Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Why did Ford discontinue the Contours?

Well it seems like there are a lot of fans of the Contiques out there, so why did Ford discontinue the model?

Anyone have stats of the actual sales of them? Why did they choose the Focus as a replacement?

Seems like the Cougar is going out again too..

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Kind of been asked/answered before. The Focus supplanted both Escort and Contour. Ford wanted the Kansas City plant to make Escapes and chickened out on bringing a new Contour based on the 2001+ Mondeo.

The Taurus SE was supposedly to take V6 Contour's place, but it's too big and old. However, a new sportier mid size car based on the Mazda 6 is coming in 2006. Too frigging long I say.

The FWD Cougar dies in a few weeks, so the CDW27 platform will be done for good.

In spite of our blind like of Contours, in their case QUALITY was not JOB ONE...This fact and the crazy decontenting of newer model "Tours" as well as the new models Focus, etc. killed them.

Money. They weren't making enough off the Contour and Mystique.

...totally mismarketed product here in the States, margins were too low, stagnant sales, it was potentially pulling sales from the Taurus (Ford's volume flagship), spotty quality (as some here can attest to)...

It's a damn shame that so-called good business sometimes gets in the way of a somewhat flawed but an overall good idea.

Ask people why many are holding on to their 'Tours for as long as they can. Fact is, you can't get the same type of performance/looks/handling for the same money anywhere these days.

Such is life...

Ford doesn't know a good thing when they see it. That's why.

well it is dissapointing that they axed the Contour, especially when you think of what the car could be today with the sport compact market heating up the way it has been. SVT just gave the cobra 390hp this year so imagine what they would've done for the Contour by now?

regardless, i'm fine with the place in automotive history the CSVT holds. probably one of the most slept on all-around performance bargains of all time.

It was because at the time, a fully loaded Contour/Mystique was almost as expensive as a moderately, but BIGGER Taurus/Sable. In the AMerican mind, bigger is better. Bottom line. I fail to see how decontenting stuff did anything bad for the car. Aside from an annoyance....what did they decontent? A clock? A cheap lock you could break with your hand from the glove box? A few light bulbs (yes just the bulbs only!).....the only MAJOR PITA thing they removed was the door handle lights, and LEDS look cooler anyway...

well i know some have complained about the seats not being as good as the pre-98s and the same about the suspension too right? regardless, i agree with your post. bottom line is that the car must not have been as profitable as they needed it to be otherwise it would still be around.

"In the AMerican mind, bigger is better. Bottom line"

That is why the 2002 Altima is bigger. Ford didn't want a bigger Contour to take away Tauri sales and look at them now.

The old sporty SE was essentially replaced by the SVT, and Ford used SE for all it's cars by 1998, so that is why it was "mainstreamed".

Nassar killed the car, now Nick Scheele and Billy Ford wish they didn't!