus was the best-selling car in the United States, losing the title in 1997. During that period, the Ford F-150 remained the country's best selling vehicle—and, several other vehicles not classified as "cars" also ranked higher in sales than the Taurus.

Introduction and competition

In 1985, the Chrysler Corporation issued surveys to predict the success of their upcoming Dodge Dynasty and the redesigned Chrysler New Yorker (both of which wouldn't appear until 1987 for the 1988 model year). According to Chrysler, the surveys predicted that the Taurus and Sable would be hopeless flops, and that the Dynasty and New Yorker would take the sales lead. Not surprisingly, it actually turned out to be the exact opposite, with the Taurus/Sable twins selling very well, while the Dynasty and New Yorker needed rebates right from the start because of slow sales. This is mostly because the Sable/Taurus twins offered sleek, new contemporary designs, while the Dynasty and New Yorker used more boxy, conventional designs. Perhaps due to this, the New Yorker and Dynasty were succeeded by new, more radically styled sedans based on Chrysler's new LH platform in 1993.