How Ford starved its Taurus

0 Comments | USA TODAY, October, 2006

In the 1980s, the Ford Motor Co. was in deep trouble. It made too many gas guzzlers and was getting clobbered by the Japanese. It responded with the Taurus, an innovative design that would become the best-selling car in America. In 2006, the Ford Motor Co. is in deep trouble. It is making too many gas guzzlers and is getting clobbered by the Japanese.

It is responding by discontinuing the Taurus, a once innovative design that used to be the best-selling car in America. Go figure. Or better yet, don't. There isn't a good explanation for the fact that the last Taurus is expected to roll off the assembly line in a matter of days. The best, perhaps, is that Ford has a well-developed talent for turning success into failure, a trait it shares with its domestic rival, General...