Ford is Looking Back - XR8

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Luke Plaizier

Well, inthe context of an XR8 being a rebadged GS, thankfully there's a large body of experience on this topic.

Just go find someone who has just bought a new Ranger and pulled up next to a BT50. Or VN Commodore next to a Lexcen. A Mazda 2 next to a Fiesta. A Laser next to a 323. A Ford Telstar and a 626. A Ford Courier next to a Mazda Bravo.....

Did those people all fall over in self digust? Or did the models sell in parallel and people just got over it?


Lukeyson

Sorry but thats not the same, well it is but except whats under the bonnet is a lot better in the GS.
One is a Ford the other FPV, some may see that as different also.

[Luke Plaizier]

Originally Posted by DJM83

Sorry but thats not the same, well it is but....

Bollocks. It is the same. You're just splitting hairs.

I tell you what. Never buy yourself an FT86, because you're going to go nuts pulling up to a Subaru BRZ. And there you go - if Ford think they are going to get negative publicity by just redressing a GS in XR8 badges, there's the best evidence that such things are socially acceptable.


Lukeyson

[FPV GTHO]

Your clutching at straws, the Toybaru at least looks different between brands as do a lot of other badge engineered cars. To badge engineer a vehicle from the same brand in the same market nonetheless, and for it only to be the badge as the significant difference is ridiculous.

[Luke Plaizier]

So many reasons for 'it can't be done'.

What's ridiculous is the effort going in to insisting that the only affordable way of bringing an XR8 to market 'can't be done'.


Lukeyson

[stang65]

Not agreeing with anybody but didn`t toyota do it with the Camry and the Avanti or some crap. Same body just different engine.

[JPFS1]

Luke your enthusiam is refreshing. Keep it up!

[EL Lupo]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Lupo the gs is barebones as it is...hehe

Originally Posted by Professor Farnsworth

yeah, what luxo crap? lol it's pov spec

Maybe luxo isn't the right word.... and maybe I'm a bit old school here, but the thing weighs 1,844 kg according to specs, there must be some fat that can be trimmed here, I just personally don't feel the need for six airbags in a car that fits five people.... (yeah I know, that might affect their holy grail ANCAP rating) how about losing the supercharger and substitute some CF or other lightweight materials so its leaner and meaner?? Just a theory.

[EL Lupo]

Originally Posted by stang65

Not agreeing with anybody but didn`t toyota do it with the Camry and the Avanti or some crap. Same body just different engine.

Camry + V6=Aurion, apparently the tarted up Camry sells just fine..

[1TUFFUTE]

Originally Posted by EL Lupo

Maybe luxo isn't the right word.... and maybe I'm a bit old school here, but the thing weighs 1,844 kg according to specs, there must be some fat that can be trimmed here, I just personally don't feel the need for six airbags in a car that fits five people.... (yeah I know, that might affect their holy grail ANCAP rating) how about losing the supercharger and substitute some CF or other lightweight materials so its leaner and meaner?? Just a theory.

nooffense but most of that is way off reality...im allmost possitive those things just arent FPVs thing right now. They are more likely to progress to more refinement with running gear suspension and aero....these are just the simple things cars in this segment do well to do well at. Deff not carbonfibre and perception of dangerous driving. As it is most of us know that the falcon has been designed allready with far superior rear safety then its competitors...so that tends to hint that ford likes attending the big issues.
I just think its way to easy for people to make all these assumptions in hindsight....I MEAN THERE WASNT A SINGLE PERSON WHO SAID EARLIER THAT FORD SHOULD MAKE A GS AND AN XR8 REBADGES AND A GT
I think ford are just doing their best to keep te falcon alive and at the top of its game...taking risks...which what some of u are hinting at just isnt smart buisiness...even if it seems smart.
aybe if they had MORE MARKET CONFIDENCE they could would and should go to town with extended lineups including xr8......its a hard one tho

[dkpioe]

ford doesnt need to bring back the xr8 badge, sure it will appease several bogans, but wont increase their sales one bit, more likely it will decrease their sales. ford are best to try something new, they should work at promoting the mondeo and focus and their performance equivalent.
for the nostalgia enthusiats, stick to your dreary 97 el xr8s if you desperately need the xr8 badge.

[Luke Plaizier]

Originally Posted by dkpioe

sure it will appease several bogans

Awe. That's touching. The idea that Trolls are gutless nutless pubescent name-calling haters hiding behind anonymity is alive and well! Punched any girls lately?


Lukeyson

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Luke Plaizier

Bollocks. It is the same. You're just splitting hairs.

I tell you what. Never buy yourself an FT86, because you're going to go nuts pulling up to a Subaru BRZ. And there you go - if Ford think they are going to get negative publicity by just redressing a GS in XR8 badges, there's the best evidence that such things are socially acceptable.


Lukeyson

How about you get off your high horse for a minute eh.

My point was the current GS and (Future XR8) if there is one, IMO would be too similar in spec if they were both sold, (even if its N/A)
Im happy for an XR8 thats fine but one or the other, the current GS is more Ford then FPV. So why not just rebadge the GS an XR8 and be done with it.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by DJM83

How about you get off your high horse for a minute eh.

My point was the current GS and (Future XR8) if there is one, IMO would be too similar in spec if they were both sold, (even if its N/A)

luke is suggesting selling the exact same car for the exact same price, one out of the ford stable and one out of the FPV stable. apparently there are people out there that would prefer the plain ford and xr8 badges over the premium fpv and gs badges.

its an interesting concept. its like saying bmw should sell some M3's as just a normal 3 series as some people don't like the M badge, or sell a AMG merc as a normal C or E class as some people wouldn't want the AMG badge.

maybe lexus should sell some cars badged as toyotas.

bear in mind the suggestion is to keep the price the same.

Originally Posted by DJM83

Ill bet a lot of people wanting it back would never buy one, but when they did and pulled up next to an S/C GS.....

agree

[pottery beige]

Originally Posted by DJM83

How about you get off your high horse for a minute eh.

My point was the current GS and (Future XR8) if there is one, IMO would be too similar in spec if they were both sold, (even if its N/A)
Im happy for an XR8 thats fine but one or the other, the current GS is more Ford then FPV. So why not just rebadge the GS an XR8 and be done with it.

1/ buy supercharged GS..
2/ remove all GS stickers / identification..
3/ fit XR8 badges..
4/ attend all ford day with open bonnet..
5/ ....

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by prydey

luke is suggesting selling the exact same car for the exact same price, one out of the ford stable and one out of the FPV stable. apparently there are people out there that would prefer the plain ford and xr8 badges over the premium fpv and gs badges.

its an interesting concept. its like saying bmw should sell some M3's as just a normal 3 series as some people don't like the M badge, or sell a AMG merc as a normal C or E class as some people wouldn't want the AMG badge.

maybe lexus should sell some cars badged as toyotas.

bear in mind the suggestion is to keep the price the same.

Yeah i dont see how that would work, as IMO the people that buy these (FPV, XR8) are purchased by people that actually care about what they drive and more often then not have an interest in cars, would most certainly choose an FPV (I would). But Euros im not sure who buys those kind of cars
so it may work for them.

Originally Posted by pottery_beige

1/ buy supercharged GS..
2/ remove all GS stickers / identification..
3/ fit XR8 badges..
4/ attend all ford day with open bonnet..
5/ ....

love to see that.

[pottery beige]

even photoshop up some XR8 brochures.. accidently leave on backseat...




/.. await thread on AFF............

[prydey]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

even photoshop up some XR8 brochures.. accidently leave on backseat...




/.. await thread on AFF............

well this thread is already 10 pages and all over an article with zero substance!! a fake brochure would send some people in to meltdown

[Luke Plaizier]

Funny how many people say a GS is an XR8 these days, but still have an aversion to seeing them side by side. It must be the blinkered view of 'what has been' and 'what other people do' as opposed to 'what could be'.

To include BMW in the conversation - in another thread it was mentioned BMW are releasing fake-engine sounds (I like to think of them as Revtones) - and the consensus there too was because it hasn't been done before and people weren't used to it that it was a bad idea.

The view up here on my high horse must just have less blinkers on it than down there in 'it can't be done' land!


Lukeyson

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by Luke Plaizier

So many reasons for 'it can't be done'.

What's ridiculous is the effort going in to insisting that the only affordable way of bringing an XR8 to market 'can't be done'.


Lukeyson

What? Its not that it cant be done, its jut not going to make any difference.

Xr8 buyers are not buying the gs has nothing to do with the fact that its fpv. Its all about its entry price or a v8 falcon.

Fpv insist on not having options on the gs because they would rather move gt's. So not only do they annoy xr8 buyers by having the entry price high, they also tick off the gs buyer by saying they cant even option brembos on a car thats mechanically the same as a gt.

It seems that fpv and ford are playing games and no one is really winning.

Dumping miami in a xr8 is the easy way out, and i conceed it makes more financial sense. But thats what an accountant will tell you, i dont think it fits the true xr8 buyer at that price point and it would dilute what makes buying a fpv special, something different.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Luke Plaizier

Funny how many people say a GS is an XR8 these days, but still have an aversion to seeing them side by side. It must be the blinkered view of 'what has been' and 'what other people do' as opposed to 'what could be'.

To include BMW in the conversation - in another thread it was mentioned BMW are releasing fake-engine sounds (I like to think of them as Revtones) - and the consensus there too was because it hasn't been done before and people weren't used to it that it was a bad idea.

The view up here on my high horse must just have less blinkers on it than down there in 'it can't be done' land!


Lukeyson

Never said it cant be done, nor did i call a GS an XR8, im just saying its probably not going to happen in the current market, Ford has to be realistic
Tell me this, why was it canned? (Dont blame the BOSS not meeting emissions either), im sure Ford has a motor to put in an XR8.
As i said im happy for it to be back but either bring it back and remove GS or keep the GS.
The GS caters for the XR8 market somewhat but the price may hinder it a little.
A lot of people on here want ford to produce every single model with a million options that in it self just its going to happen with the way the market is.

[Luke Plaizier]

Why was it canned? Well, we can only guess at that. But the most likely scenario was that Ford at the time were planning on developing either an NA XR8 - and potentially a G8E - or a unique S/C version, but delayed it until a time when sales picked up. So for whatever reason, the option to have a S/C XR8 was lost at the time when the S/C V8 went to FPV, possibly because FPV saw that Ford would be likely to drag the XR8 chain and decided that their 315 needed to get to market.

Now that sales have dropped, the XR8 R&D has been put on indefinite hold, and is now not likely to go any further - which means in it's initial intended incarnation the XR8 will not happen.

So the options I see are

(1) Stick to your guns that the XR8 has to be unique from the FPV GS - which means it will never happen in this climate. OR

(2) Suck up your pride, rebadge the GS as is, and get an XR8 to market for negligable R&D cost.

Simple.


Lukeyson

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Luke Plaizier

Funny how many people say a GS is an XR8 these days, but still have an aversion to seeing them side by side. It must be the blinkered view of 'what has been' and 'what other people do' as opposed to 'what could be'.

But that's the rub, Ford and FPV see the two cars as competing with each other and they are the ones you have to convince, not us
but yes, your ideas do have merit and are based on past practices of sourcing an XR8 and then expand on that theme with GS and GT.

FPV selling the series II GS with basically an XR nose clips says to me that the cars are 90% finished when they leave Broadmeadows.
Bottom line.... in order to deliver XR8, the GS would need an FPV nose, luxury pack and maybe front "Brembos" to add differentiation.
Do that and we could have XR8 at $55K, GS at $65K, GT at $75K

[prydey]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Fpv insist on not having options on the gs because they would rather move gt's. So not only do they annoy xr8 buyers by having the entry price high, they also tick off the gs buyer by saying they cant even option brembos on a car thats mechanically the same as a gt.

It seems that fpv and ford are playing games and no one is really winning.

so you want to option up your GS to be like a GT? just buy a GT. people often seem to forget that car manufacturers need to try to sell their whole range of products, not just a few. as you go up the line with the models, each one will be slightly more desireable than the one below it, and it also comes with a more premium price tag.

the main beef on here is that people want a v8 falcon but can't afford a GS so then they whinge. go buy yourself a $40k commodore then. if car makers make a desireable product, it will sell. sales of GS are higher than XR8 was and its $10k more. thats a big win for ford/fpv right there.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Luke Plaizier

(2) Suck up your pride, rebadge the GS as is, and get an XR8 to market for negligable R&D cost.

Simple.


Lukeyson

Agreed remove the GS badges, apply XR8 badges we have a winner. I think the XR8 name means more nowadays then GS.

[pottery beige]

how cool is that.. a supercharged XR8..........

[prydey]

Originally Posted by DJM83

T think the XR8 name means more nowadays then GS.

maybe so, but the FPV badge will get you an extra few thousand in resale. fact.

edit - maybe they can do the best of both worlds and drop the GS and sell it as a XR8 out of the FPV stable. FPV XR8!

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by prydey

maybe so, but the FPV badge will get you an extra few thousand in resale. fact.

Thats a valid point to.

[galaxy xr8]

Originally Posted by prydey

maybe so, but the FPV badge will get you an extra few thousand in resale. fact.

edit - maybe they can do the best of both worlds and drop the GS and sell it as a XR8 out of the FPV stable. FPV XR8!

A bit like the old day's when Tickford actually resembled a brand different from the Ford stablehouse.

[FPV GTHO]

Originally Posted by prydey

maybe so, but the FPV badge will get you an extra few thousand in resale. fact.

edit - maybe they can do the best of both worlds and drop the GS and sell it as a XR8 out of the FPV stable. FPV XR8!

Well that's what the original plan was. Hence GS not having an FPV bodykit and the NA XR8 program gettin treated like an afterthought.

[Nikked]

Why did ford drop the XR8?

Low sales had a hand...


Why does FPV have the GS?

Seems to be selling quite well.