Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General why contours are no longer made

I'm grateful that the Contique didn't sell well and is done and gone. If it had sold well, that would mean it was a car that appealed to the masses. A car that appeals to the masses is not a car that auto enthusiasts usually get very enthusiastic about, so the Contiques of which we are so fond (primarily, 95-96 SE, or any SVT) never would have existed.

Yes, Ford could have marketed the Contique as a sporty European-style driving machine, but many many Contiques were boring 4-banger automatics with 14" wheels.

Can you elaborate?

I cannot believe you guys compared the Malibu...I have owned both so far. Here are my complaints:
Malibu 3.1L V6 :
? bigger displacement, less feel of power.
? not ONE problem and Chevy dealerships are there for anything!
? a lot better cupholders
? good price (but my tour was cheaper)
? STOCK BRAKES SUCK

Contour 2.0L 4-cyl:
? better handling, even after i lowered the malibu, the tour stock felt better
? better MPG than the Malibu
? felt more powerful than the mali!
? two trannies in 1.5 years
? too many recalls to list
? power steering problems
? malibu has a better aftermarket, did I just say that? Yeah, I did, we have even had indiglo gauges for a year!

Overall, I would love to have my tour back, but the Malibu hasn't done me wrong

JimCat nailed it!

The Contour and the Dodge Stratus came out at the same time. Auto Week said that they were "poised to overtake imports".

Little did they know that trucks would take 50% of the market and that Asian compacts would grow to mid size.

Also, for 1995, GM offered the very outdated Corsica and older Grand AM. And the forgettable Olds Achieva, yuck.

By 1999, Ford needed a bigger and better Contour, but refused.

Wow -

Really a combination of reasons -

1. It was simply too small to sell as a true "family car" Which is how they marketed it originally, a "smaller" Taurus.

2. Once the sales were not there they never continued to develop the car, by comparison it is so much less well designed and engineered than some of the other choices in the price category. The only development that was done, was by SVT and they did not make very much money on them.

3. The market for small SUVs stole much of the thunder of the small sedan market. Ford went with their cash cow, SUVs, and ignored the fact that the car market would eventually come back into favor, as it is doing right now.

4. FORD2000 died! It went bang with a large thud and so did the CDW27 World Car platform with it. Politics, Profit and many other things are reasons that this came to pass.

Just one man's opinion. (mine!)

It is a shame really. The Contour could have been a success (sales wise) in the USA if it had been better built and not pitched at the "Blue Hair" market. It needed to be more of a fun car, in reality and perception. That is one of the reasons the Jetta is so successful, VW has always marketed it as a young and fun car. You always see a young attractive driver in it. How many times have you seen a Contique an aged driver in it. This is not the market where the volume is.

Just some ramblings

MLK

Well, even though some elders drive them, I still see a few young adults in our cars.

The main problem is that is was designed to compete against 1994 Accord size cars. By 98-99, it was too small, just like the pre-2002 Altima.