When the name “Ford Taurus” is mentioned, most people immediately think of a North-American car, and they have every right to do so. Back in the mid-1980s, the positive moment that country was living motivated the Blue Oval to be more adventurous. During its first years on sale, Taurus managed to redefine the concept of full-size sedans and station wagons, helped its maker to overcome the financial crisis with which it was dealing at that moment, and had huge influence on the stylistic trends of the following decade. There were some important bumps on its road, but it always bounced back, and now remains as one of the best cars in its class. Having this in mind, it gets really hard to see such name going to a car created yesterday, and with the sole reason of making some extra bucks.
On the other hand, this sedan is still a great product, so it really deserves forgetting its name for a moment, so as to give it a fair analysis. Since the Chinese buyer is very conservative in this category, Ford created a rather discreet version of its current design language. The hexagonal front grille, the sleek lights, the strong side creases… you can have déjà vus of other Fords easily. Compared to the North-American Taurus – the real one, if you will –, the most noticeable differences appear at the silhouette, whose transition between roof and trunk is smoother, and at the rear, which uses bigger, more horizontal lights and the license plate between them. In order to comply with both the local taste and North-American complaints, the wheelbase was stretched to impressive 2.95 meters.
The Chinese Ford wanted to make the best of this room, so it equipped it with better materials, 25 storage areas of assorted sizes and shapes, power-reclining seats with available power lumbar and massage, and a foldable armrest between those which carries controls for seats, stereo and A/C. The rest of the equipment list is still unknown, but you can expect at least the same level of its direct rivals – this means trendy items such as cutting-edge infotainment system with big screen, a vast array of electronic safety systems, and that panoramic sunroof seen at these pictures. Given that Ford wants it to be a “premium sedan” for the Chinese market, the internal trim will probably have many other options as conservative as this beige-and-chrome.
Just like what happens with most Chinese releases, official information on everything else about this Taurus is quite limited. Regarding powertrain, it’s already known that it’ll offer the 2.7-liter, EcoBoost V6, which is already used by the current F-150 and delivers 325 hp of power and 375 lb-ft of torque. However, it’s possible to expect another option, such as the 2.0-liter from the same family. So far, Ford says the car will be restricted to the Chinese market. But since the North-American Taurus is already aging (its current generation arrived in 2009 and was tweaked four years later), it’s easy to expect the global version to be at least based on it, mostly with styling differences. This article’s vehicle was showed during the last Shanghai Auto Show.