Despite all the problems US automakers are having The new 2010 Ford Taurus was revealed earlier this year at the Detroit Auto Show. It first caused a stir when photos were leaked all over the web.Along with the brand new Taurus is the return of the Taurus SHO after a 10 year disappearance. The new Taurus didn't cause as much press as the return of the SHO, yet despite the brand new redesign do Ford's new Taurus' live up to their heritage?
Despite the US auto bailout fiasco the new Taurus is an improvement over the 2008-2009 Taurus. The new design of the Taurus might fall a bit short of living up to it's heritage and appears to be taking styling cues from the Camry and Accord.
When viewed from the side the car looks alright and seems to blend in with the other cars on the road, a good point for a family sedan.
The front end is styled appropriately with in terms of the headlights and grill, (depending on what model you're looking at though.) It's not too bold, but not too boring. In fact the front end looks very much like the Toyota Camry's front end. That could be a good thing considering Toyota has many most American auto consumers attention.
The headlights while similar to the Camry are a hat tip to the 1992-1995 headlights upon closer inspection.
But the SHO has an electric shaver style grill that is a bit flashy and may be more appropriate if it were black.
The interior also appears to be another good thing about the new Taurus (depending on what model again though) The interior appears more luxurious and seems to be competing with luxury cars such as the Lexus GS, LS and the Audi A6. Ford seems to be trying re-brand the car as a full size luxury car. [Aside: Why can't the Taurus stay an affordable family sedan without having an identity crisis?]
The interior of the SHO comes with seating reminiscent of the early SHO's from the 80's and 90's, a nice new retro detail.The interior materials appear to have improved over more recent years. When I drove a rental in 2005 the interior was made of low grade plastic and was an obvious downgrade over the 2000-2003 interior. The wood components of the dashboard on the 05 Taurus were not wood, but instead plastic.
Now the new Taurus has leather seats in all models and a stylish LED dash on the SEL model.
Now a few bad points.
Alan Mulally said with the release of the 2008 Ford Taurus (and trying to do some PR cleanup after attempting to kill off the Taurus and Sable) "People just want the name."
He was wrong when he looked at their sales figures. People didn't want the Ford 500 to be renamed the Taurus and the Montego to suddenly become the Sable. They wanted the real things made with the quality they used to have, if not better.
Unfortunately, Ford killed off the Sable again. The last true Sable rolled off the assembly line in 2005. [Aside: with this being last year for the Grand Marquis and Mountaineer it seems Mercury is going the way of Oldsmobile]
Also, the rear taillights while interesting have a cheesy chrome strip around them. In fact the rear reminds me of the Ford Flex combined with the new Lincoln MKZ. The rear looks a bit chinsey, a bit out of sync with the Taurus styling history. Also, it appears similar to the Honda Accord rear. Though big rears are back.
Finally, it has a side flare, an unnecessary styling trend.
Overall the new Taurus is not a bad car and is an improvement over the last generation but compared to the design evolution of the 1986-2006 Taurus' the current Taurus seems to be having a bit of an identity crises. Is it trying to be luxury? Family sedan? Sport sedan? It is a modern improvement over the last generation but needs a few tweaks to make it a top selling sedan again.
