ĭuring the development of the Sable, Mercury had become one of the final American brands to adopt front-wheel drive into its vehicle line. Along with input from potential buyers (in stark contrast to the Edsel), Ford used reverse engineering of competitive vehicles as a design input tool. While designed entirely in North America, the Taurus/Sable were designed under a similar approach as the Ford Escort, using an interdisciplinary team approach each element of the vehicle was designed concurrently, including manufacturing and assembly. The Taurus was to replace the Ford LTD while the Sable replaced the Mercury Marquis. Originally intended to replace its full-size and mid-size rear-wheel drive product lines ( Panther and Fox platforms, respectively), the Taurus/Sable were focused toward the mid-size segment in 1981, as the company felt stabilization of gasoline prices justified the continuation of its full-size model lines. In early 1980, the Mercury Sable began development alongside the Ford Taurus the $3.5 billion project would become the largest development ever undertaken by Ford at the time. The Sable nameplate derived from the small Russian mammal of the same name. The final Sable was produced on in total, 2,112,374 Sables were produced during its 1985–2005 production. It was reintroduced for 2008 as a full-size car, offered as a four-door sedan.īecause of declining sales, the Sable was discontinued after the 2009 model year, leaving no Mercury counterpart for the sixth-generation Taurus. For 2006, the Sable was replaced by the full-size Montego and mid-size Milan. From the 1986 to 2005 model years, it was produced as a mid-size four-door sedan and five-door station wagon. Over its production span, the Sable was Mercury's badge-engineered counterpart to the Ford Taurus, below the Grand Marquis in the Mercury range. Introduced on Decemas the replacement for the Mercury Marquis, the Sable marked the transition of the mid-size Mercury product range to front-wheel drive.

The Mercury Sable is a range of automobiles manufactured and marketed by the Mercury brand of Ford Motor Company.

2001 mercury sable