Post-2016 Falcon News and Discussion.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by BroadyFord

Mulally says here (from 20:55) that there needs to be conditions in place that make Ford plants competitive otherwise work "should" go somewhere else, which at the moment does not bode well for FoA.

Different situation to US plants.
It's not so much about being competitive...
It's about having sufficient demand to justify a production plant.

[BroadyFord]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Different situation to US plants.
It's not so much about being competitive...
It's about having sufficient demand to justify a production plant.

...which at the moment we don't have.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by BroadyFord

...which at the moment we don't have.

Precisely, the problem is now not 2016.

Has anyone worked out yet that 148/month might not be low enough?

No advertising of Ecoboost/EcoLPI, or even XR6 Falcon and people are still waiting for the other shoe to drop..
Anyone wanting to know what I mean only have to re read some of Joe Hindrichs comments from earlier this year.

[IDT]

The dollar is not an issue its the range of cars, the workforce and the lack of ticka.
I see no other way to compete than in the commercial and 4WD markets
According to carsales

• Prado GXL = 60k
• Hilux SR5 Extra cab = 48K
• Hilux SR5 Dual cab = 55K

Benefits

• Little "real" competition 2 brands
• 4WD Wagon Toyota and Nissan
• Commercials Toyota and Nissan
• Ford AU has it within them to build high quality vehicles
• FPV can take on Merc and BMW with HP versions and Off Road monsters.

If the will was there to build these cars and the permission was there to export I see no excuse. The cost of tooling is cheap whilst the Aussie dollar is high as the tooling could be made overseas and imported. By the time 2016 came around and if the Falcon did have to go they could have a trained ready workforce and start building a global set of High Quality 4WD and Commercials right here. It would also, dare i say it, provide an opportunity to clean house.Bring in a heap of young blood into manufacturing, design etc and let the "dead wood" go when Falcon goes.
But it would require investment and some cahones.

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by IDT

The dollar is not an issue its the range of cars, the workforce and the lack of ticka.
I see no other way to compete than in the commercial and 4WD markets
According to carsales

The ranger (and its SUV spinoff) will help fill these gaps, both shining examples of Australia's expertise of engineering and design.

The EcoSport could become a good Entry level SUV though...

[Nikked]

Just a rough sketch up....

[Luke Plaizier]

Rumours that the Four door Mustang could replace the Falcon continue...

http://www.stangtv.com/news/2015-mus...aussie-falcon/



Lukeyson

[kiwimark]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Precisely, the problem is now not 2016.

Has anyone worked out yet that 148/month might not be low enough?

No advertising of Ecoboost/EcoLPI, or even XR6 Falcon and people are still waiting for the other shoe to drop..
Anyone wanting to know what I mean only have to re read some of Joe Hindrichs comments from earlier this year.

Are you talking about these comments
http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...257981000A8F2A

[Vormund]

Originally Posted by Luke Plaizier

Rumours that the Four door Mustang could replace the Falcon continue...

http://www.stangtv.com/news/2015-mus...aussie-falcon/



Lukeyson

Yeah this would be the best situation, I mentioned this in another thread.

Lincoln really need a RWD to compete properly with Cadillac, and a RWD Ford sedan would go against the 300c and Charger.

Maybe we could build RHD Mustangs too?

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by kiwimark

Are you talking about these comments
http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...257981000A8F2A

I recall Joe Hindrichs mentioned that FoA could sustain low levels for a while but not indefinitely....
Ford is now going to 148/day production, on a normal month that's approximately 20 -23 work days
depending on whether there's four or five weekends so anywhere between 2,960 to 3,404.....

[tranquilized]

Originally Posted by Luke Plaizier

Rumours that the Four door Mustang could replace the Falcon continue...

http://www.stangtv.com/news/2015-mus...aussie-falcon/



Lukeyson

That would be a great outcome, and I'd happily eat my words from other threads where I've been quite confident the Falcons replacement will be FWD.

Pretty funny some of the comments under that story, how these people take "mustang to underpin Falcon" as meaning the actual Mustang will turn into a 4 door family car

[jpd80]

Stop thinking chassis = platform.
If anything, a platform is much more akin to a financial cost centre for a vehicle project.

[Nikked]

Interesting to see the story resurface, it not going away...

If only Australia Media jumped on those stories instead of the "falcon dead, Taurus replacement"

Makes perfect sense, Austalia could produce Falcon, Falcon Ute, Territory, RHD Mustang and even a localised (or china export) version of a RWD lincoln.

5 cars out of the one factory all sharing the same basic underpinnings?

Im no beencounter, but that sounds like a winner....

[Road_Warrior]

Hrrrmm.

Broadmeadows manufacturing RHD Mustangs for RHD markets in Australia, the UK, Japan and South Africa (and anywhere else) and Flat Rock manufacturing them for the North American and European LHD markets.

Hrrmmmm...

[FPV GTHO]

I'm not sold yet. Firstly, a big part of pushing Mustang globally is not just to recoup development faster, but to get more units moving through Flat Rock. As far as Europe goes, its going to be alot of small niche markets. They may yet move as many through the UK as they do the rest of Europe. Which brings the next point. Why build the UK models half a world away from the rest of the European models?

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by FPV GTHO

I'm not sold yet. Firstly, a big part of pushing Mustang globally is not just to recoup development faster, but to get more units moving through Flat Rock. As far as Europe goes, its going to be alot of small niche markets. They may yet move as many through the UK as they do the rest of Europe. Which brings the next point. Why build the UK models half a world away from the rest of the European models?

Why build Mondeos for the AU market half a world away? Don't forget the Mustang will be sold in the Asia-Pacific region as well. Additionally, why fag up Flat Rock for a whole bunch of niche orders for niche markets adding complexity to the build process with LHD and RHD builds when an underutilised, low to medium volume plant down here can do it that is already configured to build RHD (and RWD) cars?

Don't forget Flat Rock is going to be producing the new Fusion as well, it will be a good seller, so I don't think Ford are going to have any issues getting enough volume to keep Flat Rock busy.

[Luke Plaizier]

Aren't there more RHD markets in this region than in Europe? Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong, Thailand, Pakistan, India, Indonesia - doesn't that add up to more people than in England?


Lukeyson

[BrisVegas]

4 door Mustang (badged as Falcon?), Mustang coupe, Mondeo... not a bad outlook if you ask me.

[SpoolMan]

An article from 2006.

At the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, Ford will unveil a four-door, rear-wheel-drive concept car. The concept, known as "The Interceptor", is based on the Mustang’s rear-wheel-drive architecture and will be a preview of the Ford Mustang sedan that will go on sale starting 2011.
link
http://www.topspeed.com/cars/ford/20...n-ar18009.html

[Road_Warrior]

Forget anything pre-2007.

[BLUEYBA]

Could FoA along with building a new Falcon based on the Mustang but also build the Mustang for Australia and other niche markets in the Asia-Pacific where Ford could charge a premium for these cars for smaller production numbers. These would not be bread and butter cars as the Falcon but a premium high end vehicle

[Polyal]

Yeah you would think off the one platform they could have the falcon as a middle class car, Lincoln with a higher spec filtering tech down and the mustang doing its normal thing and plugging gaps.

If they keep the Falcon and have the mustang selling in the same market then the mustang should have a premium sure, but if they take the Falcon away then it should be priced like it is in the US..as a entry level sports car.

Off the same platform you can develop SUV's etc...I think we should let the Falcon ute go, the Ranger really does everything the Falcon ute does and better. Sure you might lose a little bit of ride comfort but maybe our market can have a Ranger that is more road/courier orientated.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by SpoolMan

An article from 2006.

At the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, Ford will unveil a four-door, rear-wheel-drive concept car. The concept, known as "The Interceptor", is based on the Mustang’s rear-wheel-drive architecture and will be a preview of the Ford Mustang sedan that will go on sale starting 2011.
link
http://www.topspeed.com/cars/ford/20...n-ar18009.html

And boy, wasn't Mulally disappointed when Mark fields told him they had zero intention of building it.
Mustang based in name only, had double wishbone front and a DEW styled IRS, it didn't even drive - recycled parts.

[BLUEYBA]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Yeah you would think off the one platform they could have the falcon as a middle class car, Lincoln with a higher spec filtering tech down and the mustang doing its normal thing and plugging gaps.

If they keep the Falcon and have the mustang selling in the same market then the mustang should have a premium sure, but if they take the Falcon away then it should be priced like it is in the US..as a entry level sports car.

Off the same platform you can develop SUV's etc...I think we should let the Falcon ute go, the Ranger really does everything the Falcon ute does and better. Sure you might lose a little bit of ride comfort but maybe our market can have a Ranger that is more road/courier orientated.

you could use the Lincoln in Australia as the Fairlane/LTD

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by SpoolMan

An article from 2006.

At the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, Ford will unveil a four-door, rear-wheel-drive concept car. The concept, known as "The Interceptor", is based on the Mustang’s rear-wheel-drive architecture and will be a preview of the Ford Mustang sedan that will go on sale starting 2011.
link
http://www.topspeed.com/cars/ford/20...n-ar18009.html

This is the concept, very gangster. Was supposd to be a Global RWD derivitive, but they canned it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Interceptor

[nstg8a]

im glad they didnt build it, its fugly.

[Bossxr8]

I reckon it looked tough.

[jpd80]

The styling is polarising...you either like it or hate it..

[Nikked]

Needs different front and rear...look like a light hearted retro touch...

Is a concept car though, but the odd thing is it sorta looks a bit "off the mark" compared to what Ford actually did with styling...

The closest thing to it would be the 500/taurus...

[nstg8a]

Originally Posted by jpd80

The styling is polarising...you either like it or hate it..

much like an au, maybe the reaction from the au was noticed over there...