Falcon is dead...long live the focus?

[Cuey]

For the first time, i'm starting to believe that the Falcon has a very limited lifespan...at least in it's current form. We can call be assured that this is the last 100% Australian Falcon, with the US engine due in 2010. They way the world is thinking and buying, the next option to keep Falcon alive is FWD. This will be the next global platform, as it allows lower fuel consumption and more room, Ford as a global company have no other choice.

With the Focus to be built here from 2011, it seems that Tom Gorman just might have been onto something before he left.

If this all works out, it seems as if Falcon will eventually die, and the Focus will become the new prime seller for Ford Aus....time will tell


http://www.carsales.com.au/car-review/2981357.aspx
Potential for the C Platform and Focus in Australia


http://www.carsales.com.au/car-review/2979507.aspx
The Future for GM and Ford in Australia based on current sales

[Hillbilly F Truck]

Man i hope not. There is always lpg.

[banarcus]

Its only a matter of time.

[merlin]

The engine is just one component of a car - I'm sure many parts are sourced overseas. By this argument the Commodore has always been "dead" given it uses an imported US engine.

[Cuey]

Originally Posted by merlin

The engine is just one component of a car - I'm sure many parts are sourced overseas. By this argument the Commodore has always been "dead" given it uses an imported US engine.

You've misunderstood me slightly....by my way of thinking, it won't be long until we either have a FWD Falcon on a platform made in the US with a US engine, or we will have no Falcon at all because sales will stoop to only 1500 month - It's not worth the money Ford US and Ford Aus are putting into it

[Falcon_Crazy]

LPG, high performance turbo diesels are being used in "large" cars.

The 100% of Falcon as we know it is on the way out - global platforms are the way forward for car companies to survive.

There will still be demand for large cars - whther that is in sedan foam like Falcon, or SUV such as tezza, time well tell.

The Falcon will change as we know it today, not sure it is the "death" of it.

If that was the case, we may not have seen the XD

[merlin]

Originally Posted by Cuey

You've misunderstood me slightly....by my way of thinking, it won't be long until we either have a FWD Falcon on a platform made in the US with a US engine, or we will have no Falcon at all because sales will stoop to only 1500 month - It's not worth the money Ford US and Ford Aus are putting into it

Perhaps, but none of us plebs know how many units of Falcon they need to sell to reach the break even point and go into profit. Speculation is fairly useless on our part, but I see your point.

[PepeLePew]

Me thinks a Mondeo sized car will end up with the main role.....those who need a larger vehicle may readjust their sights, but Im not sure they'll go THAT small.

[BIGJB]

My god you people go on with some crap!!!
A lot of the parts would be sourced from o\s already.
It has been that way since the 1st day cars were built in Australia.
Why on earth would they go FWD just because they are changing to V6....
As some one else has mentioned you\we have no idea how many Falcons
need to be sold for the company to break even so why bother speculating.
Seriously some of you guys need to go and get jobs with the editing
department of Today Tonight because this thread is about as good
as media hype up is.

[MarkIV]

Perhaps the Territory and the Falcon will morph into a single vehicle in the future to keep a large RWD car in the mix.

[FalconXR6]

Forget engines.
Forget which wheels are driving the thing.
It's innovation that the Falcon needs to survive.
For FG I was hoping that a lot of the Territory's innovative interior design ideas would make their way into Falcon. But instead, they (and Holden) have given us cars with no more real innovation than those of ten years ago.

As a performance car buyer, none of that matters to me.
It's the full package in terms of power, grunt, handling, driveability, etc that I value.

But general Australia value innovation in a motor vehicle and put this at the top of their list when looking to purchase. They don't care about performance. They want cars that are perceived to be economical. They want innovation and they want it at a good price.

[Zed7fiddy]

There was a bunch of FG XR6's Parked next to eachother at work today, me and a workmate (both avid ford fans) both agreed that they look dog ugley and would be surprised to see them get past the FG.

[Oxa384]

Originally Posted by 84RGE

There was a bunch of FG XR6's Parked next to eachother at work today, me and a workmate (both avid ford fans) both agreed that they look dog ugley and would be surprised to see them get past the FG.

well said!!fg looks crap ive tried to like it but it just looks ugly imo id be suprised if we get another falcon but for me the falcon died along time ago and im not interested in what happens from now on in the new car market.the good times are long gone for the aussie car market.this is my view and im not trying to sell my point either, before i get shot down.
v8 supercars are also on the way out for me except Bathurst i couldnt give a toss what happens.

[[Tonko]]

What the hell is wrong with you lot lately?
Ford goes through a slump and everyone cries that they will go broke, shut down and the world will end.
Almost every thread in here nowadays is negative, any reason to bag someone out eh?
I for one have never been more blue blooded.

Instead of sooking about the bad, how about praise for the good things?

[Oxa384]

im not saying the world will end but really how important is a new falcon in the big picture of things really??the only thing i would be concerned about is aussies losing jobs but other than that these new cars are a empty shell of what a falcon used to be imo.

[Zed7fiddy]

Whats good?

Ford stuffed up, plain and simple haha!

They are selling cars for their market, not enthusiests, so now entusiests can look elswhere.

[Rodp]

Just because the Focus is to be assembled here, will it really convert into significantly more sales? I can't see it making all that much difference to local sales, personally but it will be a good injection into a shaky industry at the moment.

I'd like to see the Focus do well, I'd like to see them stick %^&$#$^ cruise control in there and they need to get an even more tweaked RS and sell it in Australia. They do that and it'll make the short list for my next car.

[Windsor220]

Originally Posted by [Tonko]

What the hell is wrong with you lot lately?
Ford goes through a slump and everyone cries that they will go broke, shut down and the world will end.
Almost every thread in here nowadays is negative, any reason to bag someone out eh?
I for one have never been more blue blooded.

Instead of sooking about the bad, how about praise for the good things?

Exactly. When Holden brings out something you never hear the end of how good the thing is. Even if it is junk. But Ford has even its own followers constantly bagging it. If we started supporting the company maybe it would flow on to other people.

[GTENVY]

Well guys if and I say if, Ford actually do what the general motoring press (and I agree with them) have suggested for years and have the Falcon and Mustang use the same underpinnings, suspension components etc, this would greatly reduce costs and provide better return for monies invested, both them could also become 'world cars' but no, they just sit on their laurels as per usual!

Anyway just my 2 cents.

[snappy]

The focus will be along term plan i don't think the will sell record numbers for a while but it is smart for ford to have the structure in place when small cars completly take over.
Personally i would rather see the falcon die than make it fwd .
Also as far a calling the fg dog ugly is going a bit far .The ba/bf is a hot looking car and was always going to be hard to top .

[Falcon Coupe]

Originally Posted by 84RGE

Whats good?

Ford stuffed up, plain and simple haha!

They are selling cars for their market, not enthusiests, so now entusiests can look elswhere.

I'd call this good:




So whos going to buy it ?

http://fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11232953

[Rodp]

I'm surprised by the ugly tags too. I think it's a good looking car, while it may not be everyone's cup of tea, branding it ugly is a bit harsh.

[Auslandau]

Originally Posted by FalconXR6

Forget engines.
Forget which wheels are driving the thing.
It's innovation that the Falcon needs to survive.
For FG I was hoping that a lot of the Territory's innovative interior design ideas would make their way into Falcon. But instead, they (and Holden) have given us cars with no more real innovation than those of ten years ago.

As a performance car buyer, none of that matters to me.
It's the full package in terms of power, grunt, handling, driveability, etc that I value.

But general Australia value innovation in a motor vehicle and put this at the top of their list when looking to purchase. They don't care about performance. They want cars that are perceived to be economical. They want innovation and they want it at a good price.

Have you driven a G6ET? That ticks so many boxes and is so far removed from anything that has ever been offered in an Aust made car. As far as power goes it matches the hype of the BF F6 ....... from the factory direct and not through a performance factory.

Perseption does mean alot and performance, turbo or V8 must be bad. Fortunatley they are better than ever, economy wise but stil doesnt matter. Thats why the Golf add works.

There will always be a place for a Falcon. May be more US content or from elsewhere but things are global and thats the way it goes so everyone can survive. If its for the better? I dont care. The Boss went into the Falcon with no dramas ......

All reminds me of the XD vs Commodore 30 years ago. Who won that one! Both took a gamble but in the end the big car won and it is so simular to whats happening now. Ford just made the thing as light as possible ..... first plastic petrol tank. They just took it too far with the no V8 XF ...... but boy did they sell crap loads!



| [/url] |

[Falc'man]

Ford US will not abandon the rwd. I can't see that happening... Mustang won't ever be fwd (besides that, US manufacturers realised how much of a mistake it was to almost completely abandon rwd in the 80s/90s), so there will most certainly always be a rwd platform, and most likely developed by Ford Au.

FG is more economical than any of it's rivals. In LPG guise (albeit a crappy LPG system) it's more economical than a Corolla. All this information is pointless until the marketing department (all one of them... that's what it seems like sometimes) gets this drilled into the public's thick "The Commodore is Australian/Toyotas are reliable" skulls.

I'm still waiting for the day I see an ad where all the praise the FG received from the media is quoted... I won't be holding my breath.

Originally Posted by Rodp

Just because the Focus is to be assembled here, will it really convert into significantly more sales? I can't see it making all that much difference to local sales, personally but it will be a good injection into a shaky industry at the moment.

I'd like to see the Focus do well, I'd like to see them stick %^&$#$^ cruise control in there and they need to get an even more tweaked RS and sell it in Australia. They do that and it'll make the short list for my next car.

Export sales. There will be alot more than a few thousand a month... barring the unforeseen.

[BIGJB]

Originally Posted by Falcon Coupe

I'd call this good:




So whos going to buy it ?

http://fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11232953

How fat is that.....

[b2tf]

Originally Posted by 99GHIA

My god you people go on with some crap!!!

Agreed.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by 84RGE

Whats good?

Ford stuffed up, plain and simple haha!

They are selling cars for their market, not enthusiests, so now entusiests can look elswhere.

What do you mean??

We still have 2 V8 variants, and 4 I6 variants.

The FG range is the best FALCON to ever see Australia.. Ive driven about 35 of them ranging from XTs to GT's and F6's and I seriously could not fault one of them, they are a fantastic package for the price and absolutely blow the VE Commodore away in nearly every department.. Compare the interior fit and finish of a VE with an FG and you will soon see where im coming from.

I can't say whether its poor marketing, or poor brand image but the car if following a silmiar stastic to the Mitsubishi 380, which was a good car in its own right, it was poorly brought to the market and the old Magna dramas probarly killed it, but seriously the FG is an awesome car!

[Redrum]

The FG is an awesome looking car. I think some just like to go on with this siege mentality irregardless of what is going on........ the tank is always half empty.

[ILLaViTaR]

Waits for flappist.

[ST]

The FG is ugly now? Ford stuffed up? For a Ford forum we speak quite negatively about our own cars. First of all from the overwhelming majority of critics views this is THE finest Australian built car or at least finest built Falcon, Ford aus have trumped the commodore with half the budget. It is superior in every way to the VE.

Secondly... UGLY? I can't say i've heard anybody else call the FG ugly, the words I too often hear about the styling is "too conservative" and "not different enough from the previous". I don't agree with those views, but they are a fair way off calling it ugly. There is nothing wrong with its looks, proportions or shape from a modern car perspective. I can't see how somebody can LOVE the B-series looks and hate the FGs? What have they been smoking?

The falcon dies when its own supporters turn their back on it. Stop being so negative, Ford have come up with a brilliant new Falcon and it may not be living up to sales expectations, but as a car enthusiast is it living up to engineering and performance expectations? You damn well bet it is! I for one am glad to know that both the i6 and (true) Australian Falcon are going out in a world class package together.