2011 a ‘game changer’ for Ford: Graziano

[Road_Warrior]

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...2578310026A566

FORD Australia’s 2011 fightback starts with the revitalised Territory, but will not end until the Blue Oval has launched all-new Ranger and Focus models in the third quarter of this year and LPI six-cylinder and EcoBoost four-cylinder versions of a facelifted Falcon by year’s end.

Together, the Territory facelift and Falcon upgrades represent a $232 million spend on Ford’s Australia’s large vehicle platform, which Ford hopes will keep both models – which have struggled on the sales charts – fresh well into the middle of this decade.

The comprehensive midlife makeover for Ford’s Australian-designed SUV was revealed this afternoon in Sydney, a month before the engineering story – including full details of the Territory’s first ever diesel powertrain – is revealed in Melbourne on March 8 and the model goes on sale in late April.

Newly appointed Ford Australia president and CEO Robert Graziano would not comment on the long-term futures of either homegrown model in his first media appearance, but said 2011 would be a watershed year for his company, which would leverage the One Ford global technology sharing strategy for the first time.

“This is the start of a very busy year for Ford in Australia,” he said. “This really is the first instalment of a $232 million investment that we’re making in this platform.

“Later this year we’re going to talk to you about LPI, we’re going to talk to you about freshening of the Falcon and we’re also going to talk to you about EcoBoost.

“Ford is going to introduce the first dedicated LPI system technology in Australia and then (Falcon) EcoBoost will be the first rear-wheel drive sedan application of that technology.

“These are just a couple of examples of how Ford in Australia is benefiting from our One Ford global strategy.

“We’re leveraging our engineering resources, our innovations and advances, making new global technologies affordable to our customers in Australia. We’re striving to produce vehicles that are class leaders in quality, sustainability, safety and smart technologies.

FordTerritory center imageFrom top: Ford Falcon, upcoming Ford Ranger and Ford Figo.

“We really believe that this is the strategy that will allow customers to feel the difference.”

Mr Graziano said One Ford would be a two-way street for Ford Australia, which designed and engineered the next-generation Ranger utility for global consumption, is developing an SUV wagon derivative from the same locally developed truck chassis, engineered Ford’s Figo city car for India and is rumoured to also be developing a small car for China.

“Ford Australia is making tremendous contributions to the global One Ford world as well,” he said.

“We’re leveraging our expertise here in engineering and design. We leveraged those for our global Ranger program you’ll see the result of later this year, as well as the Ford Figo, which won the 2010 car of the year award in India.

“One Ford enables Ford Australia to bring in new vehicles and technologies, and we’ll be updating nearly 85 per cent of our showrooms with new global technologies – Ford technologies that are a first for Australia.

“2011 is where the game changes for Ford in Australia.”

Formerly the Ford Motor Company’s chief executive in China, Mr Graziano would not comment on export possibilities for Ford Australia in the world’s most populous nation, where ex-Ford Australia president Marin Burela is now based.

However, Falcon and Territory engineering director Russell Christophers told GoAuto the arrangement “can’t hurt” Ford Australia in terms of export opportunities, which he described as “possible”.

Mr Graziano said the upcoming TDCi V6 turbo-diesel engine would reverse the Territory’s fortunes in Australia’s growing medium SUV market segment, 40 per cent of which is currently diesel-powered.

He said Ford expects the Territory to return to dominance in a segment that has more entrants than ever and will soon be joined by Holden’s upgraded Captiva, which follows the release of Toyota’s facelifted Kluger – the only mainstream contender not to offer diesel power.

Ford expects half of the fresh Territory’s sales to be diesel models.

“There’s no better way to start a new year than with the launch of a new Territory,” said Mr Graziano.

“In 2004 Territory redefined the medium SUV segment. It’s the only Australian-designed and engineered SUV. It’s built by Australians for Australia.

“Territory has evolved over the years with refreshes and updates and we believe it is now ready to take on a more competitive market.

“Many people thought the new Territory would only involve the introduction of a diesel engine, but that’s just one part of a much bigger story. Our new Territory has a new interior, exterior, new technologies and an all-new series – Titanium.

“We’ve listen and engaged with our customers and dealers on Territory and we believe this will reenergise the Territory and maintain its place as the leader in the medium SUV segment.”

Territory sales were static in January at 673, while 11,558 sales in 2010 represented a 6.2 per cent increase on 2009 figures, as well as about half the sales volume the Territory achieved in 2005 – its first full year of sales.

Last year the six-year-old Territory snared a 13.8 per cent share of the medium SUV segment – down from 15.1 per cent in 2009 and 32.6 per cent in 2005.

As GoAuto has reported, the Falcon suffered what is believed to be its lowest-ever monthly sales result in January, falling 50 per cent (compared with the corresponding month last year) to a record low of just 1157 sales.

Falcon also experienced a 29.5 per cent fall in December – down to 1939 units – to finish the year down 4.9 per cent and below 30,000 units in total, despite the overall Australian new-vehicle market returning to form with a million-plus sales.

Good to see some upbeat comments from the new boss.

[vztrt]

http://www.caradvice.com.au/103593/f...look-for-2011/

Ford Australia outlook for 2011
By Alborz Fallah | February 9th, 2011

Speaking to the media in Sydney yesterday, Ford Australia boss, Bob Graziano, is adamant that Ford’s local operations are heading in the right direction. More importantly, he strongly believes that the new Territory is a world-class vehicle.

The 2011 Ford Territory was developed as part of the $232 million investment fund that Ford has committed to its Australian operations.

Before we get too deep into Territory talk, it’s worth noting that this year will be a big one for Ford Australia. 2011 will see the blue oval update 85% of its showroom across the entire model lineup.

This includes the new Ranger and Focus plus an update to the Ford Falcon with new four-cylinder EcoBoost turbocharged engines as well as the introduction of liquid phase injection LPG system.

This will see the Australian made Falcon become the world’s first rear-wheel-drive EcoBoost four-cylinder engine vehicle from Ford.

Despite a poor start to the year for the iconic Falcon, with January figures pushing the model out of the top-ten selling cars list, Ford says the lack of LPG Falcon (which account for up to 25% of its market share) and XR8 variant has reduced the car’s selling potential.

The team at Ford are quick to point out that comparing apples to apples, as in, six-cylinder Falcon sedan to six-cylinder Commodore sedan sales, the Falcon actually outsold the Commodore in 2010. It’s only when you combine the entire Commodore range (SS/Sportwagon) that Holden takes the lead.

Nonetheless, perhaps the fight to lead the large car segment is almost a moot point these days, given the overall decline.

Ford has a lot riding on the new Territory. The outgoing model is claiming a respectable 12 percent market share but given that the segment it competes in is 47 percent diesel and that it’s only offered in petrol, one only has to put two and two together to realise that the Territory’s marketshare should grow considerably with the introduction of diesel variants.

Ford Australia currently has no plans to export the Territory outside local markets. Asked about why the company took such a long time to bring out a diesel Territory, Mr Graziano said it was a matter of resource allocation and that when the Territory first launched, diesel SUVs were accounting for less than 25 percet of the market.

Meanwhile, Ford will not introduce a turbo six cylinder variant in the new Territory due to poor sales in the outgoing model. The team at Ford Australia believe that the extra torque from the soon to be released diesel Territory should convince potential customers that may have picked the turbo-six. No official performance figures have yet been released for the 2.7-litre diesel engine. Those details are expected on the 9th of March. It’s logical to assume that not too much has been modified for localisation to keep costs down.

According to Ford Australia exterior design boss Todd Willing, during the design phase of the Territory not only were similarly priced competitors thoroughly examined, but also aspirational competitors (such as BMW X3/5) were put under the Microscope. Leading to the Territory design coming to life in a modern and sophisticated manner.

Ford Australia will hold another media briefing on the 9th of March to discuss the vehicle’s technical specifications with the new Territory to be ready for media test drives in April.

Prices for the current Ford Territory starts from $36,990 for the base petrol variant. Now that you know what the Territory looks like, how much do you expect the base model (rear-wheel drive petrol TX) to start from and what do you think Ford will charge for the top-of-the-range Territory AWD Titanium diesel?

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by vztrt

http://www.caradvice.com.au/103593/f...look-for-2011/Despite a poor start to the year for the iconic Falcon, with January figures pushing the model out of the top-ten selling cars list, Ford says the lack of LPG Falcon (which account for up to 25% of its market share) and XR8 variant has reduced the car’s selling potential.

Looks like XR8 will be coming back then! Once the ECU which has 4 phasors (one for each camshaft) comes anyway. Good to see they acknowledge the lack of V8 is hurting sales.

[SM1DY]

Not quite a game changer, more of an overhaul of the rules so the nerdy kid can play. I want news on the future of the Falcon, not these fluff pieces.

[jpd80]

The team at Ford are quick to point out that comparing apples to apples, as in, six-cylinder Falcon sedan to six-cylinder Commodore sedan sales, the Falcon actually outsold the Commodore in 2010. It’s only when you combine the entire Commodore range (SS/Sportwagon) that Holden takes the lead.

The team should also admit that Holden sells Captiva quite successfully
alongside a Commodore Sportwagon, something Ford thinks it cannot do..

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by jpd80

The team should also admit that Holden sells Captiva quite successfully
alongside a Commodore Sportwagon, something Ford thinks it cannot do..

They also forget to mention that a large percentage of Commodore sedans are V8, hence why the '6 cylinder Falcon sedan' outsells the '6 cylinder Commodore sedan'

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Brazen

They also forget to mention that a large percentage of Commodore sedans are V8, hence why the '6 cylinder Falcon sedan' outsells the '6 cylinder Commodore sedan'

12,000 V8s sold last year, counterbalanced by about 15,000 Omega 3.0 SIDI (Brrr, shivver)

[stevz]

The team at Ford are quick to point out that comparing apples to apples, as in, six-cylinder Falcon sedan to six-cylinder Commodore sedan sales, the Falcon actually outsold the Commodore in 2010. It’s only when you combine the entire Commodore range (SS/Sportwagon) that Holden takes the lead.

That is just clutching at straws.

[csv8]

All this should have been done a year ago....

[deesun]

Originally Posted by csv8

All this should have been done a year ago....

X2...

[The Snout]

Want to compare Apples to Apples Ford ?

How are Focus sedan sales going compared to Cruze sedan sales. Cuts both ways boys.

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by The Snout

Want to compare Apples to Apples Ford ?

How are Focus sedan sales going compared to Cruze sedan sales. Cuts both ways boys.

Mondeo to Epica... yes it does go both ways. Add a third dimension with Toyota and both got seriously flogged.

[Joe5619]

Is this Ford fourms or Holden fourms!!

Take the wins were you can AND dont mention the losses when speaking to media!! This is what Ford needs more of & is good matketing/ PR!!

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by Joe5619

Is this Ford fourms or Holden fourms!!

Take the wins were you can AND dont mention the losses when speaking to media!! This is what Ford needs more of & is good matketing/ PR!!

Exactly, you don't talk up the losses. Talk the wins. More 6 cylinder Falcons than 6 cylinder Commodores is a win.