Indeed, CEO Alan Mulally told a seminar audience recently that a Taurus set to debut in the next year or so "is the one we should have made originally."
Seldom do auto company executives criticize vehicles on the market, fearing such talk could hurt sales. "It's really unique," says David Koehler, a clinical marketing professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Industry analysts say criticism of the Taurus shows that Ford is becoming more candid about recognizing and fixing problems.
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