US: Ford launches the 2008 Taurus
 

Following the start of production at its Chicago plant in April, the 2008 Ford Taurus has begun to reach dealers in the US, Canada and Mexico. The large front- or all-wheel drive sedan, a restyled Ford Five Hundred, was launched at the Chicago motor show in February.

All versions come as standard with a 260hp (194kW) 3.5-litre V6 and six-speed automatic transmission, replacing the 200hp (149kW) 3.0-litre V6/CVT powertrain of the 2007 Five Hundred.

Ford believes the Taurus' natural rivals will be the Chrysler 300C and Toyota Avalon, and has priced it accordlingly (MSRP: US$23,245-29,445), leaving the less expensive Ford Fusion to battle the big-selling Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.

Introduced in 2004 and built on a Volvo architecture, the now discontinued Ford Five Hundred sold 108,000 units in 2005, but only 84,000 in 2006, according to the company. Ford has not announced sales targets for the Taurus but emphasises that daily rental car fleets will not be targetted. These buyers made up the majority of sales for the previous generation Taurus.

Ford is expected to give the Taurus a facelift for the 2010 model year and replace it in 2011. In January 2006, the company said there would be a hybrid Five Hundred sometime between 2008 and 2010. The programme is understood to be progressing for a Taurus Hybrid introduction in 2009.

The Taurus is a vital part of the company's planned sales turnaround in North America. In May, the Mustang and Focus were the only Ford Group vehicles among the top ten best selling cars in the US. Toyota took first (Camry) second (Corolla/Matrix) and sixth (Prius) places, with the Honda Civic in third place, the Accord fifth and Nissan Altima seventh. The only two GM cars were the Chevy Impala (fourth) and Cobalt (eighth), ahead of the two Fords. No Chrysler Group models made the list.

Source: [url=http://www.automotiveworld.com/WVMA/content.asp?contentid=61384]Automotive World[/url]