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Says Roberts: "The Ford Motor Co. is betting its reputation. If it's wrong, it's going to hurt us, but I think it's the right gamble to take...
That is what Ford set out to do, in one of the biggest, costliest and most risk-filled gambles in company history. On Sept. 27, Ford will launch a Taurus completely redesigned and restyled at a cost of $2.8 billion, almost a bargain compared with Ford's $5 billion investment in its compact-size "world car," including the U.S. versions Contour and Mystique, introduced this year...
...critics were wrong. Welcoming the new look, buyers flocked to the showrooms, and sales of the Taurus soared--just in time to rescue Ford from the worst financial crisis in the company's history. A decade later, some 3.3 million Tauruses--as well as a million look-alike, upscale Sables produced by the company's Lincoln-Mercury division--are on the road. And the largely unchanged Taurus has been the best-selling car in the country for three years running. Together, Taurus and Sable account for one-third of Ford's U.S. auto production and also exceed U.S. sales...
...would want to tamper with that kind of success? Ford, for one. Explains Ross Roberts, general manager of the Ford division that produces the Taurus: "Taurus was the innovative leader 10 years ago, but the current owners were saying , 'I'm already on my second or third car, and I'm tired of it,' and the nonowners were saying they weren't going to come over until we showed them something totally...
Those mechanics were the concern of Ford engineers who as early as 1991 began planning the design for the new Taurus by tearing down and analyzing some 14 competitive models in a windowless basement room at the Ford Design Center in Dearborn, Michigan. Their brutally frank internal review found numerous faults with the Taurus and many superior features in the competition. "We needed major improvements in squeak and rattle performance and engine noises that came with wide-open acceleration," recalls George Bell, the chief engineer. "There was a tendency of the car to loosen up, and we clearly needed...