Ford Polishes Taurus’ Tarnished Image for China

Car sales may be slowing in China, but automakers still must introduce a steady stream of new products to keep consumers interested. For Ford, that means launching the Taurus fullsize sedan there.

The automaker sees it as a way to round out its product mix.

“The Ford Taurus is the latest proof point of Ford’s aggressive China growth plan and the new flagship sedan for the Ford brand in China,” a Ford China spokesperson says.

The Taurus has a checkered history here in the U.S., going from best-seller to fleet standby in just a few decades. Ford hopes to leave that behind in China with a model designed exclusively for that market. It faces some tough hurdles, however.

“Personally, I think the Taurus will face many difficulties in the China market,” says Kevin Huang, a consultant at WAYS, a consultancy in the South China city of Guangzhou.

For one, the segment that the Taurus will fall into – which also includes the Buick LaCrosse and the Toyota Crown – is losing market share to entry-level premium-brand models such as the Audi A3, Huang says, adding the Taurus name is not well-known in China.

“Pricing will be very critical to its success,” Huang says. He predicts the Taurus will be priced around RMB240,000 ($37,500). The A3 starts at RMB205,900 ($32,000).

"Self-Made and Successful Business People"

The Taurus name is well-known in the U.S., but not necessarily in a complimentary way.

“Taurus remains a car with a very heavy fleet mix, going to daily rental fleets and police departments nationwide,” says Ed Kim, vice president-industry analysis at consultancy AutoPacific in Southern California.

So perhaps it is a good thing that the nameplate isn’t as well-known in China.

“It needs a lot of promotion and marketing,” says Yale Zhang, managing director of Shanghai-based Auto Foresight.

The marketing for the Taurus in China will portray it as a vehicle that meets the needs of “self-made and successful business people,” the Ford spokesperson says in an email. That apparently includes power, control, fuel economy, comfort, overall quality and safety, for which the Taurus will set “new highs,” the automaker says.

The Taurus Ford will produce in China – where it will be called the “Golden Bull” – will be sold only there. Among the China-specific touches are cupholders that accommodate various sizes of tea bottles and luxurious rear-seat amenities including adjustable lumbar support and a massage function.

Production in China is to launch within the next few months at the Changan Ford joint venture in Chongqing. The Taurus will share a platform with the Ford Mondeo sedan and Edge CUV, both also produced in China. The U.S.-market Taurus is built on the P2X/D3 platform, which it shares with the Ford Explorer.

Local production of the Lincoln MKX on the Mondeo platform is to start in 2017 at Ford China’s plant in Hangzhou, according to supplier sources.

Ford won’t disclose volumes for the Taurus. But Zhang of Auto Foresight predicts they will be small, saying: “I don’t think Ford will use this car to get big volume. It is more of a brand-image product. The volume product is Mondeo.”

The Mondeo starts at RMB179,800 ($28,000), in China.

Ford insists the Taurus won’t cannibalize Mondeo sales in the country. “China is the largest market globally, with varied needs,” the spokesperson says.