Ford halts Melbourne Falcon assembly as demand drops off

[Windsor220]

Originally Posted by csv8

One of the reasons people aren't buying is trade in prices.I have been flamed for this before. But I have 2007 BF MK2 Ghia and enquired about trading it in on a Mondeo MC Titanium Hatch/G6E. I rolled out the door laughing at the trade in price offered. I was offered $15k !!!!!!! car is in mint condition, Ford serviced and 70,000kms.No sale happened. Holden offered $17k and dealer said " cann't match that"..

I've said this before in an old thread. Ford would have a better idea what they would get for it and they probably already have others on the yard. Privately they are going for high teens so I couldnt see Ford offering any more than $17k. They would lose money on it.

[Joe5619]

Originally Posted by csv8

One of the reasons people aren't buying is trade in prices.I have been flamed for this before. But I have 2007 BF MK2 Ghia and enquired about trading it in on a Mondeo MC Titanium Hatch/G6E. I rolled out the door laughing at the trade in price offered. I was offered $15k !!!!!!! car is in mint condition, Ford serviced and 70,000kms.No sale happened. Holden offered $17k and dealer said " cann't match that"..

I really do have to laugh when I hear things like this.. All that happened here was Holden ripped you off 2K on the discount price of the new car.. But I guess in the end Holden got the sale & Ford did not.. But, make no misstake, you did NOT get an extra 2K for your trade in!!

[naddis01]

Originally Posted by mrbaxr6t

how many commodores were fleet sales and how many were private? also how heavily discounted were said commodores no point selling 100,000 cars at a loss of 1k a pop

Holden probably would have had more private sale Commodores than the total Falcon sales last month.

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by JPFS1

I'll be looking at 2 new Fords.

A new Territory Titanium and hoping for an XR8 return, if not that then maybe the new Global Focus when it arrives.

Why?

Territory - for the family run-about. We love to get away, I want to be able to put the kids in the car with comfort, load her up and away we go. The same practicalities are essentially available in a Falcon too. Surely there are other people out there with the same interests and enjoying life on the outside? Surely there's more to life that commuting back and forth to work and doodling around the suburbs and CBD in a pussy Prius? That's why I always thought there'd be a need for the large Aussie sedan/SUV in Aus..

Second car is for me... doesn't need to be as practical but my kids are young, so there is a need for me to be able to accommodate them if need be. A few years ago, I would not have looked at anything else other than Falcon sedan, now i'm more open to options, but they are still Ford.

p.s Ford are offering unbelievable lease rates to employees... no i can't one them on lease, but if that's not incentive for staff to get into a Ford, then #$%^%...

To add to your need for a large car..in general Oz has vast distances. You cant directly relate trends in say EU with here because you would be in another country if you did the distances we do....crap I do a 3hr round trip just to go to uni!

Our preferences are the same as yours, both my our cars are now 10 years old...the AU is fine but the Barina is feeling age and as the kids get bigger it wont work...so

+ 1 to the Terry, Diesel in base or mid spec..family bus will be a diesel of some sort (focus hatch, mondeo wagon etc)

+ 1 to the XR8 for me....but it HAS to be the full US spec 5.0 otherwise ill make my own. A XR6T would be nice but if the 8 is there then it gets the nod.

Our timing was to be late this year, but probably mid next now...but I am hanging for the XR8. Every time I see a FG XR8 go by im amazed how good they look on the road..then I think about the mustang video review and get excited.

Until all the new models come online I agree, Ford need to aggressively have a temporary finance deal like toyota...but just on local cars.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by JPFS1

I'll be looking at 2 new Fords.

A new Territory Titanium and hoping for an XR8 return, if not that then maybe the new Global Focus when it arrives.

Why?

Territory - for the family run-about. We love to get away, I want to be able to put the kids in the car with comfort, load her up and away we go. The same practicalities are essentially available in a Falcon too. Surely there are other people out there with the same interests and enjoying life on the outside? Surely there's more to life that commuting back and forth to work and doodling around the suburbs and CBD in a pussy Prius? That's why I always thought there'd be a need for the large Aussie sedan/SUV in Aus..

Second car is for me... doesn't need to be as practical but my kids are young, so there is a need for me to be able to accommodate them if need be. A few years ago, I would not have looked at anything else other than Falcon sedan, now i'm more open to options, but they are still Ford.

p.s Ford are offering unbelievable lease rates to employees... no i can't one them on lease, but if that's not incentive for staff to get into a Ford, then #$%^%...

This is basically me, however I will be looking at the XR6 instead of the 8 and it probably won't be new. Territory more than likely will be though.

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Until all the new models come online I agree, Ford need to aggressively have a temporary finance deal like toyota...but just on local cars.

Here is the link to my post in another thread.

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthr...18#post3607818

I just did a bit of a spreadsheet.

But assuming a 7.9% finance cost to Ford. Not sure if that would be realistic or whatever. But Ford does access to internal line of credit to Ford (was discussed that much had been repaid in 2009 FY).

2nd assumption is a 3.9% finance deal. The difference is an ongoing funding of 4% by FoA. If the terms were set as zero money down, full payment (no balloon) commercial hire purchase agreement over a 4 year period the figures look very good.

Essentially, the principal owing is reduced by 2.1% every month for 48mths. The cost to Ford drops from 0.33% the first month to 0.007% in the last month. The net cost to Ford is 8.17% of the principal. On a $36,990 XR6 the cost to Ford would be $3020. IMO Keeping them on the grass will cost 15%.

Cheap finance is much better than slashing prices and destroying resale. A cheap price builds an expectation that another bargain will come along but the cheap finance will be long remembered and appreciated. The person will be most likely in a position to repeat in 4 years time if they wish.

You only have to look at the seemingly successful Toyota Yaris and Corolla cheap finance was. They had it on targeted / specific trim levels and body styles. Most likely, the ones which hadn't been selling. Corolla had huge sales in Dec/Jan when the promo was on.

Ford should, if they can, do this cheap finance. Advert: "Falcon, it's not just the award winning better car, it's the smarter choice with 3.9% finance."

[Gobes32]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Globes you cannot really base any rational explanation off whats in this thread....and here you are as a ford employee saying you would be happy with a Cruze? Whats wrong with the Focus?

Falcon always comes first for me, but I love Aussie Fords in general. In fact, if I could afford a new car, it would be another Territory. Best car built in Oz hands down. BUT, if there was no Ford Oz, then my dollars would go to another locally built vehicle. And although it has it's haters, the Cruze is a lot of car for the money. How Holden plan to make a cent is another argument altogether.

[prydey]

Polyal - agree with everything you say about the current situation and its refreshing to see others who don't go all 'doom and gloom' after a couple of ordinary months of sales of falcons.

i believe ford would no longer be as reliant on falcon sales as they once were. they now have quite a range of class topping vehicles (or close to) and they are all selling pretty well. too many people haven't got their head around the fact that they are no longer the falcon car company.

if fiesta, focus, mondeo, territory, ranger and ute all sell well, it has to take a lot of pressure off falcon.

i'm glad ford have the decision makers they have. if some of the guys on AFF were in charge, the situation would be a lot worse.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Gobes32

Falcon always comes first for me, but I love Aussie Fords in general. In fact, if I could afford a new car, it would be another Territory. Best car built in Oz hands down. BUT, if there was no Ford Oz, then my dollars would go to another locally built vehicle. And although it has it's haters, the Cruze is a lot of car for the money. How Holden plan to make a cent is another argument altogether.

I don't hate it because it is a Holden, I hate it because it looks like a bashed crab and Drive keep fawning all over it.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by prydey

Polyal - agree with everything you say about the current situation and its refreshing to see others who don't go all 'doom and gloom' after a couple of ordinary months of sales of falcons.

i believe ford would no longer be as reliant on falcon sales as they once were. they now have quite a range of class topping vehicles (or close to) and they are all selling pretty well. too many people haven't got their head around the fact that they are no longer the falcon car company.

if fiesta, focus, mondeo, territory, ranger and ute all sell well, it has to take a lot of pressure off falcon.

i'm glad ford have the decision makers they have. if some of the guys on AFF were in charge, the situation would be a lot worse.

The important thing for Ford to do is to keep building on the renewed strength of of its imports
Fiesta, Focus, Mondeo, Ranger and Escape sales, keep supporting them with supplies of right models.
IMO, we should be building Mondeo in Australia and cut Europe out of the picture, the wait is killing sales.
If we could get local (built) Mondeo sales to 1500, Falcon at 2500, Ute at 1200 and Territory at 1800 - Awesome.

[winovin]

Originally Posted by #Russ#Es#

Given the number of people that work in the CBD, travelling 30 mins just to get to a dealer isn't great. Given where City Ford now are (Mascot), public transport isn't great (using private train line = $$$), it isn't convenient for people who work in the CBD to drop their car off for a service then walk to work. Might seem trivial, but having the Ford brand exposed to a lot of people is a good thing.

In the last 15 years there has been a large increase in the urban density in Sydney, yet at least 2 Ford dealers have closed, Jubilee Ford in Ashfield and City Ford in Camperdown, now City Ford on William Street.

Jubilee Ford was replaced with a VW dealer, and Holden still maintains a strong presence, with a Suttons in Homebush and a dealership in Kings Cross. Further dealership reductions aren't going to help sales.