Comments on: Top Ford exec compares Ford Taurus to Homer Simpson

By: Heart64

Heart64 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:28:31 +0000

NASCAR for the record is for pure Idiots. Rednecks who sleep in the same dirty T-Shirt their whole life, beat their wives, drink and get drunk every night like that was the only thing a man could do(A man-(if you could call him that) with no brain-that is), loves his chevy like its the best thing on God’s green earth, unfaithful to his wife, eats Fried Pork Rhines (Pig Skin Fat)- and this they consider dietic, has a 2nd grade education, was arrested for drunk driving and did several misdemeanors before the age of 18 and him and his old man believe this is a badge of male adult passage and courage. Is in a Nutshell for complete fools. Grown boys racing around a oval-proves nothing!

Most racing is garbage with people with no brains. But if there is something as intelligent racing that tests drivers and cars to their limits then its Formula 1 on different tracks or Gran Turismo style driving where track is varied. its not just a gay oval and nothing more.
Oh yeah those cars are all Rednecked souped up cars -their is nothing stock about a template or a plastic face from an Automaker. I wish Ford would graduate the Taurus to more intelligent racing with Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Chyrsler, Mitsubishi, and Mercedes Benz, and leave Rednecked Chevy OUT not with the morons of Nascar

By: jackjimturkey

jackjimturkey — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 20:40:47 +0000

I want a Stewie Griffin Edition sable

By: hanlond

hanlond — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:35:19 +0000

…set requirements FOR pretty much…

By: hanlond

hanlond — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:34:16 +0000

NASCAR intended for the drivers to be “the stars.” All the cars mostly have the exact same specs, the only difference is how each cars is tuned and the paint job. There are set requirements pretty much all the parts of the cars. They want driver skill to be more of the deciding factor in a race than anything else. Although some do have some very good engine builders, so they can get slightly better engines, and some try to cheat.

By: Get Real

Get Real — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:01:35 +0000

I’ve never gotten near one so didn’t know about the fiberglass vs. metal.

Wish the cars were the stars instead of the pretty-boy racers.

By: The Stig

The Stig — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 07:04:14 +0000

Fire Mark “Big Hair” Fields – he’s likely Kuzak’s puppet-master.

By: johnnycanuck

johnnycanuck — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 03:52:35 +0000

Actually GetReal, most of the body panels are made of metal hand shaped with an English wheel. The rest of it you’ve pretty much nailed.

By: Get Real

Get Real — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 03:00:00 +0000

NASCAR is nothing but tube welded frames with fiberglass bodies.

Nothing stock about it ..a sham people believe in.

The drivers are the stars, the kit-cars are just sticker carriers for the cameras to put on your TV screen.

By: stick2clutch

stick2clutch — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 22:39:52 +0000

If they want the next Taurus to stand a chance they better up their target and produce a damn good looking 5-Series fighter (cough) at the price of the accord and camry.

By: hanlond

hanlond — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 22:29:39 +0000

Actually, Get Real, this is good. At least we now know that they know they’re putting out a not so great product, and they know how to fix it. Hopefully they will fix it.

Deanster – true dat.

RecardoHead – funny but probably somewhat true…

By: Z06ified

Z06ified — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:11:00 +0000

“2. live jay, zo6ified, maximus – Also ford invested alot of money on the D3 platform that the Taurus/ Sable twins ride on, it isn’t a bad platform.

Comment by 441Zuke, posted on January30 at 11:16 am ”

Well, it may not be bad, but its not good, either. In the market in which it competes, it needs to be excellent.

” a basic mondeo retails for 30,000 USD and will not appeal at all to johnny nascar.”

That’s only because its built in Europe right now, and the exchange rate makes it expensive in the U.S. If they built a portion of them in the U.S. or Mexico, it would be much less expensive. Ford has already done this before with the Mondeo in the U.S. with the CDW27 platform, aka “the world car” aka Ford Contour/Mercury Mystique/Ford Mondeo circa 1995-2001. The design was 90% Mondeo in Europe, and U.S. models were built in two plants in North America – one in the U.S. (Kansas City I believe), and the other in Mexico.

As for the johnny nascar thing – I went to my first NASCAR race last year, and I didn’t see many Tauruses or Impalas in the parking lots. Just thousands of pickup trucks and SUVs. I would be willing to bet the average Taurus buyer is not a NASCAR fan. Those who are NASCAR fans most likely didn’t buy their Taurus simply because it is raced in the series. Race the Mondeo name in NASCAR, and it wouldn’t make any difference – as long as Ford is representing a car in the series.

By: Get Real

Get Real — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:33:03 +0000

A boss like this should be fired today, not tomorrow.

Never ever speak bad of your own product. He is stupid.

If FoMoCo keeps Kuzak then Ford deserves to die.

By: DrFill

DrFill — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:20:06 +0000

This story has now made CNN.com
DrFill

By: bolex

bolex — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:25:08 +0000

…i cant get over how stupid these guys are?!? im seriously curious what the decision makers do on a day to day basis, coz its obviously not hard work. the sebring is getting a redesign, but at least it was because of new ownership….whats fords excuse?

By: suavio

suavio — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:18:10 +0000

Yes, J Mays came from “VW/Audi”. What I’d be a little concerned with is that Freeman Thomas is also from the same “VW/Audi” farm.

By: Xile

Xile — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:53:06 +0000

Translation : “Thanks for all of you idiots for buying this POS. As you drive down the road, just remember all of us genuises who designed this car are laughing at you. BTW, we’ll have a new version coming out in a year so please waste some more money so we could have a few more chuckles.” Gimme a break.

By: RicardoHead

RicardoHead — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:44:59 +0000

I personally want the bad-ass 2009 Cartman Edition Taurus. It’d be sweeeeeet!

By: trooper1

trooper1 — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:19:27 +0000

I guess this means the Taurus is as ugly and stupid as Homer, and the type of person that would buy a Ford Taurus these days must be as ugly and stupid as Homer Simpson. I think the same applys to all Ford cars.

By: DrFill

DrFill — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:01:31 +0000

Ford knocked-off the Passat.
Without the interior style, engines, or anything nice.
If you are gonna bite a ryhme, at least TRY to take it to the next level.
Crown Vic: Played out
Taurus/500: Planned obsolecense
Fusion: Original, almost successful
DrFill

By: Ward Cleaver

Ward Cleaver — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:55:57 +0000

You’re exactly right Suavio. Remember, J Mays came from VW.

By: suavio

suavio — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:50:56 +0000

While I agree with Ward, I still put the blame on Ford. The styling of 500 wasn’t really a huge problem… The problem was that we had seen the look for years in Audi and VW. While no one had a problem with the A6 and Passat, no one also wanted a Ford that looked like it could have been designed 5 years earlier. As for the 300, yes, it definitely raised the bar, and that also made the 500 look dated. Add a mighty 200-hp and the low quality interior and Ford’s got an issue.

By: 441Zuke

441Zuke — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:16:58 +0000

1. you can’t say ford isn’t trying
2. live jay, zo6ified, maximus – Also ford invested alot of money on the D3 platform that the Taurus/ Sable twins ride on, it isn’t a bad platform. a basic mondeo retails for 30,000 USD and will not appeal at all to johnny nascar. That is who will be buying this car now if it were sold as a mercury…..

By: 441Zuke

441Zuke — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:10:04 +0000

the 500/Taurus platform is a great base to build a car off of a little heavy it has the power it needed before it just needs styling if they do this right it will be a great car i rode in a 500 once it has a ton of room in it and the interior wasn’t that bad if seriously felt like a bigger car then a crown vic

By: Ward Cleaver

Ward Cleaver — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:55:27 +0000

I think the 500 would have been much better received if it hadn’t been for the 300. The Chrysler set a very high bar for design. The Ford just didn’t measure up.

By: jdasch1

jdasch1 — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:44:15 +0000

Taurus is dead. Bring the Mondeo over…same price. Forcus is dead…bring over the C-max. Econoline is a niche….bring over the diesel Transit van and start a commercial uprising. Fire JWT for your advertising firm…hire anybody else with a pulse. Oh wait….these are great ideas. Won’t happen at Ford. Sad!

By: purdue

purdue — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:37:09 +0000

Well, for Chrysler, the blame rests squarely on Stuttgart.

By: johnnycanuck

johnnycanuck — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:18:09 +0000

While we’re all thrilled Ford and Chrysler have suddenly discovered this newfound ability to rush through all these major redesigns, where the f*ck was this magical ability up until now? Or are they just well rested after letting certain platforms fester for decades?

By: Z06ified

Z06ified — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:12:47 +0000

They could also easily drop the new twin turbo V-6 in the Ford Mondeo, and sell an SVT version of the car. It could be a rebirth of SVT too. A twin turbo, 400hp nice looking sports sedan for under $40k. How could you lose?

By: Z06ified

Z06ified — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:10:44 +0000

If its not the new Ford Mondeo, they’re wasting their time. They aleady have a damned near perfect mid size sedan in Europe in the form of the Mondeo – just bring it over here, and problem solved.

By: richt62167

richt62167 — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:48:57 +0000

Amen!!! DeansterTJ

By: maximus

maximus — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:47:47 +0000

Ford Mondeo!!!!

By: cookie4me

cookie4me — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:45:33 +0000

Yeah, the high roof line was an emphasis on the current model and “command seating”. All those are nice but you have to style a car for someone to want to sit in it to understand what “command seating” is!

By: RicardoHead

RicardoHead — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:30:27 +0000

What cracks me up is that while this jagg-off was delivering this great homer/superman speech, somewhere in the audience a group of marketers and designers were mumbling amongst themselves …
……. “oh crap, man, now they want exciting designs – I guess we all ought to
……… start looking for other jobs”
and then they applied at Toyota where their design portfolios are held in high regard.

By: corvette

corvette — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:24:28 +0000

as i read that they’re lowering the roof line i remembered that commercial that made emphasis of the higher roof line.

By: livelyjay

livelyjay — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:15:17 +0000

Just bring over the Ford Mondeo, problem solved.

By: jonmiles

jonmiles — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:09:28 +0000

The redesign looks like Bart Simpson

By: lucklaster

lucklaster — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:58:51 +0000

After all the talk, just come through Ford. Think – passion – it just might sell cars.

By: Flipper

Flipper — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:50:37 +0000

Good thing too, I’m glad to see the US motor car Companies starting to react to the market place. Between this and the Mopar redesigningsi ts easier to feel hopeful about the home bred industry.

By: purdue

purdue — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:50:37 +0000

NOW I understand the Japanese focus on panel gap and other quality areas. It’s because as this article states, and they have been raised, it’s that

“MILLIMETERS MATTER”

A national slogan?

By: DrFill

DrFill — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:27:20 +0000

Hey, why get Superman when you can have Homer Simpson?
DrFill

By: Rover3500

Rover3500 — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 10:14:39 +0000

Funny thing is, Id still have one of these over a camry…even in its original 500 guise.

By: Veda

Veda — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 10:11:32 +0000

It remains to be seen, they’re still in a sad state of affair.

By: The Stig

The Stig — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 07:36:35 +0000

Doh.

By: 441Zuke

441Zuke — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 07:19:09 +0000

that is about right