Shifting Consumer Tastes Blamed For T-Bird’s Demise

Ford Motor Co. is pulling the plug on the Ford Thunderbird and three other slow-selling vehicles later this year, eliminating about 2,500 jobs.

But Ford confirmed earlier reports that the big Thunderbird will return later as a smaller “specialty sports coupe” that will draw from its early heritage as a 1950s roadster.

Ford also said Monday it plans to discontinue the T-Bird’s structural twin since 1977, the Mercury Cougar, as well as the Ford Probe sports coupe and the Aerostar minivan.

The T-Bird was introduced in 1954 as a competitor for the new Chevrolet Corvette and quickly became a hit as a sexy, sporty roadster.

As Thunderbird grew into middle age as a lumbering coupe, its appeal sagged. Sales fell to 79,721 last year, down from the T-Bird’s height of 325,153 in 1977.

The T-Bird and Cougar are produced at Ford’s Lorain, Ohio, assembly plant, where about 1,800 assembly jobs will be cut.

Ford said there will be no reduction in jobs at Flat Rock, Mich., where the Probe is produced with the Mazda MX-6 and 626. No job loss is expected at the Aerostar plant in St. Louis, which also produces the hot-selling Ford Explorer.

The decision to discontinue the four vehicles was “driven by a strong shift in consumer tastes, especially away from larger, midspecialty coupes, and a need to anticipate future customer needs,” said Jacques Nasser, president of Ford’s automotive operations.