New Five Hundred Smaller than Crown Vic on Outside but Large Inside
DETROIT--Ford Motor Company is calling 2004 "The Year of the Car" as it introduces five new car and crossover vehicles in an effort to recapture or even just hold onto market segments that it had virtually ignored during much of the 1990s.
 |
| A pair of Ford Motor Company's 2005 Five Hundreds sit on the stage following their introduction Sunday January 4, 2004 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada) |
Two of those cars will be the Ford Freestyle crossover vehicle and the Five Hundred, a large sedan. Pre-production versions of both cars were shown off during the 2004 North American International Auto Show.
Granted, Ford did introduce the award-winning, but recall plagued Focus, the Lincoln LS and the Thunderbird in North America in recent years, but its current Mustang, Taurus/Mercury Sable, Crown Victoria/Mercury Grand Marquis products have been aging to say the least. And, the company dropped a slew of other cars, including the Lincoln Continental and Mark VIII, the Ford Contour, plus Mercury Mystique and Cougar.
 |
| Sitting outside of Detroit's Cobo Convention Center in the rain, with the Ambassador Bridge to Windsor, Ontario, in the background, the 2005 Ford Five Hundred is one of six new cars and crossover vehicles that the automaker is releasing in its "Year of the Car." (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada) |
And, even then, it had taken its "eye off the ball," developing its mainstream vehicles, during the late 1990 and early 2000 period by concentrating on acquiring Volvo Cars and Land Rover and failed deals to buy BMW, Kia and Daewoo. The company had basically become a truck maker that seemed to build cars on the side while inroads were made on its car turf by a host of foreign auto companies.
Ford's great passion for great products is alive and well, though, said Nick Scheele, the company president and chief operating officer. The company is introducing 65 new Ford and Lincoln Mercury vehicles in the next five years.