Much to the dismay of police, taxi and limousine operators across North America, Ford ’s 30-year-old full-size, rear-wheel-drive Panther platform, which underpins the Crown Victoria, is set to ride off into the sunset in 2011. To attempt to satisfy its most discerning police customers, Ford is promoting the new Taurus sedan as a potential new cruiser to some of the biggest fleet operators.
Though it wouldn’t be the first Taurus aimed at police duty – fictional character Robocop drove a 1986 model – that’s not stopping agencies from being a little skeptical of the lower-duty design. Where the Crown Victoria utilizes a substantial body-on-frame design with a solid rear axle and a proven V8 engine, the Taurus boasts a more refined but less rugged unibody, a fully independent suspension and a pair of efficient but more complex and less torquey V6 powertrains. Those refinements are hot items for the consumer market, which only bought about 30,000 mechanically identical Grand Marquis sedans last year.
The Crown Victoria commands about 85 percent of the 75,000 police cruisers built annually and, thanks to its dated, or perhaps classic design, it costs Ford little to build each model at its St. Thomas, Ontario, assembly plant.
“The majority of the investment in the Crown Vic was paid off so long ago that they’re basically a license to print money,” analyst Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics LLP told the Detroit News. “They also have zero marketing cost.”
Decision still coming
Ford says that it has not officially decided if it will formally promote the Taurus as its new police cruiser, but given its plan to cease production of the Panther platform vehicles, which also include the Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car, in two years, loyal police officers will be seeking a new ride soon.
Ford is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Chrysler , which has had some success selling its significantly less rugged Dodge Charger as a police fleet vehicle. Still, the Charger offers rear-wheel-drive and, for police operators only, it can be equipped with a space-saving column shifter that frees up room for computer and radio equipment. Chevrolet , which essentially abandoned the police market in 1996 when it dropped the body-on-frame Caprice, has struggled to sell its front-wheel-drive Impala to fleet operators.
While agencies have generally been pleased with the Charger’s drivability, there have been issues over durability and interior room.
A future for the Crown Victoria?
Ford claims that the St. Thomas plant will cease production of all three Panther platform sedans in 2011, but Canadian Auto Workers union officials are asking for at least another production year – something that would no doubt please police departments.
