The Ford Taurus was a sedan for the North American market that has been discontinued as part of the Blue Oval’s plan to stop selling sedan models in North America, though today the nameplate will live on for the Middle East market, on a sedan that is rebadged from the Mondeo for China. Ford has revealed initial details of the D-segment sedan that is undergoing durability testing in the Middle East, in order to ensure that the model will withstand the heat, dust and sand that is commonly encountered by vehicles in this region.

When the Chinese-market Mondeo was revealed in a government filing, it was shown with several versions of exterior trim; here, the Taurus uses the simpler version of its front fascia, without the vertical trim pieces that extend from the lower front bumper inlets. At the sides and at the back, the Taurus employs metal-look brightwork along its side sills and lower rear bumper section. Elsewhere, the Taurus also gets a panoramic sunroof as well as alloy wheel options in three sizes, including a design with a two-tone machined finish as shown here.

 

Under the skin, the Ford Taurus packs a 2.0 litre EcoBoost turbocharged inline-four cylinder petrol engine, which in the Mondeo application produces 234 hp and 376 Nm of torque, or the same outputs as those of the Evos crossover. This will transmit to the driven wheels through an eight-speed automatic gearbox.

Inside, the Taurus reveals a new interior design direction for non-truck Ford models, where a dual-widescreen display layout is adopted. For comparison, truck-based models such as the Ranger and Everest pair a portrait-oriented infotainment unit with the digital driver instrumentation on an upright dashboard, while crossovers such as the EcoSport and Puma feature a floating tablet design on a more sloping dashboard.

 

Interior equipment in the Taurus is comprised of an eight-inch digital instrument cluster for the driver, while infotainment comes courtesy of a 13.2-inch central screen compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto; mobile devices can also benefit from wireless charging in the Taurus. In terms of active safety, equipment here includes adaptive cruise control, collision mitigation and blind spot intervention.