new centuries for JBL ?

DETROIT -- Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.

Ford is reported to be readying a renaming of the doddering Five Hundred to the Taurus, the former top-selling mid-sized sedan in the U.S. that was just discontinued in October.

The Taurus potentially joins a recent spate of brand-name revivals. In the auto industry, Volkswagen last year changed the name of the sluggish-selling Golf to the Rabbit, a yesteryear model that was fondly recalled. The result was 11,610 sold, respectable for the smaller VW brand. Brandweek reported this week that Goodyear would bring back its blimp for an ad campaign that launches Feb. 18, the first time the blimp has been part of ad copy since the ’80s. And Whirlpool is currently looking for a new Maytag repairman, who has been MIA since late 2005.

“Marketers often assume that their audience is addicted to new and improved,” said David Altschul, president of Character in Portland, Ore., a branding agency. “That can sometimes lead them to walking away from a character or a brand name that still has quite a bit of life left in it.”

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Originally Posted by SEAWOLF97

....the Taurus, the former top-selling mid-sized sedan in the U.S. ...

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Only because they sold so many to rental fleets, unlike Honda or Toyota. In fact, the last year of production was available only to fleets and not for retail, IIRC. Your basic Ford buyer is not as smart as a vintage JBL fan (some of you are excepted!), but maybe that's what JBL needs? Another cheap speaker with no real value, but a badged pedigree? How about a $300 Paragon? :barf:

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Originally Posted by BMWCCA

Your basic Ford buyer is not as smart as a vintage JBL fan (some of you are excepted!),

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they interviewed a woman on the news about that. She had no interest in a Ford 500 , but now that it has been renamed to Taurus, she wud buy it, because she knows that name. :blink:

OBTW Phil - got a ford truck to go with the 540.

It seems the resurrection of the Thunderbird marquee did not produce the desired result for Ford. Hopefully, Ford won't try Falcon or, heaven forbid, Pinto again. Chevy could bring back the Vega and Dodge the Dart. And who wouldn't want Renault to bring back the Alliance?

Or they could focus on building a car people want to buy (And BTW, kill the Focus, please).

Some of us can remember the "500" moniker on the Ford Galaxie and Fairlane--that was a recycled brand, too. I owned a 1963.5 Ford Galaxie 500 Fastback. It was a great car right up to the point where I blew the engine.

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Originally Posted by Titanium Dome

It seems the resurrection of the Thunderbird marquee did not produce the desired result for Ford.

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agreed , but the 1969 retro styled Mustang seems to be a seller. maybe its more about the car than the name ? naw...

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Originally Posted by Titanium Dome

It seems the resurrection of the Thunderbird marquee did not produce the desired result for Ford. Hopefully, Ford won't try Falcon or, heaven forbid, Pinto again. Chevy could bring back the Vega and Dodge the Dart. And who wouldn't want Renault to bring back the Alliance?

Or they could focus on building a car people want to buy (And BTW, kill the Focus, please).

Some of us can remember the "500" moniker on the Ford Galaxie and Fairlane--that was a recycled brand, too. I owned a 1963.5 Ford Galaxie 500 Fastback. It was a great car right up to the point where I blew the engine.

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Hey Ti,
I had an early 63 with the squared off rear window. It too ran great until the crank sheared in half and lunched the bottom end of the motor, and it was the workhorse 390. My buddy the mechanic said it was the first time he saw that happen with a stock large block. After that I have stuck with mostly GM but do love the old Mopars.

It was maybe only three years ago that Ford made the big announcement that all future non-truck models would have names starting with "F". The Windstar became the Freestar (and is soon to be extinct), the Taurus morphed in to the Five-Hundred (soon to be no-more), Focus ("Bofus?"...old joke), Fusion (forgot the Con- part), Freestyle...
I have no idea how the Edge escaped the name game, unless it's because it's a cross-over instead of a car and all SUV-types start with "E" (Escape, Explorer, Excursion, Expedition), but the Mustang is obvious.

The amazing thing to me is that with all of Rome burning around them, the best Ford can do is to change their naming convention. Is success more dependent on duping the doofus buyer than making a quality product? Ford is certainly not alone in making that assumption.

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Originally Posted by Titanium Dome

It seems the resurrection of the Thunderbird marquee did not produce the desired result for Ford.

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As someone who bought my Thunderbird new in 1996, I'll tell you why the new one didn't succeed. '97 was the last of the original long run, until the "new" T-Bird came out in 2002. It cost over twice as much as my '96, and was downgraded to a tight little 2-seater from the comfortable 4-seat coupes that preceded it, with lots of cheap plastic. It would be as if JBL had taken the 4344, turned it into a 12" 3-way, charged twice as much, and still called it a 4344, just to carry on the name. It would likely be a complete flop, the way the new T-Bird was...

John

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Originally Posted by Titanium Dome

Or they could focus on building a car people want to buy (And BTW, kill the Focus, please).

Some of us can remember the "500" moniker on the Ford Galaxie and Fairlane--that was a recycled brand, too. I owned a 1963.5 Ford Galaxie 500 Fastback. It was a great car right up to the point where I blew the engine.

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I disagree on killing the Focus Dome, however, I want the all new Focus that Europeans get, not the warmed over, 10 year old, restyled Focus that the USA gets. The ralley inspired Ford Focus Cosworth would be nice too.

FWIW, my Aunt and my Father both bought Ford 500 this year. Very nice, big, cars. The AWD version is great in our Minnesota winters, too.

I still drive VW, though.

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Originally Posted by briang

FWIW, my Aunt and my Father both bought Ford 500 this year. Very nice, big, cars. The AWD version is great in our Minnesota winters, too.

I still drive VW, though.

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My Ford truck has a German engine and French tranny as does the new Mustangs.

We bought a VW Corrado G60 for my son, a ball to drive , a nightmare to maintain.

Did you read the part where the Golf is now a Rabbit again ??

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Originally Posted by briang

I disagree on killing the Focus Dome, however, I want the all new Focus that Europeans get, not the warmed over, 10 year old, restyled Focus that the USA gets. The ralley inspired Ford Focus Cosworth would be nice too.

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Well, yeah, if it were that Focus I'd agree. :yes:

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Originally Posted by johnaec

As someone who bought my Thunderbird new in 1996, I'll tell you why the new one didn't succeed. '97 was the last of the original long run, until the "new" T-Bird came out in 2002. It cost over twice as much as my '96, and was downgraded to a tight little 2-seater from the comfortable 4-seat coupes that preceded it, with lots of cheap plastic. It would be as if JBL had taken the 4344, turned it into a 12" 3-way, charged twice as much, and still called it a 4344, just to carry on the name. It would likely be a complete flop, the way the new T-Bird was...

John

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That's why the idea of a "new" L100 is unappealing to me. JBL did it right when it did new models like the L100T and especially the Century Gold. There was a play on heritage, but you'd never mistake the new for the old.

However, I do have a bone to pick regarding bringing series names from JBLPro over to consumer:

I hate having my Performance Series related by name to the horn-based Pro stuff. They are just so different.

http://www.jblpro.com/pub/obsolete/G-Series.pdf

Then there's the new consumer Venue Series which is a far cry from the Pro Venues Series--oh, excuse me, it's now called the Venue Performance Series. :wtf:

http://www.jblpro.com/pressroom/VP_S...P_Series_2.htm

Lest I forget there's also the Project Array Series consumer high line, which links by name to the Array Series from the Pro Division.

http://www.jblpro.com/pages/tour/array.htm

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Originally Posted by Titanium Dome

However, I do have a bone to pick regarding bringing series names from JBLPro over to consumer:

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At least with the "Pro" Array and Venue series, you're still getting top of the line JBL quality. I do agree, though - the "Pro" Performance series is really entry level stuff...

John