Monday, November 14, 2011

Ch. 11 - Developing and Managing Products

Product Life Cycles:

Ford Motor Company first introduced Taurus in 1986 where it remained a name stay for the company for almost two decades. During this time period, Ford produced almost Eight Million units. Taurus lead all other manufacturers during this period in the midsize market in sales. During the 2006 model year, Toyota beat out Ford in selling more Camry's than Taurus's. Ford decided to stop production of the Taurus to focus on other brands such as the 500, Freestyle and Fusion. Was this a bad decision on Ford's part? Below you will see sales from 1999 - 2010:

Calendar Year American sales
1999 368,327
2000 382,035
2001 353,560
2002 332,690
2003 300,496
2004 248,148
2005 196,919
2006 174,803
2007 33,032
2008 52,667
2009 45,617
2010 68,859                                                                

As Ford moved from it introductory stage through its decline stage, it is clear to see that maybe they should have kept the Taurus line around; ending production seems to have taken a huge toll on sales numbers.

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