VFACTS Dec 2023 and full year

[kypez]

Originally Posted by Sprintey

What was the Tesla ship infected with? And why send it back? Surely it could be de-toxxed here?

Edit: if it was something like a Xenomorph, it can go back

Stink bugs

[FlipXW]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Great news for Ranger but lets be honest here, it took until the last minute to edge out a vehicle thats had next to no investment in a decade.

Yeah but the Hilux is a fleet queen. I work on major construction projects, there’d be no less than 40 Hilux’s on site every day and I could count all the other brands of ute put together on both hands. Every site I’ve been in the last decade is the same. I hardly see any Hilux’s on the road these days compared to Rangers/Dmax/triton etc, especially in the up spec models, wildtrak Rangers are everywhere, rarely ever see a rouge Hilux on the road.. if Hilux is selling 6000 a month at least half of those would be going to mine sites/construction sites. Not trying to take anything away from the Hilux, they do tend to cop the abuse on a work site better than the others. But I dont know if that’s the main reason company’s love them or if it’s Toyota fleet pricing basically giving them away, either way just some perspective as to why they still sell in such good numbers.

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

I have said this for years, but a car company with the number one spot comes with a lot of marketing clout. Ford have been there before, so its fantastic they have finally reached for the stars with Ranger and well done to them for making it over the line after years of being almost there.

But please Ford, don't waste this opportunity! It's time for the marketing team to get off their ar.se and work the room!

image

And worth praising Ford's overall market YTD increase, second only to Tesla from a lower base.

When are Dearborn going to slap Ford Australia for not pushing sales of other models in their lineup? They are NOT the Ranger Motor Company.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by FlipXW

Yeah but the Hilux is a fleet queen. I work on major construction projects, there’d be no less than 40 Hilux’s on site every day and I could count all the other brands of ute put together on both hands. Every site I’ve been in the last decade is the same. I hardly see any Hilux’s on the road these days compared to Rangers/Dmax/triton etc, especially in the up spec models, wildtrak Rangers are everywhere, rarely ever see a rouge Hilux on the road.. if Hilux is selling 6000 a month at least half of those would be going to mine sites/construction sites. Not trying to take anything away from the Hilux, they do tend to cop the abuse on a work site better than the others. But I dont know if that’s the main reason company’s love them or if it’s Toyota fleet pricing basically giving them away, either way just some perspective as to why they still sell in such good numbers.

Good parts availability nationally from their dealership network, you could be on the other side of the moon and the parts department there would have a whole cars worth of parts sitting on the shelf.

When you do have failures it massively minimises downtime waiting on stuff to arrive, plus if you've already got a fleet of the same model of cars minimises spares if you have your own workshop and skill level you need from your workshop crew.

[ToryMikey]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

When are Dearborn going to slap Ford Australia for not pushing sales of other models in their lineup? They are NOT the Ranger Motor Company.

They very much are the Ranger Motor Company though. All they sell is a Ranger with a closed boot and a Ranger with a tub.

[Adamz Ghia]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

When are Dearborn going to slap Ford Australia for not pushing sales of other models in their lineup? They are NOT the Ranger Motor Company.

Look at what the market wants- dual cabs and 4x4’s. Ford is giving the people what they want.

[Syndrome]

Quote function did not work again

But when Ford was selling the Falcon which is what people wanted (and was selling in Ranger like numbers), Dearborn criticised Australia and said that FoA was NOT just the Falcon Motor Company!

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Adamz Ghia

Look at what the market wants- dual cabs and 4x4’s. Ford is giving the people what they want.

I wouldn't say that,

Look at Toyota's total sale numbers, and the percentage of that which is the Hilux.

The SUV has the Thailand Special beat hands down, big time.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by ToryMikey

They very much are the Ranger Motor Company though. All they sell is a Ranger with a closed boot and a Ranger with a tub.

9,826 combined sales last month and I bet more than 90% of them were Ranger and Everest

I wonder when was the last time that Ford Australia sold close to that number in a month…

Convincing head office to give us more than token amounts of other products is key…
Heck, anything more would be great but there’s the rub…..

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by jpd80

9,826 combined registrations last month and I bet more than 90% of them were Ranger and Everest

I wonder when was the last time that Ford Australia sold close to that number in a month…

Convincing head office to give us more than token amounts of other products is key…
Heck, anything more would be great but there’s the rub…..

Fixed that for you.

Now about those registrations, just drove past my local Ford dealer and in their new car section they have half a dozen Rangers with plates attached.
Now they either register sold cars and leave them on the front row in a yard without fencing which if I was the owner of 1 I'd be ****ed at, or they've demo'd an unusually high number of the same product in a month where they conveniently outsold their direct competitor, that they traditionally go neck and neck with, by 2k units to claim #1 spot.
Call me a cynic but I think someones fudged the numbers for a win and expect January's to be down as they balance the inventory.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Fixed that for you.

Now about those registrations, just drove past my local Ford dealer and in their new car section they have half a dozen Rangers with plates attached.
Now they either register sold cars and leave them on the front row in a yard without fencing which if I was the owner of 1 I'd be ****ed at, or they've demo'd an unusually high number of the same product in a month where they conveniently outsold their direct competitor, that they traditionally go neck and neck with, by 2k units to claim #1 spot.
Call me a cynic but I think someones fudged the numbers for a win and expect January's to be down as they balance the inventory.

Registered vehicles are considered sold, even if to dealerships and Ford’s internal fleet sales
What you see at you local dealer may not necessarily be indicative of numbers at other dealerships

Now having said that, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest that there was encouragement
for dealers to register as much floor stock as possible knowing that those vehicles will
probably sell quickly if they are the right types for walk in buyers.

And let’s not pretend that Toyota wouldn’t do the same if they were close on vehicles and
not short of say, one crucial boat delivery timing - January could see those registration numbers reversed..

Sorry, having a heck of a time with autocorrect putting in random words..

[jpd80]

As I said earlier, it will be interesting to see if Ford can back up that near 10,000 month
or if those registered demos come back to haunt by pulling forward some January sales.

These things have a way of evening out…

My biggest hope is that customers told 12 months wait now get their vehicles in much quicker time,
nothing sours the milk more than not improving delivery times.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by jpd80

As I said earlier, it will be interesting to see if Ford can back up that near 10,000 month
or if those registered demos come back to haunt by pulling forward some January sales.

These things have a way of evening out…

My biggest hope is that customers told 12 months wait now get their vehicles in much quicker time,
nothing sours the milk more than not improving delivery times.

Its an outlier, no 2 ways about it.
The only other time the 2 offerings were even close to being that far apart in a calender month this year was May which was a record month across the industry that came at a time when Ford couldnt get boats into port and even under those polarising circumstances, it was only 1700 units to Hilux.
2600 is unheard of.

Id say Ford went all in for an expected small margin win expecting Toyota to do the same and Toyota didnt play leaving a eyebrow raising margin that noone who follows it with any interest would believe.

[FTE217]

https://apple.news/AWT4xCsF2SaSbaVeNKjQvRg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Its an outlier, no 2 ways about it.
The only other time the 2 offerings were even close to being that far apart in a calender month this year was May which was a record month across the industry that came at a time when Ford couldnt get boats into port and even under those polarising circumstances, it was only 1700 units to Hilux.
2600 is unheard of.

Id say Ford went all in for an expected small margin win expecting Toyota to do the same and Toyota didnt play leaving a eyebrow raising margin that noone who follows it with any interest would believe.

Or Toyota tried to play and just couldn't get the stock into dealerships...as it doesn't have it's own exclusive ship....which has shown has boosted Ford's numbers since it's car carrier joined.

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by jpd80

9,826 combined sales last month and I bet more than 90% of them were Ranger and Everest

I wonder when was the last time that Ford Australia sold close to that number in a month…

Convincing head office to give us more than token amounts of other products is key…
Heck, anything more would be great but there’s the rub…..

This....Ford Aust. should be selling upwards of 400-600 Transit Customs per month and say 200 Transit vans a month if stock were available.

A new Custom, to come in diesel, PHEV and BEV has been released in staggered steps which by all reviews is a class leader and VW's Transporter twined from it is to follow.

And where are the CX-5/CX-9 (or CX-50/60/70/90 Mazda has me )/Sorrento/SanteFe competitors?

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by Dr Smith

This....Ford Aust. should be selling upwards of 400-600 Transit Customs per month and say 200 Transit vans a month if stock were available.

They lost a few in Arizona mid year.

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/national...rucks/3273471/

[jpd80]

I’m beating the dead horse again but,
we could really do with RHD versions of Maverick and Bronco Sport to sell in our market.
I hope that Ford Australia is pressing the case for these and other vehicles for our market.

Has anyone heard any December sales numbers for Mach E?

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Its an outlier, no 2 ways about it.
The only other time the 2 offerings were even close to being that far apart in a calender month this year was May which was a record month across the industry that came at a time when Ford couldnt get boats into port and even under those polarising circumstances, it was only 1700 units to Hilux.
2600 is unheard of.

Id say Ford went all in for an expected small margin win expecting Toyota to do the same and Toyota didnt play leaving an eyebrow raising margin that noone who follows it with any interest would believe.

Originally Posted by Dr Smith

Or Toyota tried to play and just couldn't get the stock into dealerships...as it doesn't have it's own exclusive ship....which has shown has boosted Ford's numbers since it's car carrier joined.

Ford and Toyota openly admit that delivery numbers depend on the availability and timing of shipping,
we just saw the case where Tesla was denied another 6,000 deliveries in December (bio contamination).
When we still have significant delays in customer orders across multiple brands, it shows just how
fragile the delivery pipeline is, I have no doubt believing that Toyota could have delivered a ton more
vehicles had it received another shipment but equally, Ford could have done the same.

My local Ford dealer received fairly decent amounts of Rangers and Everests during December and
there were definitely some zero or low km demos but those seem to turn every couple of weeks or so.
Whatever floor stock dealers get, it’s important that its moves quickly and increases foot traffic.

In spite of higher finance costs, we still have a very hungry market out there and it’s clear that
deliveries are not piling up at dealerships and holding yards, no sign of discounting to clear stock.

[b0son]

Originally Posted by jpd80

I’m beating the dead horse again but,
we could really do with RHD versions of Maverick and Bronco Sport to sell in our market.

Why cannibalise Ranger sales?

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by b0son

Why cannibalise Ranger sales?

So you think a lot of those $60,000 to $80,000 Ranger/Everest sales would go to those other vehicles?

I never thought about that……geez, if that’s true Ford buyers must be extremely faithful

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by b0son

Why cannibalise Ranger sales?

Didn't seem to hurt Ford US having F-150, Ranger and Maverick.

In Australia the Ranger is becoming to Ford Oz buyers what the F-150 is to Ford US customers.

I think a bigger pool of buyers is better, sure you risk a sales loss here, gain some there, as long as the brand overall increases it's customer base and sets foundations for growth.

In my case I'm a loyal Ford buyer but not too loyal that I won't buy something else as shown by my past VW, Renault and MB van purchases.

I don't want to buy an Everest when the time finally comes to replace the Territory, when bored I jump on Carsales and have been looking 6 cylinder SUV's and some 8's.

[Terror_Tree]

Originally Posted by FlipXW

Yeah but the Hilux is a fleet queen. I work on major construction projects, there’d be no less than 40 Hilux’s on site every day and I could count all the other brands of ute put together on both hands. Every site I’ve been in the last decade is the same. I hardly see any Hilux’s on the road these days compared to Rangers/Dmax/triton etc, especially in the up spec models, wildtrak Rangers are everywhere, rarely ever see a rouge Hilux on the road.. if Hilux is selling 6000 a month at least half of those would be going to mine sites/construction sites. Not trying to take anything away from the Hilux, they do tend to cop the abuse on a work site better than the others. But I dont know if that’s the main reason company’s love them or if it’s Toyota fleet pricing basically giving them away, either way just some perspective as to why they still sell in such good numbers.

We have a 2021Hilux for a work ute, everything about this ute is mediocre. It is one of the most gutless vehicles I have ever driven. I have driven Rangers, Everests and even dare I say older Colorados and they are all much better than the Hilux! But a lot of Toyota fan boys keep buying them!

[b0son]

Originally Posted by jpd80

So you think a lot of those $60,000 to $80,000 Ranger/Everest sales would go to those other vehicles?

I think it's not worth importing vehicles that probably won't sell more than hundreds per month, especially if in order to be competitive, you have to price them sharply and some of those sales come at the expense of your bread and butter Ranger which has handsome margins. And anyway, didnt Ford long ago decide to pursue max profit per vehicle? Isnt that why its been dumping models over the years that werent class leaders, even if they did sell in ok numbers? I was under the impression Ford wasnt interested in market share as much as money?

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by b0son

Why cannibalise Ranger sales?

Look at Toyotas total sales, do you think having such a large range cannibalises Hilux sales?

Ford Ute could do with a few more models on offer.

[kypez]

Problem for Maverick is that it'll end up costing more than Ranger for a smaller Ute unless they build a line in Thailand for the Mav.

[b0son]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Ford Ute could do with a few more models on offer.

It didnt want to do that in the sedan/hatch space, and that was with vehicles RHD from the factory. Why would it expand its ute offering for such small volumes, at such great expense? You can get away with it with an F150, where people seem to be willing to pay whatever is asked, but a Maverick?

[kevino]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Look at Toyotas total sales, do you think having such a large range cannibalises Hilux sales?

Ford Ute could do with a few more models on offer.

I have a 2022 Puma
23000 kms zero issues good drive
I get a lot of comments from ladies who like it’s looks
Yet Ford only sold 2000 in 2023 approximately
I tell the ladies shhhh it’s a secret Ford don’t want to sell too many

And than there is Escape
Bloody good car but discontinued

Ford Ute- indeed

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by kevino

I have a 2022 Puma
23000 kms zero issues good drive
I get a lot of comments from ladies who like it’s looks
Yet Ford only sold 2000 in 2023 approximately
I tell the ladies shhhh it’s a secret Ford don’t want to sell too many

And than there is Escape
Bloody good car but discontinued

Ford Ute- indeed

To be fair to Ford Australia, in the case of the Escape, they received a bit over 100% of nothing when it was released here.

I know, I had a Vignale on order, signed Dec 2020, due Feb-March 2021, finally left Europe late 2021 and I cancelled the order in November 2021 when dealer wanted me to sign a waiver for removing any liability or compensation for 2 spec changes deleting several features that were on the Dec'20 demo build at the time of my date of signing to car on a ship near WA and heading to Vic. I was told you can sign or cancel...so I cancelled and had my deposit within 15 minutes.

For those interested it lost rear heated seats, heated steering wheel, switch to synthetic leather, I think loss of touch sensor locking on two rear doors...at one stage lost front parking camera, which I think returned... and not one mention of financial compensation.

[kevino]

Originally Posted by Dr Smith

To be fair to Ford Australia, in the case of the Escape, they received a bit over 100% of nothing when it was released here.

I know, I had a Vignale on order, signed Dec 2020, due Feb-March 2021, finally left Europe late 2021 and I cancelled the order in November 2021 when dealer wanted me to sign a waiver for removing any liability or compensation for 2 spec changes deleting several features that were on the Dec'20 demo build at the time of my date of signing to car on a ship near WA and heading to Vic. I was told you can sign or cancel...so I cancelled and had my deposit within 15 minutes.

For those interested it lost rear heated seats, heated steering wheel, switch to synthetic leather, I think loss of touch sensor locking on two rear doors...at one stage lost front parking camera, which I think returned... and not one mention of financial compensation.

Yes
It appears there is a lot of politics going on. Ford Cars Europe unable unwilling to send cars to Ford Ute Australia


Ford Ute purveyors of Thailand Specials