New Styling to Help Raise Sales and Desirability of Full-Size Ford Sedan

What will Ford do to compete? According to reliable sources within the Dearborn-based automaker, a revised Five Hundred

There is talk that a revised Five Hundred is already in the works and due to appear mid-2007. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

is already in the works and due to appear mid-2007. Some reports indicate that a 2007 styling upgrade is unusually fast, but face lifts normally arrive in about two years, or halfway into a product's lifecycle so the expected changes to the Five Hundred are not completely out of the ordinary. Just the same, it comes sooner than initially expected.

"Yes, this redesign is faster than we'd normally do it, but we think it is a good thing we are being aggressive on a refreshing," stated Ford spokesman Dave Reuters.

Reuters also insists that the Five Hundred's styling upgrade was planned before criticism was leveled at the car's conservative

"We want the face of the Five Hundred to be more like the front of the Ford Fusion, which is the face of Ford," said Ford spokesman Dave Reuters. (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada)

design by the automotive press and customers alike, or lackluster sales figures.

"The Five Hundred is going through a mid-cycle refreshing. The reality is this process started even before the Five Hundred went on sale, so it has nothing to do with sales," added Reuters. "The redesign has to do with wanting consistency in the Ford showroom. We want the face of the Five Hundred to be more like the front of the Ford Fusion, which is the face of Ford."

This last point makes sense, as the Five Hundred came under design head J. Mays' tutelage, and Ford is now under the gifted hand of the Fusion's design boss, Peter Horbury.