imobillc (< 20)

Ford to unveil Police Interceptor *Spoiler!

March 12, 2010 – Comments (0) | RELATED TICKERS: F

I really tought and wish that FORD had came up with a new

Crown Victoria  but  NO!

(Taurus owners will love to see their dream car turned into a police car and soon a taxi!)

Ford has long dominated the police car market, but will face more competition as it tries to hold onto that market share, even with the all-new Ford Police Interceptor that it is introducing today.

The Crown Victoria, introduced in the early 1980s, has long dominated police car sales and accounts for about 75% of the police car market with annual sales that exceed 45,000, Ford officials said in November.

Ford confirmed last year that the new Interceptor will be based on the company’s Ford Taurus full-size sedan and will replace Ford’s Crown Victoria-based Police Interceptor in 2011.

“The bottom line is they have a police car that defines the American police car,” said Jim Hall, managing director of 2953 Analytics in Birmingham. “Police departments love it for a million reasons, including its durability.”

The new police car will be shown to a group of law enforcement officials in Las Vegas today.

“It will be really interesting to see how Ford talks about the durability of the vehicle, as well as what they have done to make the vehicle easy to service and easy to maintain,” said Erich Merkle, automotive analyst with Autoconomy.com in Grand Rapids.

The new police car was developed with input from Ford’s police advisory board. Ford has previously said the durability of the new car will exceed the existing Crown Victoria version.

However, competition in the police car market is heating up. General Motors, Chrysler and Connersville, Ind.-based Carbon Motors all plan to either increase their market share or launch new police cars.

Chrysler has set a goal of expanding its police car market share from 17% to 40% in the next 12 to 18 months with its rear-wheel drive Dodge Charger police car.

And, in October, GM announced plans to introduce the Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle in 2011. GM says the Caprice is a modern, full-size, rear-drive sedan that will offer both V8 and V6 engines.

Carbon Motors, meanwhile, plans to begin producing a vehicle called the E7 in 2012 that is specifically designed for police departments.