2010 Ford Taurus

The 2010 Ford Taurus has been spotted around town wearing next-to-no camo. We've pulled the sheet entirely off with these exclusive renderings from KORSdesign of the new Taurus to be unveiled officially in Detroit.

Ford has taken the smart approach by loosening the hold on the Gillette razor design team, giving us Yanks some of the Euro flavor we’ve been asking for. The 2010 Ford Taurus, set to make its official debut next month at the Detroit Auto Show, is finally on track to become a competitive sedan all over again. Using the recently released Lincoln MKS as its base (which itself is based off the current model Ford Taurus / Ford Five Hundred), the new 2010 Taurus appears to be more sophisticated in every way.

The front fascia will receive the most attention from critics as the three-bar razor bladed grille is now gone, replaced by an attractive Euro-inspired electric razor with more detail and depth. The lower fascia gains some of the Euro-flair as well with twin fog lamps situated to either side of a new trapezoidal center intake that appears to be divided in thirds. The headlights are horizontal units that rise ever-so-slightly on their outward edge to visually connect with the sculpted body side character line. The A-pillar runs downward and toward the center as it creates the power dome (a design quickly becoming a centerpiece of every non-Mustang in the Ford car lineup) at the leading edge of the hood, bearing resemblance to the 2010 Fusion and seemingly drawing from the Ford Interceptor Concept.

The profile of the 2010 Taurus is less formal than the previous model and has gained some attractive surfacing. The shoulder line is strong and arcs slightly as it runs from the headlights rearward to meet just before the tail lamps. The wheel arches are more pronounced and have a more muscular feel to them, giving the 2010 Taurus a very strong stance. Although we question the need for the artificial side vents and would have hoped it was a trend that would have gone away by now.

The rear design hints at the Ford Interceptor Concept in its tail lamp treatment and in the upper deck-lid surfacing. The Ford emblem is now set in a chrome trim piece sitting at the center of the trunk surface that runs horizontally to intersect with the tail lamps. The lamps themselves are a take on the Interceptor but lose the depth from the concept as they are now fairly flush to surface. The 2010 Taurus is a large vehicle and Ford has done its best to lose some of the visual mass by utilizing many horizontal elements and pushing the details outward. The lower body line is a dark grey plastic that also helps to lessen the visual mass, a technique also used on the 2010 Mustang.

The 2010 Ford Taurus looks to be on track to fix some of what was wrong with the very bland previous generation and we hope Ford delivers. We’ll bring you more info as it becomes available, until then take a peek at the illustrations we commissioned from KORSdesign.

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