2005款福特Freestyle

????Freestyle基于沃爾沃（Volvo）的平臺(tái)生產(chǎn)出來(lái)時(shí)，酷越車(chē)才剛開(kāi)始流行，但梅斯錯(cuò)過(guò)了這個(gè)市場(chǎng)。對(duì)絕大多數(shù)購(gòu)買(mǎi)者來(lái)說(shuō)，作為開(kāi)路先鋒的Freestyle太像一輛旅行車(chē)，而SUV的元素太少。他們想要的是更高的駕駛坐姿，更粗獷的外觀。2004年，F(xiàn)reestyle首次推出，此后2008款更名為“金牛X”（Taurus X），但2009年就停產(chǎn)了。2012年接受《汽車(chē)新聞》（Automotive News）采訪時(shí)，梅斯承認(rèn)這是他的一大敗筆。他說(shuō)：“我沒(méi)認(rèn)為‘五百’（Five Hundred，金牛車(chē)的改稱(chēng)——譯注）或Freestyle是我在福特最輝煌的代表作之一?！?/p>

2005 Ford Freestyle

????Crossovers were just catching on when the Freestyle was engineered from a Volvo platform, but Mays missed the market. The ground-hugging Freestyle had too much station wagon in it and too little SUV for most buyers, who wanted a higher seating position and a more rugged exterior. Introduced in 2004, the Freestyle was renamed the Taurus X for the 2008 model year but was discontinued in 2009. In a 2012 interview with Automotive News, Mays acknowledged the missteps. "I don't think the Five Hundred (see next slide) or Freestyle was one of my brighter moments in Ford," he said.