Talk:Ford Contour

Manufacturing numbers?

Would be nice to get some numbers on how many Ford Contours they made over time. Probably should be a standard detail for any mass produced vehicle. -- KarlHallowell 22:23, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

They made 150,616 in 1995, but I don't have any more production data than that. IFCAR 12:54, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

Direct Competitors

According to MSN autos, the year 2000 Ford Contour competes with:

• VW Jetta MK4
• Chevy Malibu
• Dodge Stratus
• Honda Civic
• Mercury Mystique (sibling)
• Nissan Altima
• Oldsmobile Alero
• Pontiac GrandAm
• Saturn LS
• Mazda 626

Evidence [1]

Since there is no information for the first year production of the contour in 1995; in 1997, top competitors are:

• Buick Skylark
• Dodge Stratus
• Honda Civic
• Hyundai Sonata
• Mazda 626
• Mercury Mystique (sibling)
• Mitsubishi Galant
• Plymouth Breeze
• VW Jetta MK3

Evidence [2]

Also, the Ford Fusion isn't the replacement for the contour but for the Ford Taurus.

Evidence [3] see last line.

"Overall, there is very little to pick on. Fusion is a car Ford needs and the company is hoping it performs and lasts as well as the Taurus it replaces." 70.27.182.175

Firstly, I own a Contour SE that I bought new in 1996. I have the Car and Driver comparison articles and other consumer information that helped make the decision to purchase at the time. In the abscence of that being available online, see internetAutoGuide.com [4] and Consumer Guide [5] The Contour was intended as a competitor to the Camry, Accord, 626 and Altima. However you could get a Taurus, a larger car, for about the same price as an Accord or Camry, which is why it sold so much better than the Contour. A 1996 Taurus is a larger car than a 1996 Accord. With regards the Fusion, because Ford have not had a car in this size segment since the demise of the Contour, it will be compared to the Taurus. In reality the Five Hundred is the replacement for the Taurus. The Fusion, a smaller car, is the replacement for the Contour. Indeed it uses the same platform as the Mazda 6, the 626 replacement. What makes comparisons like this difficult is that car models typically grow over their lives as they are restyled. The Taurus is bigger at the end of its life than at the beginning (but actually slightly smaller than it was in 1996). The Jetta and Accord have both grown substantially since their introduction. The Fusion is 5 inches longer than the Contour, but 7 inches shorter than the Taurus. Likewise, the Focus is not really a replacement for the Contour, but the Escort. It is a substantially smaller car than the Contour, but because of Ford's emphasis on SUVs rather than cars it was all there was if you didn't want a Taurus. RXUYDC 18:50, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

There seems to be a continuing debate about the Contour's size and successor. Perhaps the problem stems from the absurdities of the EPA classification system. See the EPA website for 1995 comparisons [6]. In this the Accord, Contour and Altima are classed as compacts, but so are the Acura Legend, Alfa 164, Mazda Millenia, Jaguar XJ12. The 626 is a midsize, meaning it is a class up from the Millenia. This is simply because the class is derived by volume of passenger space and cargo space. Hence a 2006 Focus is a compact, but the wagon is a midsize. So it seems some are saying the Fusion is not a successor to the Contour because it is a midsize, not a compact. However the 1995 Accord was a compact and the 2006 is a midsize. Following this logic the Accord would not be a successor to itself! If we look at the MSN Cars [7] site referenced above, the Fusion is listed as a competitor to Accord, Jetta, Malibu and G6 (Grand Am successor). These are all the cars listed as competitors for the Contour, so it seems to me that MSN Cars is saying the Fusion is the successor to Contour. The Fusion is a natural replacement to Contour in terms of its sporty fun-to-drive focus for a family four door. It also fits in between the Focus and Five Hundred, just as the Contour fitted between the Escort and Taurus.-- RXUYDC 00:54, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

It strikes me that what car model succeeds what is a POV statement and must be attributed rather than simply stated. Valid sources might include the manufacturer and professional reviews, magazine articles etc. —Matthew Brown (T:C) 06:44, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Not really. Cars are sold in market segments. THe MSN site among others, show what those segments are. The Contour and Fusion are both listed with the same set of competitors on not only the MSN site but others as well. However I'm not going to revert or further this discussion. I will say that your comments in the history of the main article - "just because you have one doesn't mean its correct either" - are inappropriate and are out of context with the discussion. What I was saying is that I have the consumer and product info from 1996 (when I bought one) that indicated the Accord was a competitor. At least take the time to read and understand the discussion before making such comments. --RXUYDC 19:48, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

To follow up on this dicussion, basically I think you're confused yourself. From the sources you listed, you think the Contour is a "compact" car (from your EPA source), in which I agree. That is why the Contour is not a competitor to Honda Accord and Toyota Camry because they are classified as "mid-size". And not only do you we have to consider the size of the car, also price.

For some reason, in this article, the contour is listed as mid-size which makes no sense because if one would sit in either both cars, clearly, the camry or accord would be a lot bigger.

No, I'm not confused, just following the rules that everyone else seems to be making. Look again at the EPA list for COMPACTS in 1995 - the HONDA ACCORD is listed. So is the Nissan Altima. You also chose to ignore the Consumer Guide site that is definitive in its statement that the Contour is a rival to the Accord (see first sentence). I agree the EPA classification is not a good guide to use to compare cars, but that is exactly what you and everyone else is doing. Strangely I was using the EPA site to justify the Contour being a Compact, which above you say you agree with, but you reverted the article to state it was a midsize, which it isn't. Your comments above are subjective. I cited sources, and created a section for others to do the same. There is nothing wrong with that section heading - it is a valid part of a Wikipedia article, so why was this deleted?. Use it before making changes again. --RXUYDC

No I did not revert it back to midsize. Why would I do that when I explcitly stated I agree with the contour being a compact car. Nevertheless, the article still says "midsize" in the introduction.

My comments aren't subjective, this isn't something you prefer or not. And why would I need to state my sources? I didn't add new information, you did. And the sources isn't sufficient, as you pointed out, the EPA isn't a good guide to use to compare cars...So what if Honda Accord or Nissan Altima is listed. The list doesn't prove anything. Theres even MB S600 on there, would that make sense? NO

Old Ford Lineup: Escort Contour Taurus

New Ford Lineup: Focus Fusion 500

The Fusion is the replacement for the Contour. Simple as that.

Cite your information so it can be varified. At this point I don't agree. Btw, sign your comments 24.57.131.18 04:20, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

Ford's new lineup doesn't automatically imply it is a replacement for the models. Many articles on the internet state the Ford Fusion is the replacement for the Taurus not the Contour. Provide sources so people can varify new information. 130.113.128.11

Fusion "replaced" contour. Focus phased out the zx2 (escort). The Five Hundred replaced the taurus. You cant listen to websites that are wrong. Ford would not replace the taurus with 2 cars, these 3 cars satisfy 3 different levels of automobiles. So really they did replace the older ones. --129.1.31.61 07:19, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

And who are you to decide which websites are wrong and which aren't? --Sable232 15:46, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

The Focus (C170), Taurus (D186) and Five Hundred (D258) were all build concurrently until shortly after the Fusion (CD338) came out. The Fusion is a CD class car, the old Taurus, D. But, the Fusion is pretty close in most dimensions. The Taurus (D186) was a place holder for a model year until the Fusion came out. It went to fleet only shortly after and then was killed in 07MY. This freed up the name to be used on the new 08MY Taurus (D258). Alp1075 (talk) 19:05, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

Pictures

How about adding this picture to the main article:

This is ford contour 1998

If nobody objects, I will myself add this image --BorisFromStockdale

Contour Replacement

The Taurus introduced the SE trim line in 1998 as the middle trim, and seemed to be the successor for the Contour, because Taurus & Contour were midsize cars. -- Bull-Doser 05:53, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

Umm…

You've got to be kidding me.

It's this simple:

The Focus replaced the Escort and the Contour. The Fusion replaced the Taurus. The 500 is a fullsize car meant to compete with the FWD offerings from other companies, since the CV is more of a niche market. The Taurus did not get smaller to replace the Contour. The Focus was made to straddle the line between Escort and Contour. --Sable232 00:26, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

I know the Focus replaced both the Escort and the Contour. The Focus was priced sub-Contour and probably above the Escort. It also replaced the Mercury Mystique in Canada when Mercury was phased out. -- Bull-Doser 14:29, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

"World Car"

Does anybody have more sources for all the hype that went into Ford's development of the Contour/Mystique under the "World Car" campaign? I remember the whole idea was to integrate European, North American, and other worldwide Ford resources leading to increased sharing of designs and technologies across the entire company. With a $6 billion cost, somebody must have gotten royally fired if in the end it flopped... Wl219 11:02, 3 May 2007 (UTC) The World car program was in fact for this car which is why in all other markets it was called the mondeo (Apparently renamed for the US so people didn't get confused with rodeo). The Mondeo is a major sucess in Europe and I belive alot of the rest of the world.(86.31.177.249 (talk) 21:37, 17 January 2009 (UTC))

Merger of Mercury Mystique

I propose a merger similar to what was done with Mercury Monterey van and Ford Freestar. The article doesn't seem to have enough information or notability to stand on its own really, and is pretty much a clone of it Ford cousin. This will also improve the Contour article giving it more substance. 74.204.40.46 (talk) 22:40, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

This is ludicrous. The Mystique article was taken intact and stuck on the end of this one. That isn't a "merge." Might as well just have two pages then. --Sable232 (talk) 17:35, 6 September 2008 (UTC)

Yes, it is hopeless. I'll try to get down to properly merging it later. PrinceGloria (talk) 22:01, 9 September 2008 (UTC)

OMG I did it... Still lots of work to do... PrinceGloria (talk) 09:36, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

My have you changed...

OK, I haven't been there (the article) for ages and things have change a lot... I am not quite sure about some of the changes, and I'd like to discuss them there:

1. I am not quite sure the new lead is better than the one I can remember. Any reasons for the change?
2. The Mystique cannot quite be considered a rebadged variant, it had considerable changes to the front and rear sections. We can say they are a result of badge engineering, but to me a rebadge is something like Toyota Corolla and Geo Prizm
3. I don't think we can talk of two "generations" of the Contour. It just had an MCE, I wouldn't call that a generation. Going by that, we'd have an all-new generation of Panther cars every two or three years!
4. Far too much weight is attributed to the "Dishonorable mention" editorial from C&D, and there is a fair amount of POV and OR in citing that
5. The Ford SVT Contour article consists entirely of trivia and is absolutely unnecessary

I guess those are the only major issues I see with the article, I'll gladly discuss those. I think I could also tweak a few details, but I'd like to sort the big stuff out before I go on to polish spelling or syntax. Kind, PrinceGloria (talk) 04:58, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

1998 & 19998.5

By mid-February 1997 it was no longer possible to order a 1997 model from the factory. I took delivery of my customer-ordered 1998 model in early April 2007; it was the first one the dealer had seen. I also think that the so called 1998.5 version, described in the article as "mid-production for the 1998 model", was introduced around September 2007, the traditional time for introducing the following year's changes. I think some of that belongs in the main article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.252.179.125 (talk) 14:18, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

Successor, again...

Unless an official statement from Ford that states the Focus replaced the Contour in the US is found, I propose removing it from the list of sucessors. The Contour did not have an official sucessor in the US. ANDROS¹³³⁷_TALK 05:06, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

The Ford Contour was not a midsize car.

The Ford Contour was barely larger than the escort, which was a compact car. But, Going by the fact that people say the contour was a mid-size car, wouldn't that effectively make the taurus a full-sized car, and the crown vic a super-full-sized car? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wikimann1234 (talk • contribs) 15:32, 14 October 2011 (UTC)