Ford exports 100 Territory's to Thailand

[BroadyFord]

From Ford's Facebook page:

"We've got some great news to share with you today! As some of our fans are aware, we showed off the Territory at this year's Bangkok motorshow and got some really great feedback from prospective Thai customers. Well, we've just loaded 100 Territory Titaniums on a ship at Webb Dock in Melbourne which are being exported to Thailand to be delivered to some of those customers. Check out our picture of them being loaded up."

[Quicksand]

Sweet. Good job Ford. Keep it coming guys!!

[RHR]

cough.... ecoboost falcon cough.....

Good work ford aus

[Road_Warrior]

Good job boys and girls. It's a drop in the ocean, but every little bit helps

[Pandemic]

Its a great start!

[JPFS1]

I hear the they are looking at a couple of thousand per year.

[Smoke Pursuit]

That is great news..... The people who design and build this car should be proud of themselves!!!

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by JPFS1

I hear the they are looking at a couple of thousand per year.

Well that would be pretty awesome if true...its a good start

[Wretched]

about time!!

[BroadyFord]

Aren't there issues with fuel excise in Thailand? Or are these to be niche vehicles initially?

Also, can Ford please send these to South Africa? From what I've been told by a South African mate of mine, the Saffas absolutely love(d) the Territory and they are everywhere when you drive around the country. I can never understand why they ended that export program - someone had rocks in their head!

[aussie muscle]

i'll bet thailand hates this (after all they've done to keep them out)

[tex]

Good going ford, I hope 100 units is just the beginning.

Hahaha, can't wait to see these Terry's in 6 months when they've been hit with lashings of Thai automotive bling bling. Should be gold.

[galaxy xr8]

This could be a nice little endevour for Ford Aus, something they need greatly.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Looks like they will be only sending top of the line Titanium AWD's to... Which means more profit!!

[csv8]

Thats great news !!! but its one sided.
"But it’s turned out to be anything but a free-trade agreement. Thailand levies a 50 per cent excise on cars with an engine capacity less than 3.0 litres and 60 per cent for those with a larger engine capacity, so Thai-bound exports have stalled while tens of thousands of Thai-built cars and utes have flowed into Australia." from Drive article .
Great Ford are exporting to Thai, but the evil excise comes into play. We get excise free cars from Thailand costing us jobs. Focus was to be built here.
Lets see more exports..beat Holden !!!!

[Brazen]

I really like the how the Thai-spec Titanium wheels dont have the painted black accents that you get on the Aussie ones. Makes it look a bit brighter and more upmarket.

[saam]

Just got back from thailand, they are going to have to be better than the isuzu and toyota's

Around the patong area all i seem to see were these 4 wheel drives

thais just love them

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Brazen

I really like the how the Thai-spec Titanium wheels dont have the painted black accents that you get on the Aussie ones. Makes it look a bit brighter and more upmarket.

The Thai's love their bling, and as has been said, you wait until they start plastering them with all of that wacky aftermarket crap they have over there and see what they look like then.

I wonder how the Ecoboost G6 and G6E would go. And for Malaysia as well.

[BroadyFord]

Story picked up by News Ltd:

Car maker Ford's first export deal in six years in Thailand


http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/n...-1226452674262

STRUGGLING Australian carmaker Ford has cracked its first export deal in six years.

One hundred Territorys leave the Ford Australia factory in Melbourne tonight to open a new sales pipeline in Thailand.

The SUVs have been snapped up less than six months since Ford Australia mounted a display at the Bangkok motor show in search of upscale owners in country where the Territory is regarded a luxury product.

It's the first significant export deal for Ford in more than six years and welcome good news for a company that's been hit by sliding sales, job cuts and a government bailout since the start of the year. The export deal has only come now the Territory is fitted with the overdue diesel engine that is also re-energising sales in Australia.

The export cars are all fully-equipped with the Titanium luxury pack.

“We expect the Territory Titanium model to do well in Thailand,'' Ford Australia president Bob Graziano said.

But there is no word yet on any follow-up orders to make shipments to Bangkok a regular event. Ford's export shipment comes as Holden finalises a new deal that will see the Commodore SS become a high-performance Chevrolet in the USA, as well as a NASCAR racing flagship, in 2013.

It is also exporting a police version of the long-wheelbase Caprice to the USA, although sales have been relatively slow.

[Joe5619]

That is good news!!! Lets hope these 100 find homes very quickly & many many more terrtories find there way onto ships!!

[UKXR8]

Great news, can we have some of this action in the UK now please?

[GTP534]

Great news! The Territory is a great car, we love ours!

Just for interest, this isn't the first time the Territory has been exported. I remember seeing some in Brunei around 2006 or so. There were also some BF XR6's and XR6 Turbo's also sent there. Petrol and diesel are cheap there!

[Nikked]

First 100 of many!

[bobthebilda]

They probably get good shipping rates too. There must be alot of car carriers that return to thailand, japan and south korea empty.

[jpd80]

Great news for FoA and if JPFS1 is right about a couple of thousand vehicles, all the better.
Like others have said, I wonder whether Ecoboost Falcon would work in RHD FAPA countries,
perhaps as a an alternative product in place of Mondeo?

[Cheese3]

Best news I've heard from FoA for a very long time, they finally show being proactive instead of lying dead and waiting for things to fall apart.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Great news for FoA and if JPFS1 is right about a couple of thousand vehicles, all the better.
Like others have said, I wonder whether Ecoboost Falcon would work in RHD FAPA countries,
perhaps as a an alternative product in place of Mondeo?

As a regular visitor to SE Asia, I can assure you that they would love a G6E Ecoboost, however you need to give it the 17inch polished alloys from the series 1 G6E, the 18 inch wheel is too plain . You will also need to replace the weird position lights with daytime running lamps, everything else is perfect. The biggest seller in the mid-luxury class is the Camry V which is basically a 4 cylinder version of a Aurion Presara without the sunroof. Room, style and class is the biggest attribute of the mid-luxury class in SE Asia and the Falcon blows the Accord, Maxima and Camry away in that respect.

[The Snout]

Originally Posted by bobthebilda

They probably get good shipping rates too. There must be alot of car carriers that return to thailand, japan and south korea empty.

Good point.


About bloody time Ford Australia. This isn't some beat up news it's some tangible
exports to blaze the path with. Nice.

[SPArKy_Dave]

I really hope our government re-introduces a decent import tarrif one day soon.

Most other countries look after their own interests, and fair enough too.
The playing field is loooong overdue to be evened up.

........ if the manufacturing goes, what will the workers do?

We can't all be desk jockeys.

[MWTB]

This is awesome. I've just come back from Thailand and I noticed that a LOT of the cars over there are bigger utilities like big Izuzu things, Hiluxes and Navaras... I'm not surprised that they wanted the Territory but it's definitely awesome to see.

Now if only they exported the Falcon...