Vfacts Jun 2011

[buickman]

Originally Posted by banarcus

Our golf 5 is a great little car. We bought it new and we haven't had any problems. It now has nearly 40000kms on it.

I wonder if the Golf being German made car has the expensive cost to change a battery over like a current BMW that has to have the BMW factory battery only fitted if it dies.

[Supercharged]

What is with the Mazda 3 sales, I have driven one and it isn't worthy of the top mark.

[stevz]

Originally Posted by Supercharged

What is with the Mazda 3 sales, I have driven one and it isn't worthy of the top mark.

Not to mention it is ugly as ****

[b0son]

Originally Posted by buickman

I gather most car owners of small cars would use flying in between major capital cities instead of driving a large family car

STill dont get this fascination with big cars and long trips. My Golf was a way better drive over long distances - could easily do 14 hours in it. The Falcon OTOH, you were knackered after 8 and couldnt wait to get out of the seat.

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by Supercharged

What is with the Mazda 3 sales, I have driven one and it isn't worthy of the top mark.

compared to what?
It may not suit your requirements (judging by your list of cars) but it obviously does others.

Looks are subjective too.

[jpd80]

Rather than trashing other brands, maybe we should be asking why Focus sells so poorly...
What is it about Focus that it rates so poorly with buyers?

And calling them sheeple is just burying our heads in the sand

[P6LTD351]

Originally Posted by b0son

STill dont get this fascination with big cars and long trips. My Golf was a way better drive over long distances - could easily do 14 hours in it. The Falcon OTOH, you were knackered after 8 and couldnt wait to get out of the seat.

Each to their own mate I guess. I prefer larger cars, but that's me. I like to stretch out. I like the feeling that I'm sitting in a lounge room basically!

[b0son]

Originally Posted by kevino

Who is buying it?

Private buyers.

As bad as Falcadore sales are, Toyota is looking downright tragic.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by b0son

Private buyers.

As bad as Falcadore sales are, Toyota is looking downright tragic.

Toyota should be right by the end of the year.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by b0son

Private buyers.

As bad as Falcadore sales are, Toyota is looking downright tragic.

Too right 1600 odd Camrys, just goes to show when government sales fall away, Toyota is just as fragile as Ford and Holden.
Me thinks 3.0 Commodore may have displaced a lot of Toyota sales Camry/Aurion in state and federal govt fleets.

[P6LTD351]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Rather than trashing other brands, maybe we should be asking why Focus sells so poorly...
What is it about Focus that it rates so poorly with buyers?

And calling them sheeple is just burying our heads in the sand

There's no bigger Ford fan than me. I bleed blue blood. HOWEVER, when my mum was looking for a replacement to her old Meteor 2 years ago, it came down between the Focus and the Mazda 3. Unfortunately I just couldn't justify getting the Focus over the 3. The interior of the 3 looked a generation ahead. My mum was looking for the sedan version of either car. Side by side, the 3 just looks so much better. Now I know that the front of the 3 has an 'AU' like response from people. ie you either like it or hate it. My mum was after a black one, so the smiley face of the 3 is not evident as with other colours. In short, it looks great. The Focus is a great car. I would get an XR5 in a heartbeat if I could afford. The other models just lack something special when compared to the opposition.

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Rather than trashing other brands, maybe we should be asking why Focus sells so poorly...
What is it about Focus that it rates so poorly with buyers?

And calling them sheeple is just burying our heads in the sand

Unfortunately i think the Focus is getting a bit long in the tooth (Golf 6 was released and the Mazda 3 is a newer car), the new one can't come quick enough. Saw a new one today driving up St Kilda road it was a silver one. They look really sharp, pictures don't do them justice. They should do well if marketed well.

[P6LTD351]

Originally Posted by Wretched

Unfortunately i think the Focus is getting a bit long in the tooth (Golf 6 was released and the Mazda 3 is a newer car), the new one can't come quick enough. Saw a new one today driving up St Kilda road it was a silver one. They look really sharp, pictures don't do them justice. They should do well if marketed well.

Agreed. The new Focus does look good. A pity it wasn't around 2 years ago. My mum would still be in a Ford! (Don't Ford still have a very small stake in Mazda still?)

[SEZ213]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Rather than trashing other brands, maybe we should be asking why Focus sells so poorly...
What is it about Focus that it rates so poorly with buyers?

Marketing...?

Bad publicity?

Poor public perception?

It's reaching the end of it's life-cycle, until the new Focus is released?

Possibilities are endless...

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Sezzy

Marketing...?

Bad publicity?

Poor public perception?

It's reaching the end of it's life-cycle, until the new Focus is released?

Possibilities are endless...

No, it's much easier than that.......it's PERCEPTION and Ford dealers

I know of a lot of people who flat out refuse to deal with Ford and nothing will change them.
A whole generation or two lost thanks to the ineptitude of certain businessmen and their slick tricks.


On a positive note,
Graziano recons there's hardly any product left at Broadmeadows storage area,
can anyone confirm this is true, it seems strange that the back log of cars is now cleared given low sales...

[P6LTD351]

Originally Posted by jpd80

No, it's much easier than that.......it's PERCEPTION and Ford dealers

I know of a lot of people who flat out refuse to deal with Ford and nothing will change them.
A whole generation or two lost thanks to the ineptitude of certain businessmen and their slick tricks.

In my case, it was simply the product. We actually had pretty good service from Ford, the product just wasn't what we wanted when compared to the alternatives.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by jpd80

No, it's much easier than that.......it's PERCEPTION and Ford dealers

I know of a lot of people who flat out refuse to deal with Ford and nothing will change them.
A whole generation or two lost thanks to the ineptitude of certain businessmen and their slick tricks.


On a positive note,
Graziano recons there's hardly any product left at Broadmeadows storage area,
can anyone confirm this is true, it seems strange that the back log of cars is now cleared given low sales...

Yeah the fields are empty. But didn't know if they were cleared out or moved to were the Terri was.

[BroadyFord]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Too right 1600 odd Camrys, just goes to show when government sales fall away, Toyota is just as fragile as Ford and Holden.
Me thinks 3.0 Commodore may have displaced a lot of Toyota sales Camry/Aurion in state and federal govt fleets.

Don't forget that Toyota produce around 80-100k Camrys a year and export around 60% of that!

[DanielXR8]

Originally Posted by Rodge

Just a thought Trev. Taking into account that vehicles are made up of hundreds of components from all over the country would you be comfortable buying a new car from Japan now ? Are they being honest with their own people regarding the radioactive fallout from the Fukashima plant ?

Run a gigacounter over your new Toyota from Japan before accepting delivery folks ?

Does that mean all Mazda's are radioactive over the past fifty years? They are made in Hiroshima which had an atomic bomb dropped on it.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by b0son

STill dont get this fascination with big cars and long trips. My Golf was a way better drive over long distances - could easily do 14 hours in it. The Falcon OTOH, you were knackered after 8 and couldnt wait to get out of the seat.

as said already, each to their own! can you fit 4 people plus luggage in? horses for courses these days and we are lucky enough in this country to have a massive range of cars to choose from.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by Davez621

1847 is OK?!?! When just a few years ago, it was selling upwards of 6,000 a month?

oh dear.

[mcnews]

Originally Posted by b0son

STill dont get this fascination with big cars and long trips. My Golf was a way better drive over long distances - could easily do 14 hours in it. The Falcon OTOH, you were knackered after 8 and couldnt wait to get out of the seat.

Compared to what? An XF?

Nothing does big distance Aussie driving better than Falcon or Commodore. I go from my place near Alexandra (just north of Melbourne) to Sydney on a tank without stopping many times a year. Headlights, ride and comfort the Aussie cars rock on the big drives.

I can understand why Golf would be better on long trips than in the city though if it is a DSG one, I had one to use in Darwin when I was up there for a race meet recently and in the city the gearbox was pox, reacting too violently after waiting for what seemed like too long to drop down it would then go down too many. Hated it. But at least a Golf is okay on the secondhand market, where many of the higher end models Volkswagen dealers won't even trade them back in.

[Smoke Pursuit]

I drove an F6 Tornado from Brisbane to Melbourne in day last year.. Was an easy trip in that thing...

Did the same trip in a Mazda 3 a year earlier and it was horendous.. Took longer (needed more fuel stops), was less comfortible...

Thats why I have an XR6, the Falcon is one of the most comfortible cars for me being over 6 foot tall.. that and the cooks Mondeo XR5, its comfortible to!

[Rodge]

Originally Posted by DanielXR8

Does that mean all Mazda's are radioactive over the past fifty years? They are made in Hiroshima which had an atomic bomb dropped on it.

Ha, ha, there's just a small difference with the timing of the two events. There's plenty of accounts claiming the Japanese Govt arn't being completly honest with their own citizens in regard to radiation leaking from the Fukashima plant. Help yourself and trust the Japanese and buy one of their cars if you wish. I'm sure you can be 100% confident every last single component manufactured from all over Japan is totally radiation free Good luck with that.

[csv8]

I drove a Ford Festiva from Brisbane to Perth!!!! Festy did it !!!

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by csv8

I drove a Ford Festiva from Brisbane to Perth!!!! Festy did it !!!

Mate people do the Nullabor on Postie bikes, I think its less to do with the vehicle and more to do with the person driving it.

[mcnews]

Haven't done the postie bike, but have done DR650, ZX-9R, Fireblade, VFR1200 and BF F6 ute. Saw a guy doing it on rollerskates :-)

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by BroadyFord

Don't forget that Toyota produce around 80-100k Camrys a year and export around 60% of that!

Nothing like that, Irecall Beutner skiting about the exports generating something like $7 billion revenue which worked out to $18K a car and that was before the GFC, things may have recovered for them but judging by 2010 loss I'd say exports are nowhere near pre 2008 figures...

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by jpd80

No, it's much easier than that.......it's PERCEPTION and Ford dealers

I know of a lot of people who flat out refuse to deal with Ford and nothing will change them.
A whole generation or two lost thanks to the ineptitude of certain businessmen and their slick tricks.


On a positive note,
Graziano recons there's hardly any product left at Broadmeadows storage area,
can anyone confirm this is true, it seems strange that the back log of cars is now cleared given low sales...

They still have about 3000 Falcons too many. Well down on where it was, but need a couple more down days to clear out the backlog. I'd say they will be where they want to be regarding stock levels by end of next month.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Davez621

1847 is OK?!?! When just a few years ago, it was selling upwards of 6,000 a month?

Without LPG, wagon and V8, and the current climate of large car segment downfall, those numbers are reasonable.

Of course they would want better, but 2500 to 3000 is where they could go if everything works out with LPi and the upgrade later in the year, and they would probably be happy with that. The days of 6000 plus are gone.