Ford underestimates diesel demand

Katoomba · 14-03-2008, 07:03 AM

"This time the company has erred by not being optimistic enough when forecasting sales of the diesel version of its new Mondeo medium-size model."

http://business.theage.com.au/ford-u...0313-1z9j.html

GRT046 · 14-03-2008, 12:10 PM

Noticed new Mondeos at my local dealer the other day: One TX5, One LX, 3 Zetec with the only TDCi in sight being the registered demonstrator.

One presumes that most TDCi orders involve a wait of some kind. I wonder what the real demand would be if stock was available for immediate delivery as seems to be the case with the other versions.

jared79 · 14-03-2008, 02:15 PM

I bought a Zetec and I am very happy with it. I just couldn't stretch me budget to afford the diesal. I also haven't seen any sedans on the road. All Hatch's. Not that I blame them, cause thats what I have and they look better and are more practical. I would suggest they dump the LX (sedan only) and the Zetec and TDCi Sedans. Just sell the TDCi and Zetec in the hatch and the XR5.

Thats all they are selling buy the looks of it.

brucel · 16-03-2008, 01:52 PM

When purchasing my Mondeo last November my only dilema was hatch or sedan. The hatch offers better access, but not much difference in storage. My wife struggled to reach the hatch to close it, so we bought the sedan (now if the estate version had been available then I would have bought it instead) Got to say that the more I drive this vehicle, the happier I become - the diesel just grows on you.
Speaking of which, in the age article the Ford spokesman talks about the difficulty in meeting the new Euro IV about to come in - I though Euro IV applied from the beginning of last year in Oz. They should look at the new 2.2L Mondeo engine for the Territory.

mik · 16-03-2008, 02:36 PM

at 40% diesel sales ....never thought i`d see it in oz,, brucel have you found the economy of the diesel to match the sales figures, 1000 k`s per tank i think was the figure but what is it in real life day to day and what sort of driving eg country city?.
cheers mik

jared79 · 16-03-2008, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brucel

When purchasing my Mondeo last November my only dilema was hatch or sedan. The hatch offers better access, but not much difference in storage. My wife struggled to reach the hatch to close it, so we bought the sedan (now if the estate version had been available then I would have bought it instead) Got to say that the more I drive this vehicle, the happier I become - the diesel just grows on you.
Speaking of which, in the age article the Ford spokesman talks about the difficulty in meeting the new Euro IV about to come in - I though Euro IV applied from the beginning of last year in Oz. They should look at the new 2.2L Mondeo engine for the Territory.

Sorry there Brucel. Your the first person I have seen here that has purchased the sedan. So I appologise if I offended you at all. I just had not seen any sedans, so I thought no one was buying them, I guess I was wrong.

Katoomba · 16-03-2008, 07:11 PM

I've only seen one Mondeo on the road since they were released. I hope they sell a few more!!

How much is diesel in Brisbane & Melbourne?

Where I am just on the outskirts of Sydney, it's usually 20c a litre dearer than petrol so an extra $3-00 a tankful.

davocol · 16-03-2008, 07:14 PM

The first car manufacturer to bring out a large diesel sedan will do very well I think, diesel offers great fuel economy coupled with even better power. TDCI mondeo will more than likely be my next car if it comes out in the wagon. Blind Freddy could have seen the deman in diesel cars before the launch, Ford really need to lift there game with predicting sales, this is one area they continue to be terrible in.

jweb · 16-03-2008, 10:06 PM

Love the look of the XR5,Diesels are selling so well because the Petrol models most people consider,me being one of them,are under powered,118kw i mean come on.

Mansal · 16-03-2008, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davocol

The first car manufacturer to bring out a large diesel sedan will do very well I think, diesel offers great fuel economy coupled with even better power. TDCI mondeo will more than likely be my next car if it comes out in the wagon. Blind Freddy could have seen the deman in diesel cars before the launch, Ford really need to lift there game with predicting sales, this is one area they continue to be terrible in.

I'm with Davocol - being a fellow Focus TDCi driver I'm totally sold on Ford Diesel - I'm targeting the Mondeo wagon as my next car too.

Swordsman88 · 16-03-2008, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katoomba

"This time the company has erred by not being optimistic enough when forecasting sales of the diesel version of its new Mondeo medium-size model."

http://business.theage.com.au/ford-u...0313-1z9j.html

Hey guys, hope all your mondeos are going well. There was a discussion somewhere else about sales of the mondeo and the mix involved. I posted in that along the same lines as this article.....namely, that not only did ford stuff up in their prediction of the sales make up, but that they have done it before with other imported cars too. The intial batch of cars is just not matched up to the early sales, this stops momentum and you lose some sales to competitors if people dont want to wait for delivery.

No offence to those that have the petrol 2.3, but after driving the diesel, provided you can find the money, its defninitely the way to go IMO. The XR5 will always be a low seller but Ford should have realised that diesel sales were the way to go with mondeo. Here's why:

1. A diesel with auto in the medium class is rare, and most competitors are more expensive.
2. The diesel is actually a very good drive experience, with more torque than even the XR5T on overboost.
3. The people who buy these cars are often downsizing from large cars (hell, a mondeo is a large car inside at least!) so will want good torque, but importantly are after lower fuel burn, particularly around town.
4. Diesel is the rage at the moment amongst this buying group - while many of you have bought diesel Foci/Mondeos because of smart decision making, many people just buy what they think is good at the time, and diesel cars are rapidly becoming a hip concept.
5. The base LX is more a competitor for base Mazda 6/Accord buyers, which is a tough nut to crack, and no Toyota camry buyer is likely to consider a Mondeo instead of their beloved big T.

This might just be my two bobs worth but even my basic knowledge of the australian car market had be scratching my head at Ford's sales split - hell i said to the Ford guy at the preview drive that surely they will sell more diesels. He disagreed with me, but i guess i was right in the end!

:

brucel · 18-03-2008, 01:15 PM

mik

You will only get 1000km+ from a tank on the open road. My worst fuel consumption has been 8.9L/100km (first tank + Sydney peak hour) with the best for a trip being 6.8L/100km (mainly 100-110km/hr with a/c plus Roberston to Kiama via the Illawarra Hwy and back)
My gut feeling is that fuel consumption seems to be getting slowly better as the engine frees up.

scribbly · 19-03-2008, 03:57 PM

Yahoo! Saw my new TDCi today after waiting since Nov 30, 2007.
The stealers said the wait for an ordered car out of the Belgium factory is still about 4 months.
Major underestimation I would say.

buts44 · 19-03-2008, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scribbly

Yahoo! Saw my new TDCi today after waiting since Nov 30, 2007.
The stealers said the wait for an ordered car out of the Belgium factory is still about 4 months.
Major underestimation I would say.

I pick up my Black XR5 tomorrow at 3pm - cant wait!

Dusty1 · 20-03-2008, 09:05 AM

My dealer picked my TDCi Hatch up for its 3000 K service, and also to get some accessories put on it that have finally turned up (here comes my tow bar). He said that there is a 4 month wait on the diesels. Ford has indeed underestimated the demand. He has LX, and Zetec's on the floor, and an XR5, but can't sell the LX's or the Zetecs in petrol. People are after the diesel. Looks like my 3 month wait wasn't that bad after all.

scribbly · 20-03-2008, 09:16 AM

When I asked about my towbar the dealer said only the sedan has been approved right now. The hatch is about a fortnight away. Is he 'blowing' me off?
If anyone can tell me different that would be great.

paulie0735 · 20-03-2008, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buts44

I pick up my Black XR5 tomorrow at 3pm - cant wait!

Happy Days!! Great choice

:

Dusty1 · 20-03-2008, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scribbly

When I asked about my towbar the dealer said only the sedan has been approved right now. The hatch is about a fortnight away. Is he 'blowing' me off?
If anyone can tell me different that would be great.

My car went in today to have some of the accessories I paid for fitted. One of the freebies was a tow bar. The tow bar was in, but the module wasn't. This is the module that adjusts the parking sensors I guess, and since it wasn't in, and the consequences indicated were, shorting of the dashboard and potentially, a fire, the dealer said he wasn't going to fit it. He has to take it back next week to fit it.

Had an XR6 for the day, jeez, they drive different.

jared79 · 20-03-2008, 11:54 PM

Nothing wrong with the Zetec, I like it. The LX, well, it's ok. Not a fan of the Rims. I'm getting about 700km out of a tank, but I don't get the 9.5L/100km they say. Maybe on the highway, but it usually around 11L for city. Still better than my old Falcon and the engine still has plenty of go. The sound is starting to grow on me too.

Have a couple of issues that I am going to get them to check out when I go in for my 3K check next week.

1. When I take my foot off the brake, I get a sort of a clunk noise. Just start recently.
2. The passage side sun visor came off completely the other day. The plastic bit that goes into the roof just comes out if you pull it. Mind you, you have to pull it to get it to come out, it stays there normally, but you don't have to pull hard. The Drives one does not budge.
3. The plastic panel next to the foot rest is loose. Don't know if that is the same as everyone else, but it a little annoying.
4. Sometimes when I brake it can pull to the left a little, may have something to do with the clunk in the brake (Hope so)
5. I have the same A pillar issue that some other people have got. Not too much of an issue for me. But I will mention it.

So overall, a couple of little issues. Hopefully I can get them sorted. Other than that, I love the car. For anyone else buying one, get the tinting. Looks heaps better with it.

monkeyboy666 · 21-03-2008, 02:32 AM

Hey Jared, I hope you get those issues sorted. I agree with you on the tinted windows - they make a great looking car even more .. umm.. great looking!..

buts44 · 21-03-2008, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scribbly

When I asked about my towbar the dealer said only the sedan has been approved right now. The hatch is about a fortnight away. Is he 'blowing' me off?
If anyone can tell me different that would be great.

I picked up my XR5 yesterday and is also waiting for a tow bar. Have been told it will be a couple of weeks. After reading all the comments in the forums about how good these cars are, its nothing like driving them. Best car decision I have made in a long while!!

:

samftr · 21-03-2008, 04:36 PM

diesel today is 1.53 a litre at some servos

I dont think any savings per tank will offset that cost. when petrol is 135 a litre
then again we do get shafted with the large petrol price hikes here every week...

Katoomba · 21-03-2008, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samftr

diesel today is 1.53 a litre at some servos

I dont think any savings per tank will offset that cost. when petrol is 135 a litre
then again we do get shafted with the large petrol price hikes here every week...

On Mondays and Tuesdays diesel is 20c/l dearer in my area when petrol is at its cheapest. That extra $3-00 or so a week combined with the extra dough to buy a diesel was a turn-off for me.

Only having two diesel out of 14 pumps at the local servo didn't help either. The queues for the pumps are bad enough on the cheap days and the petrol pumps are before the two diesel pumps..

LUXO_8 · 21-03-2008, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davocol

The first car manufacturer to bring out a large diesel sedan will do very well I think, diesel offers great fuel economy coupled with even better power. TDCI mondeo will more than likely be my next car if it comes out in the wagon. Blind Freddy could have seen the deman in diesel cars before the launch, Ford really need to lift there game with predicting sales, this is one area they continue to be terrible in.

im tipping that as soon as its released in the territory, we'll see it in the falcon....
its only a matter of time

Dusty1 · 22-03-2008, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jared79

.

1. When I take my foot off the brake, I get a sort of a clunk noise. Just start recently.
2. The passage side sun visor came off completely the other day. The plastic bit that goes into the roof just comes out if you pull it. Mind you, you have to pull it to get it to come out, it stays there normally, but you don't have to pull hard. The Drives one does not budge.
3. The plastic panel next to the foot rest is loose. Don't know if that is the same as everyone else, but it a little annoying.
4. Sometimes when I brake it can pull to the left a little, may have something to do with the clunk in the brake (Hope so)
5. I have the same A pillar issue that some other people have got. Not too much of an issue for me. But I will mention it.

I get the clunk noise too when I take my foot off the brake, the same issue with the footrest and the A pillar. Good to see I'm not the only one.