I thought it was kind of inevitable that the Crown Victoria’s replacement would be front-wheel-drive. But the new Taurus (particularly the one with the 365 hp engine) is turning out to prove itself as a fine automobile.

But that article also says for now, nothing is really set in stone for the CV’s successor. I haven’t seen any new cars on Ford’s product plans that might fill that void though. Mostly what appears are:

Ford Taurus (all-new for 2010 and just recently went on sale) will get a quick freshening around 2013.

Ford Fusion (which was recently refreshed) will be completely redesigned for 2013.

Ford Mustang (which was also recently refreshed) will be completely redesigned for 2014.

Ford C-Max (already sold in Europe) will be introduced to the U.S. market no later than 2013.

Ford Edge will get a refresh for 2011, but will be completely redesigned for 2014.

Ford Explorer will be all-new for 2012, moving to a unibody front-wheel-drive car-based platform (this is old news)

Ford Explorer Sport Trac pickup will be discontinued after 2010.

Ford Ranger production extended to 2011, but is expected to be replaced by Ford’s small global T6 truck platform soon thereafter. The new compact pickup’s name is expected to remain Ranger.

Ford F-100 all-new small/midsize pickup based off the F-150 was scrapped before it ever saw daylight (was supposed to be the Ranger replacement)

Ford F-150 (which was thoroughly refreshed for 2009) will get small improvements over the coming years, but will not get any major changes until the middle of the next decade.

Ford F-Series Super Duty will get a thorough refresh for 2011, with substantial power train upgrades.

Ford E-Series replacement is coming around 2014 in the form of a North American version of the next generation Transit full-size van.