The Ford Five Hundred is a full-size four-door, five-passenger, front-engine front- or all-wheel drive, high-roof sedan manufactured in Chicago and marketed in North America and Mexico by Ford in a single generation for model years 2005–2007.
The Five Hundred was a direct byproduct of Ford's rapid acquisition of numerous brands (e.g., Volvo Cars in 1999), a critical need to leverage those investments, the company's dwindling market share (18.3% in 2004, 17.4% in 2005), and its Way Forward efforts to restructure itself. Notably, with a strong market shift in automotive tastes away from sedans to minivans and SUV/CUVs, Ford made a concerted effort with the Five Hundred to rethink the traditional sedan/wagon formula.
Presented as a single concept drawing at the 2002 New York Auto Show, the Five Hundred was formally presented in production form at the 2004 North American International Auto Show along with its co-developed platform-mates, the Mercury Montego and the crossover Ford Freestyle — the so called Chicago D3's, for the plant where they were manufactured (Chicago Assembly) and the platform they shared, the D3 platform, a revised variant of Volvo's P2 platform.
Ford chose to continue its fourth generation Taurus, critical to the company's fleet sales (to large corporations, small businesses, rental car firms, utility companies, and government agencies) and overlap that production with the Five Hundred, emphasizing the latter's optional all-wheel drive, continuously variable transmission, extensive safety features, large interior volume, and high H-point seating, the latter marketed as Command View seating.
Internally designated the D258 model, the Five Hundred was styled by George Bucher, Chief Designer, under the direction of Ford Vice President of Design, J Mays who gave the Five Hundred its name, recalling the "500" suffix Ford had used to designate a model's top trim level, as with the Galaxie "500".
The Five Hundred's 203hp engine and unassuming styling became points of criticism, and sales fell markedly short of company projections — requiring substantive discounts by its second model year. The Five Hundred was quickly but lightly facelifted and given a new nameplate for model years 2008–2009 — becoming the fifth generation Ford Taurus.
Having entered production on July 12, 2004 and gone on sale in September 2004, the Five Hundred reached 65% of its projected annual sales of 120,000
In 2000, Ford presented the Prodigy concept, a 72 MPG diesel-electric hybrid designed as part of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles. The Prodigy influenced the exterior styling of the Five Hundred as well as the horizontal "three-bar" grille which subsequently became a Ford styling theme.
thumb|right|2000 [[Ford Prodigy]]
Advertising
Ford introduced the Five Hundred using the tagline "Elevating the Sedan," reflecting the car's unique selling proposition, its overall height and elevated seating, marketed as Command View Seating.
According to the Chicago Tribune, during the Chicago press launch of the Five Hundred (and the Freestyle) in the summer of 2004, Ford had contacted the city to get permission for a sidewalk advertising campaign along six blocks of the city's prominent Magnificent Mile, with 50 to 60 signs on each side of the street — to reach press journalists as they walked between the launch venues. The city claimed Ford never received that permission, and Ford said the city had given verbal permission in a voice mail. In the meantime, Ford had preceded with a guerrilla "ad mat" campaign campaign, featuring Chicago slang terminology, including mock Chicago phrases, e.g., "Da Comfort" and "Da Style."
Design
thumb|Ford Five Hundred (rear 3/4).
Noted for its minimalist exterior styling, the "strong graphic simplicity" of its interior design, tall interior cabin, high H-point seating and prominent greenhouse recalling the Volkswagen Passat (1997–2005) and Audi A6 (1997–2004), the Five Hundred was designed by George Bucher, Chief Designer,
Platform and safety
The Five Hundred used the Ford D3 platform shared with the Mercury Montego and Ford Freestyle. An evolution of the Volvo P2 platform (used in the Volvo S80), the D3 platform marked the shift to front-wheel drive in full-size Ford sedans; an electro-hydraulic Haldex all-wheel drive system (based on that used on the Volvo S80 and XC90) was optional in all versions of the Five Hundred or Mercury Montego. its head using the Cosworth casting method. Transmissions included a 6-speed Aisin automatic transmission for front drive models or a ZF CVT for AWD models, the latter a first for a US domestic automaker. With standard dual front airbags, the Five Hundred was available with an optional safety package that included both side airbags and curtain airbags.