Quote:
Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6
No, it had been going on long before that, for both Ford and Holden.
When it comes to Ford, I believe the decision was made in 2009/2010 when Ford announced the reprieve for the Geelong engine plant and 4.0 inline 6. In 2007, it was announced the Falcon would switch to an imported V6 engine to save on development costs and bring Falcon into a modern era of powertrains. To renege on that plan, as well as the cancellation of the locally made Focus, well that clearly shows Ford saw no future beyond the FG and SY/SZ. So, while everyone was rejoicing that the Barra would continue on, it was a nice distraction as to what was actually happening.
|
As soon as Ford hatched plans for AUS Focus production, the Asian countries threatened to
place tariffs on it or just refuse to permit its sale, they wanted production in Thailand.
So Ford had a choice, give back the $30 million or get the Barra Euro 4 compliant
which ended up costing $20 million thanks to borrowing the Emissions program software for T6.
And yes, FG was seen as the last product cycle - max 8 years as Ford wouldn’t authorise Euro 6 work.
Few people know that Holden also started the Sigma global large car project back in 1998
but GM wanted that prioritised to Cadillac as a line of luxury sedans but narrower width
than wat Holden needed for Commodore and Statesman, so they gave in and did as asked
and kept refreshing the V car platform - that’s why it looked so bloody dated by mid 2000s
ever since the late 1990s, GM started messing Holden around and kept putting conditions
on all the ED financial applications and the moment Holden started development on Zeta,
GM started changing the goalposts, make it bigger heavier to also cover Taverse replacement
that would never happen, or do this or that for Buick versions or Pontiac this and then cancel
because of changes to CAFE fuel economy regulations…..what a mess.
Honestly, Ford did the kinder thing freezing out Falcon/Fairlane from Middle East contracts.
At least the Ford execs were straight up about confining Aussie products without false hope.
Holden also did a lot of quirky things with Zeta supply change, supporting a lot of local cottage industries.
I can’t help thinking that innovative can do work around sort of irked the GM chiefs when it came to
supplying sufficient parts to North American production plants.