Ford struggling in mid-sized sedan segment

Ford is struggling with poor sales of its mid-sized sedans, a segment it once dominated after introducing the groundbreaking Taurus in 1985. The once popular sedan found the homes of more than seven million buyers during the ‘80s and early ‘90s and it even held the title of the best selling car in the US between 1992 and 1996, until the Toyota Camry took top spot in 1997.

Since then, Ford has never managed to relive the glory days of the Taurus and had even dropped the name earlier this year until realizing its folly and reinstating the popular nameplate for a 2008 model.

It now offers two prime models, the Fusion and Taurus/Five Hundred sedans, however, rivals like the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord have lifted the bar for affordable sedans and new entrants from Korea have only made the situation worse for Ford and the rest of the Detroit 3.

In June, Ford sold just 12,435 Fusions and a paltry 5,836 Taurus sedans, according to the Associated Press, while GM’s Chevy Impala racked up 35,849 sales and market leader, the Toyota Camry, sold 46,630 units.

Analyst John Wolkonowicz from auto consultancy firm Global Insight says Ford’s problem is that it’s trying to emulate the Toyota Camry when instead it should be designing cars that are distinctly “American” and targets Ford’s core buyer group, namely, those buyers with a “blue collar” mentality. Too bad Ford has rejected the notion that its amazing Interceptor concept would ever be produced.