vFacts December 2014

[Syndrome]

So what are the final numbers? I hear both Ford and Holden have had their worst year in almost a quarter of a century.

[The Stylist]

Well things are looking good for Ford across the pond over in NZ, with Ranger the best selling pickup finally ending Hilux's 32 year sales leading streak.

Ford Ranger takes out Hilux for top-selling ute of the year

Monday, 5 January 2015, 2:52 pm
Press Release: Ford New Zealand
The New Kiwi #1; Ford Ranger takes out Hilux for top-selling ute of the year

• Ford Ranger ends Toyota Hilux’s 32-year sales run in New Zealand

• The most-awarded ute, the Ford Ranger adds more trophies in December; NZ4WD Drive Magazine’s “OVERALL 4WD of the Year 2014”, NZ Herald’s Driven “Commercial Vehicle of the Year 2014”

• Ford is the one to watch in 2015 - Ranger was just the start

AUCKLAND, 5 January 2015 – New Zealand has a new number one! The Ford Ranger has knocked off the Toyota Hilux and become New Zealand’s new number one ute in the country.

According to provisional sales figures, the Ford Ranger was not only the top selling ute for the month of December with more than 700 sold, but was also overall leader for 2014 with a total of 6345 sold.

“It’s a fantastic result for the Ford Ranger and we’d firstly like to thank all of our Ranger customers and our dealers throughout New Zealand for their support,” said Corey Holter, Managing Director Ford New Zealand. “A lot of attention was put on the sales race this year but we’ve always said it’s about the customer and leaving it up to them to decide. Well, the customer has decided and there is a new number one in New Zealand. We are very proud of the Ford Ranger.”

Award Winning

In addition to being the number one selling ute in New Zealand, the Ford Ranger is also New Zealand’s most awarded truck. The Ranger has won numerous trophies every year in New Zealand including most recently NZ4WD Magazine’s “4WD Utility of the Year 2014”, NZ4WD Magazine’s “OVERALL 4WD of the Year 2014”, and the New Zealand Herald’s Drive Magazine’s “Commercial Vehicle of the Year 2014”.

Notably, the Ford Ranger was the first ute to win the prestigious AMI and NZ AutoCar “OVERALL Car of the Year” award and in late 2014, the Ford Ranger won another “Best in Class” award from the Automobile Association and Motoring Writers’ Guild - the third year in a row!

Capability, Refinement and 5 Star Safety

Chris Masterson, Marketing Manager, Ford New Zealand cites overall value as the main driver for the Ford Ranger’s success.

“It’s a highly competitive segment and to be honest Kiwis are spoilt for choice when it comes to tough utes,” said Masterson. “However the Ford Ranger offers so much more than just toughness. The entire range possesses unmatched levels of refinement. In addition to the Ranger’s reliability and capability, customers appreciate the smart technology, the great design and the 5- Star Safety rating for all models both 2WD and 4WD. Bottom line is the Ford Ranger offers the customer much more for their investment.”

Ford is the one to watch in 2015

The year ahead is looking to be another record breaking year for Ford New Zealand with almost 10 new vehicles being introduced. Corey Holter said that while the success of the Ford Ranger is certainly cause for celebration, it’s just the beginning for New Zealand.

“As excited as we are about the success of the Ford Ranger, we’re even more excited about 2015,” said Holter. “We are launching an unprecedented number of new vehicles this year that we are confident will follow in the Ranger’s footsteps. Just to name a few, the all new Ford Mondeo arrives in early 2015, followed by the new Focus, the all new Ford Everest and we round out the year with the all new Mustang which has everyone hugely excited!”

Scoop.co.nz

[Wretched]

I would expect a few more Falcon sales while dealers register stock. May be ~900?

[Smoke Pursuit]

Lol Falcon will be around 450.

[vztrt]

Apparently its 740 sales.

[LooLoo18]

Originally Posted by vztrt

Apparently its 740 sales.

I think you will find that's FGII and FGX combined. Still more then what I thought they would sell

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by LooLoo18

I think you will find that's FGII and FGX combined. Still more then what I thought they would sell

Just like any other car that is going through a model change.
It was asked what the Falcon sales were, not FGX sales.

[Syndrome]

http://www.caradvice.com.au/328099/2...rs-and-losers/

6,349 Falcons were sold in 2014............

[b0son]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

http://www.caradvice.com.au/328099/2...rs-and-losers/

6,349 Falcons were sold in 2014............

That's nearly 5:1 in Holden's favour... holy sh$#@$!

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by tempted

That's depressing when you consider they used to sell more than that in a single month.

Fixed it for you.

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by b0son

That's nearly 5:1 in Holden's favour... holy sh$#@$!

Which begs the question, how does Holden "keep" those sales post VF departure. In other words, once local production closes Holden needs a model to retain 30,000 units of volume. Will be interesting as full import status and being "Australia's own" will be a tough sell and large Rwd cars are rare in the GM world. So who has the better future post shutdown, Ford or Holden?

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by Dr Smith

Which begs the question, how does Holden "keep" those sales post VF departure. In other words, once local production closes Holden needs a model to retain 30,000 units of volume. Will be interesting as full import status and being "Australia's own" will be a tough sell and large Rwd cars are rare in the GM world. So who has the better future post shutdown, Ford or Holden?

Obviously Ford, they only need to sell a few hundred Mondeo/Mustangs to cover their numbers...

[russellw]

Falcon 578 for Dec and 6,349 for the year
Commodore 2,009 & 30,203
Territory 783 & 9,828

I'll work on the stats and get them up as soon as possible.

Cheers
Russ

[LoudPipes]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Obviously Ford, they only need to sell a few hundred Mondeo/Mustangs to cover their numbers...

plus so far it’s only speculation as to what Holden may bring to the table.

And the right marketing strategy when the all new overseas models arrive could produce amazing sales given the majority of people who purchase new motor vehicles are not hung up on performance and will generally believe a good publicity blurb.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by LoudPipes

plus so far it’s only speculation as to what Holden may bring to the table.

And the right marketing strategy when the all new overseas models arrive could produce amazing sales given the majority of people who purchase new motor vehicles are not hung up on performance and will generally believe a good publicity blurb.

Right marketing strategy and good publicity...from Ford


Are they importing a marketing department too?

[XR Martin]

Originally Posted by LoudPipes

plus so far it’s only speculation as to what Holden may bring to the table.

And the right marketing strategy when the all new overseas models arrive could produce amazing sales given the majority of people who purchase new motor vehicles are not hung up on performance and will generally believe a good publicity blurb.

40-50% of Commodores that are sold are V8s, those buyers arnt suddenly going to buy rebadged Opel Insignia soot chuckers.

[V8 Ghia Mike]

I'm predicting a huge aftermarket parts industry surge as tens of thousands of Falcon and Commodore fans keep the old girls on the road for decades to come.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by russellw

Falcon 578 for Dec and 6,349 for the year
Commodore 2,009 & 30,203
Territory 783 & 9,828
Russ

One of those was mine

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

One of those was mine

Well done

[russellw]

The first set of graphical statistics are now uploaded to the Tech Portal and can be found HERE.

I'll probably do the annual ones next but that will be sometime tomorrow.

Cheers
Russ

[Windsor220]

Considering Ford only has 1 sales winner (Ranger) its surprising they are still in the top 5 overall.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Windsor220

Considering Ford only has 1 sales winner (Ranger) its surprising they are still in the top 5 overall.

Seems as though Ford have gone from being the "Falcon" car company to the "Ranger" car company. With class leading products in nearly all of the main market segments, why cant Ford have success across the range rather than just the one model.

[LoudPipes]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Right marketing strategy and good publicity...from Ford


Are they importing a marketing department too?

I was referring to the marketing of the new Holden product, not Ford.

I don’t have a great faith in Ford marketing but that may change when they get rid of the Falcon around their neck.

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

40-50% of Commodores that are sold are V8s, those buyers arnt suddenly going to buy rebadged Opel Insignia soot chuckers.

For sure and my point was Holden are yet to show their hand on what they’ll bring in an attempt to hold onto the Commodore market including the V8 brigade.

Plus the V8 market share as a percentage of the whole motor vehicle market is only small. I would expect a lot of their new product to be aimed at mums and dads in the SUV sector.

[olds]

Is the as long as we can sell those 578 Falcons a month at a profit per unit philosophy now dead in the vfacts post

[galaxy xr8]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Seems as though Ford have gone from being the "Falcon" car company to the "Ranger" car company. With class leading products in nearly all of the main market segments, why cant Ford have success across the range rather than just the one model.

You need to ask yourself then why hasn’t Focus / mondeo and Kuga taken of ?.

[MITCHAY]

Well considering the only Falcon ad on TV I have seen for as long as I can remember has been a dealer one, I doubt anyone knows there is a new Falcon out.

[naddis01]

Sad sign of the times...

Past 6 months

Falcon
Jul - 493
Aug - 442
Sep - 467
Oct - 396
Nov - 411
Dec -578
Total - 2787

Aurion
Jul - 468
Aug - 406
Sep - 424
Oct - 405
Nov - 339
Dec - 867
Total - 2907

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Seems as though Ford have gone from being the "Falcon" car company to the "Ranger" car company. With class leading products in nearly all of the main market segments, why cant Ford have success across the range rather than just the one model.

The Ford brand is toxic in this country.

[In Focus]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

The Ford brand is toxic in this country.

Actually, I don't think it is - I know a few non-car people who have bought Focuses in the last year or so. They bought the car on merit/price.

IMHO, the Ford brand is no longer a "go to" brand the way it was 30-40 years ago when the question was "Are you a Ford or a Holden man?"

Now, it's just another brand amongst the many in this country, and has to compete on price/quality/marketing on an equal footing with all the rest.

Sometimes, I wonder whether Ford Australia (and its dealer network) have realised buyers are not automatically going to come to them.

[XR Martin]

We are in a day and age where image is everything.
You arnt going to impress your neighbours, facebook morons, workmates etc by buying a Ford.
If people have $50k burning a hole in their pocket they are either buying an SUV, dual cab or a Euro.
Mustang will change this as it will suddenly be cool to be seen in a Ford again, time will tell whether its image will brush off onto other Fords.