Ford gives first look at 2000 NASCAR Taurus

TAURUS HINTS AT NEW STYLING CUES

DEARBORN, Mich – Ford released an artist’s rendering of the new 2000 NASCAR Taurus race car – nicknamed "Taurus 2k" – giving the public its first hints of the car that will make its debut at the Daytona 500 in February, 2000.

"The new 2000 Taurus race car will have an all-new look to reflect the sleek design of the new 2000 model-year production Taurus," said Dan Davis, director, Ford Racing Technology and head of Ford’s worldwide racing program. "But it’s an evolution, not a revolution, when compared to the drastic changes we needed to make when we went from Thunderbird to Taurus in 1998."

The actual unveiling of the Taurus 2k race car will come later this year, to coincide with the launch of the new Taurus production car.

"Taurus has always been a hit with consumers, and it has certainly been a hit on the race track with our teams and our race fans since its debut last year," said Bob Rewey, Ford group vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, and the man with overall responsibilities for racing at the company.

"We see this new NASCAR Taurus program as an important and integral part of the company’s launch of the 2000 Taurus production car that the public saw for the first time in March at the New York Auto Show," he said. "It’s important to us and to our dealers that the new Taurus race car shares the unique styling cues of the new production car that will be in available in dealerships this fall. Racing the Taurus in NASCAR, America’s top racing series, continues to give us a tremendous opportunity to market the car to a family-oriented audience that has a strong loyalty toward domestic products."

"We see this as a terrific opportunity for our engineers to work with our teams and further develop what has already proven to be a very successful product on the track," Davis said. "We’re taking a lot of the lessons we learned in the short time frame we had to develop the ’98 Taurus, and adapting those lessons to the development of the 2000 Taurus. First and foremost, we’re working closely with NASCAR to ensure that the development of this Taurus fits within the parameters that they’re looking for in new race cars."

Although there hasn’t been a complete 2000 Taurus race car built yet, advance research and work is currently underway by Ford Racing Technology and three of Ford’s top teams – Penske Racing South, Roush Racing and Robert Yates Racing.

In addition, NASCAR officials were earlier given a preview look at the new 2000 model-year Taurus production car, and have been involved in development plans for Taurus 2k.

Taurus had a successful year on and off the track in 1998, capturing 15 wins in its inaugural NASCAR season and seeing a four percent sales increase in the marketplace over the previous year, as it continues its reign as one of the best-selling cars in North America. Taurus sales to retail customers are up 18 percent in the first four months of 1999.

"Some of our dealers have told us they’ve seen a different kind of customer showing interest in Taurus since we started racing it last year," said Rewey. "That’s important to us as we compete in a highly-competitive marketplace. NASCAR racing provides one more opportunity for us and our dealers to market to consumers."

In 1999, Ford Taurus drivers have captured an additional five wins in 11 races thus far this season, with Taurus driver Dale Jarrett leading the Winston Cup point standings, and Ford leading the manufacturers’ championship over Chevrolet and Pontiac.