Ford Taurus Holding Own In Large-Car Segment

PORTLAND, OR – Ford is hoping Taurus sales get a boost from the ’13 model now arriving in showrooms, but if there is no change, that’s OK, too, the auto maker says.

“It is very competitive in its segment,” Amy Marentic, Ford group marketing manager, tells WardsAuto at a media event here.

The Taurus resides in the Large Car segment, as defined by WardsAuto. The Dodge Charger is the segment sales leader, a position it has held for three years running.

Deliveries of Ford’s flagship sedan are steady but have not reached the levels of some of the auto maker’s more-popular models.

Taurus sales in 2011 were off 7.7% to 63,526 units, according to WardsAuto data. In comparison, Ford’s CD-car entry, the Fusion, racked up 248,067 deliveries last year. Through February, the Taurus was down 8.7% to 7,776.

While the numbers aren’t huge, the segment is an important one for Ford, Marentic says, noting the Large Car category is traditionally dominated by entries from U.S. auto makers.

“Domestics have done well in that segment and continue to do well,” she says.

The Taurus controlled 26.7% of the U.S. Large Car share in 2011, compared with the Charger’s 29.43%.

“Back in the day when we were working on the ’10 Taurus, the segment was over 80% domestic, which is almost the exact opposite of the C-D segment,” Marentic says.

According to WardsAuto segmentation, U.S. auto makers historically have had the Large Car segment to themselves. But that’s largely because most foreign-brand large cars, such as the Nissan Maxima and Toyota Avalon, were moved to the Luxury segment due to heftier price tags.

A ’13 Taurus begins at $26,600, while the Maxima and Avalon start at $32,060 and $33,195, respectively.

Domestics may be more appealing to people shopping large sedans, Marentic suggests. But she offers no data to back up the assumption.

San Diego-based consultancy Strategic Vision paints the average fullsize sedan buyer this way:

But unlike buyers in some other segments, comfort is their No.1 purchase consideration. And they care little about their car’s environmental footprint.

They are “not looking for a basic vehicle with no extras; and they’re often not shoppers looking for the best deal or to switch brands,” Strategic Vision President Alexander Edwards tells WardsAuto.

In addition to its new 240-hp 2.0L EcoBoost engine delivering 270 lb.-ft. (366 Nm) of peak torque and 31 mpg (7.5 L/100 km) on the highway, the ’13 Taurus line should get a boost from the freshened high-performance SHO version, Marentic says.

The ’13 SHO features new brakes, 20-in. wheels and recalibrated electronic power-assisted steering. Under the hood is a 3.5L EcoBoost V-6 that produces 365 hp and 350 lb.-ft. (475 Nm) of torque.

The SHO also benefits from visual enhancements, which were made at the behest of current owners, Marentic says.

Up front, the car is adorned with a black mesh grille unique to the nameplate and flanked by high-intensity discharge headlights. Aft of the front wheel openings, a fender-mounted scallop features a small SHO badge.

The car also gets black side-view mirrors, downward-facing puddle lamps and a decklid-mounted spoiler.

Inside, the SHO has a perforated, leather-wrapped steering wheel, leather-trimmed seats with SHO graphics, woven aluminum trim and adjustable aluminum pedals.

The sporty SHO will be featured prominently in an upcoming Taurus marketing campaign featuring NASCAR driver Carl Edwards, Marentic says. The SHO was chosen to highlight the difference between the Taurus and an upcoming new version of the Fusion midsize sedan.

“One thing (the) Taurus has that (the) Fusion doesn’t is its V-6 EcoBoost engine,” she says. “So we thought we could focus the campaign on SHO, and that would help us differentiate (the two models).”

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