Ford Boss: why we won’t kill Falcon early

[Road_Warrior]

There will be a lot of “analysis” type articles in the washup after the media event.

http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/f...814-2rv7d.html

Ford says it is giving the Falcon the respect it deserves by giving the car a final spruce before it is put out to pasture in 2016.

Ford’s global president and CEO Alan Mulally told Drive at the brand’s Go Further product showcase this week that he believes the company is doing the right thing by its consumers and its stakeholders by spending millions on the final Falcon.

“I don’t think it’s a negative at all,” says Mulally of the Falcon’s demise.

“We worked really hard to make a viable business here. You know that, it’s a tremendous public-private partnership,” he says of the government-subsidised plants in Victoria. Government money to the tune of $40 million is also being used to develop the Falcon update.

“We’re just not competitive making vehicles in Australia. And so we’re doing the right thing, because any company needs to be able to make a reasonable return to continue to invest in new products.”

Mulally says the reasons are obvious as to why the current Falcon is no longer viable.

“I love the Falcon, I told you I loved the Falcon the first time I met it,” he says. “That market is really, really small. The Australian customers have moved on. The world has moved on. They’re moving to smaller and more efficient vehicles. And that’s exactly what we’re going to provide.”

But when asked why the company wouldn’t just cut its losses on the Falcon and kill it off before the expensive 2014 update, Mulally’s case was clear.

“Because we really want to have an orderly transition. This is a respect for everybody involved, all of the stakeholders.

“That's why we’re refreshing the Falcon, because there’s a lot of people that love the Falcon. And why we’re refreshing the Territory too. And you also heard today that we’re committed to the Territory size and to that market, and so we’ll more to share about that going forward also.

“But absolutely, we’re doing the right thing because of the respect we have for all of the stakeholders, including the employees. But the supply base, the industry, we’re doing absolutely the right thing.”

“We're really pleased with the public-private partnership,” he reiterates. “But everything about the situation, you know.

“This is the most open market in the world, one of the most competitive markets in the world. There are more brands here than anywhere else in the world. There are more models here than anywhere else in the world. This is a really competitive marketplace, and if you’re going to get a chance to participate here, then you need to really, really be competitive,” he says.

Mulally says the brand isn’t going anywhere just because the Falcon and Territory will no longer be produced locally. He put a strong emphasis on the brand’s One Ford policy, which sees global models rolled out into multiple world markets - the Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo are the three passenger cars he mentioned, along with the EcoSport mini SUV, the Kuga small SUV and the new Everest large SUV, which is expected to take the place of the Territory in the company’s lineup at the end of 2016.

“This is a business, and you need to be able to make a reasonable return so you can continue to invest. We looked at our footprint all around the world, and this is the decision we’ve made, and it makes absolute sense. But again, we’re going to continue to serve the Australian customer,” he says.

“The fact is, we are a major presence in Australia, and we serve all the Australian customers. It’s of course a very serious consideration where we decide to make things. But the world is becoming more and more integrated, and the people that are competitive, they have to be competitive, or you don’t get a chance to stay in business and serve the customers. So we’re doing the right thing for the consumer, longer term,” he says.

I reckon the writing is on the wall for the Toreass as well.

Note to Mr Rudd and Mr Abbott: having the most open market in the world is not necessarily a good thing if you want to continue being able to make and grow things here.