Ford: "We will never outsell Commodore again"

[Brazen]

Interesting comments from Ford, perhaps they dont really care domestically if the next model is going to be big on exports.

I guess they kill the theory that Sportwagon simply substitued sedan sales.

Perhaps Ford are playing the underdog angle??

http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/f...805-1idzk.html

Ford has raised the white flag in its 33-year sales fight against the Holden Commodore.

The company is aiming to improve sales of its Falcon large car during the next year with a range of updates that include a styling refresh and a new four-cylinder engine variant but the maker admits it won't ever overtake Commodore sales.

Ford Australia vice-president of marketing, sales and service, Beth Donovan, says the Commodore's extra Sportwagon body style gives it an unassailable advantage.

''As a nameplate, we'll never outsell Commodore again because we'd have to outsell all those wagons as well,'' she says.

Advertisement: Story continues below ''But remember, our wagon is Mondeo wagon and in some ways you could make the argument that we fill all that space not just with that but also the Territory .''

Ford Australia discontinued the Falcon wagon last year, having decided not to introduce an all-new version in 2008.

The Commodore continues to dominate and has been Australia's best-selling car for 15 years, though the Falcon has had the occasional monthly success when comparing sedan sales only.

A new LPG engine has been added to the Falcon line-up and the four-cylinder petrol engine is expected to lower fuel economy to about 8.0 litres per 100 kilometres.

Donovan believes the four-cylinder will be a ''game changer'' but admits there's only so much that can be done to lift sales.

''[The segment's] down 53 per cent in 10 years,'' she says. ''It doesn't matter what dress you wear to the dance on that one.''

Ford is yet to confirm the long-term future of the Falcon, with one option being to replace it with the US-designed Taurus.

[Poetic Justice]

Surely they could use a little more optomism?

[My poor XF]

Originally Posted by SCUD

Surely they could use a little more optomism?

Why? When the ford fans on here don't show any, Why should they?

[munners]

Maybe they are just being honest and don't care about Falcon outselling Commodore but I bet they want Ford to outsell Holden....

Munners

[sarrge2001]

I think the number one priority would be remaining profitable, irrespective of the mix of model names they sell......

[burnz]

people don't say something for nothing..(ford marketing beth donovan)
so what is ford up to?
why come out a say that?

or is it a case of slow news day SMH...

[StrokedXT]

Like most companies they would rather cut a Profit then generate volume records.

[benoxr]

Originally Posted by munners

Maybe they are just being honest and don't care about Falcon outselling Commodore but I bet they want Ford to outsell Holden....

Munners

well thats right. The future according to Ford is not Falcon versus Commodore anymore. Their over it. Its whose on top including the whole range of vehicles. Ford are concentrating on other categories it feels are more important to its future.

[jphanna]

this is what ford had been reduced to.....

i grew up in an era when ford had the balls to take on holden, and beat them at their own game. for those old enough to remember, there was a time when ford had 24% of the market.....selling XE, XF, laser, telstar....

[Whitey-AMG]

FPV mondeo / Taurus anyone ??

Falc is on it's last legs. We've known that for years..... Admitting it openly may actually suggest that resources for further local development may be in jeopardy.

[csv8]

I posted this earlier in FG 2 When.....

[Road_Warrior]

The objective for Ford is chasing Toyota and Hyundai, not so much GM. Targeting GM all the time in some sort of juvenile "turf war" is distracting and occupies precious resources and money, something FoA is short on right now.

[Mad_Pom]

If you look at what Ford does globally now, it does not like getting involved in incentives and would rather sell fewer vehicle at a profit, rather than chase volume share.
On the other hand GM still seems keen on comitting self destruction by buying market share with cost cutting and incentives.
I think Ford would like the product to speak for itself and not get involved in a pricing war and signal that it is not going to buy volume.
Now I know some here are not going to like reading this and will say that Ford is giving up, but I think it is more of a pragmatic business view and Ford are just showing greater business leadership.

Oh well fire away !!

[FPVGT500]

I blame ford they didnt invest as much as holden did since the beginning, i remember in 2008 an article saying how holden spent $1 billion on the VE series and Ford spent half of that on FG so expect half the sale, what makes it worse the ****** marketing team Ford/FPV have got i havent seen an FPV commercial in weeks, has anyone seen the new HSV one with the V8 supercar? its absolutly better then moffats "wanna hear it again"

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by Mad_Pom

If you look at what Ford does globally now, it does not like getting involved in incentives and would rather sell fewer vehicle at a profit, rather than chase volume share.
On the other hand GM still seems keen on comitting self destruction by buying market share with cost cutting and incentives.
I think Ford would like the product to speak for itself and not get involved in a pricing war and signal that it is not going to buy volume.
Now I know some here are not going to like reading this and will say that Ford is giving up, but I think it is more of a pragmatic business view and Ford are just showing greater business leadership.

Oh well fire away !!

Falcon has the highest fleet proportion of sales of any passenger vehicle in the country. They aint chasing profts.

And as a private buyers I can walk in to a Ford dealer right now and buy a new 2011 XR6 Falcon ute for $27990 driveaway or a XR6 sedan $32990 driveaway.

I think people are reading too much into "we will never outsell Commodore" In no way are Ford saying they have greater profit margins - they are simply saying they cannot outsell Commodore while they dont have a wagon.

[Whitey-AMG]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

The objective for Ford is chasing Toyota and Hyundai, not so much GM. Targeting GM all the time in some sort of juvenile "turf war" is distracting and occupies precious resources and money, something FoA is short on right now.

Apart from brand bias - I think it has become eminently obvious over the past 10 years that the AU market may not be able to support both the Falc and the Commodore in terms of growth sales. These 2 cars are natural competitors so its only natural to compare them. Small to medium car sales are outstripping these 2 larger cars BIG TIME. There will come a time when the MAZDA 6 and Toyota AURION are seen as TOO BIG and too thirsty as well.

The Falcon should really have had an LPG and Diesel option 5 years ago........its now catch up time and the market has moved on. Companies like HYUNDAI , KIA and the cheaper Chinese Imports are going to slay the "local" brands and we will all see a complete turnaround in the types of cars we see on the roads in the next 5 years or so.

Admitting that FORD will never outsell the Commodore is not admitting defeat per se , because in all honesty - it doesn't really look like FORD ever really engineereed an all out assault against the Commodore to begin with ( last 10 years ) - its more facing the reality of decreasing BIG car sales. The Commodore will be facing its own demise in due course regardless......the CRUZE is here and will almost certainly get incremental sales from Commodore losses.........problem for FORD will be ..........if people aren't buying the FALC..........what will they be buying ???????

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by My poor XF

Why? When the ford fans on here don't show any, Why should they?

Enthusiasim, been to a car show lately, there's plenty of enthusiasm out there.
The people on here aren't the majority of buyers, it's a changing world. When they (Ford) say something like this I dont see people that post here going out to buy a falcon these are the same people that put crap on models like the GT Black
Ford are probably right they won't catch the fleeting sales of the Holden for the exact reasons they stated.

[thedutchman92]

FoMoCo Aus are getting really good at shooting themselves in the foot and then complaining about it

[fou_bleu]

Originally Posted by Brazen

Falcon has the highest fleet proportion of sales of any passenger vehicle in the country. They aint chasing profts.

Do you have a reference? There's been a lot of unevidenced data being thrown around here lately...

I think people are reading too much into "we will never outsell Commodore" In no way are Ford saying they have greater profit margins - they are simply saying they cannot outsell Commodore while they dont have a wagon.

Yes that is right, but we'd need to know what the ATP (average transaction price) is on respective Falcon models to know if they are making money on the cars sold or not...

[b2tf]

Originally Posted by thedutchman92

FoMoCo Aus are getting really good at shooting themselves in the foot and then complaining about it

I sort of agree with you. It's like walking into a war with half an army and then accepting that you aren't going to win.

Ford has no direct rival for SS (XR8 - gone), Holden's wagon (Falcon Wagon - gone), SS Ute (XR8 Ute - gone), Statesman/Caprice (Fairlane/LTD - gone), and thats just a to name a few models off the top of my head.

You cant reasonably expect to keep up with sales of those vehicles when you don't offer a reasonable alternative. And before the usuals pipe up, Territory was not, is not and never will be a replacement for Falcon wagon, not everybody wants a Turbo instead of a V8 and to some people LWB DOES matter.

[EgoFG]

Originally Posted by Brazen

I think people are reading too much into "we will never outsell Commodore" In no way are Ford saying they have greater profit margins - they are simply saying they cannot outsell Commodore while they dont have a wagon.

And that they are happy with Tez and Mondo covering.

This is a mistake IMHO
Diluting the Falcon Brand.
Tez Should be "Falcon Tez"

Dropping the LWB (and therefor Wagon) may have dropped something that, on face value, was not making profit, but it was contributing to the brand.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Yep B2TF is correct...

You cant downsize your models then try and complete with models you have no straight competition for, eg. wagon and fairlane.

Holden are stumbling too tho, its not as if Holden will be here for the next 100 years either, they could be gone after VF too if things dont pick up as they are only working at break even, even with Cruze they still are not out of the woods...

I have said it for years the Australian market is too small to continue on manufacturing 2 cars from the ground up for without a sizable export program for either of them. Both cars are world class when you compare with other Ford / GM offerings, they just never get the opportunity to prove themselves on the world scene.

[AMGC63]

Ford are starting to do what so many other brands are doing in other industries, create unique products that hold their own market position rather than directly compete with your dominant competition for diminishing market share.
It takes the focus away from head to head comparisons and pressure on $RRP.

[robbo/region15]

We were hoping Sales would have boosted for Ford in the new financial........
Yet again we go back to 4 day weeks this month as a Tier 1 supplier.Then being told @ Broady on friday ,the Ute is to finish in 2012,replaced by the imported Ranger........These are uncertain times for all involved with Ford.At the stage now,you just take it week by week,we dont know whats around the corner...

[P6LTD351]

I think it's clear that Falcon is coming to an end. These sort of comments from Ford are made to get people used to no more Falcon.

[mik]

i think ford oz see`s small cars are just increasing in popularity and are trying to keep all bases covered so too speak , the big henry is there but the primary focus is becoming more the medium/ small market, and you`d have to say it`s a wise move from a business perspective, the cost of living is rising daily,
why would you bother blowing good dough on speccing up falcon wagon just to make up sales against the commy when you already have 2 models Terri/mondeo, it was`nt long ago the commy was on the knifes edge of extinction............big sales don`t gaurantee profit.

[Joe5619]

Originally Posted by Brazen

Falcon has the highest fleet proportion of sales of any passenger vehicle in the country. They aint chasing profts.

No it doesn't, the Commodore does!!

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...715-1hgi1.html
.
.
.
.
.
.

[Joe5619]

Originally Posted by robbo/region15

Then being told @ Broady on friday ,the Ute is to finish in 2012,replaced by the imported Ranger

where you listing with your ears open??? I don't believe this for one second!! They is NO reason for Ford to stop this in 2012!!! None!!

[Neale]

Ford must be doing something right, they didnt have to declare bankrupcy & get bought out by the US Government.

[robbo/region15]

Originally Posted by Joe5619

where you listing with your ears open??? I don't believe this for one second!! They is NO reason for Ford to stop this in 2012!!! None!!

Yes,my ears were open.I have no reason for Treason here,im passing on what i was told while i was on site .