Come on Ford, it's time we got serious and started exporting Falcon's to the U.S.
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General Motors is looking at the Australian-made Holden Commodore as a possible way to expand its performance-oriented, rear-wheel-drive lineup, according to the automaker's product czar Bob Lutz. "We're studying, and I stress we're studying, us bringing (the Commodore) from Australia and federalizing it," a reference to U.S. safety and emissions standards. "But we're a long way from making a decision," Lutz quickly added. "We're looking at anything that would conceivably get us back into the rear-wheel-drive market and cut the lead time to do it." A critical question is whether GM could turn a profit bringing vehicles up from down under. Ford failed miserably when it tried to import an Australian-made ragtop and sell it as the Mercury Capri in the early 1990s. But observers say that was more the result of poor product design than the Capri's country of origin.
if ford aus is to survive in the long run, Falcon or another mainstream model (crossover 4wd anyone?) will HAVE TO be globalised. holden is about to do that with a few models. with increased efficiency, they will be able to undermine ford's prices. with higher return on their investment, they'll be able to spend more money on R&D. i can't see anything short of corporate sabotage getting in holden's way of global success.
it's sad but true...
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<p align="center"> *** just because it sells it doesn't mean it's good *** </p> Tickford Owners Club of NSW
Spot on Guys... I wish Ford Aust would see this...
Holden WILL be exporting commos to the US. they WILL become BIG and POWERFUL. Making BIG PROFITS.
Because their product will be global, and selling at a higher quantity, they will have significantly more dollars to invest into product development, and their car will be superior *sigh* to the falcon.
Ford need to combat this, and NEED to get the falcon on an export program to the USA..
Come on Ford. We dont want to see you fall down any more than you already have.
Definately agree. Also, if we export more cars, then Ford can get those lucrative export tax credits that allows Holden to import the best of GM's cars around the world. Right now Ford can't afford to bring out our other big guns like the FOCUS because they're too expensive.
Originally posted by adviliax mortus if ford aus is to survive in the long run, Falcon or another mainstream model (crossover 4wd anyone?) will HAVE TO be globalised
I don't believe your right. All Ford Oz business plans have revloved around domestic market share only. A bloody smart move IMO. What happens if the Falcon is exported, Broady relies say 50% on exports, and those exports dry up? Bye bye Broady..
Exports should be cream money only.
The reason GM are looking to import the commodore is because it's the ONLY RWD 4 door platform in the GM world.
The Falcon is up against the Crown Vic, which is sold in the vast majority of markets. Why would Ford global put up a product that is going to compete with it's own well established product? Doesn't make sales or marketing sense.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the Falcon exported world wide, but at the moment it doesn't make good product sense for Ford global so they won't do it.
I think the falcon is diffrent enough to stand on its own. Sure for has several RWD products. The Crown Vic and the Lincon LS and the mustang come to mind, however the falcon is very diffrent to all these.
The crown vic doesn't sell all that well in the vast majority of markets, and something like 60% of all US sales are to police and law enforcement customers. Which I find quite funny because these crown vics aren't very quick, they are bigger and heavier than a falcon with a engine of simular output to a 4.0 six.
The reason why ford OZ doesn't export is because of the Capri. Hell the capri disaster might stop Holden from exporting to the USA!!
Management would say the exporting of the falcon would be a backwards step for design, styling, quality and reliability, and that they should be edging closer to Japanese and European car quality not heading down the dirt track of cheap questionable australian imports.
The only car the falcon would really have to compete with is the crown vic, which is basically boring as bread. The crown Vic isn't a sales stormer, it sells because its basically the only reasonably priced rwd car on the market, and the police buy it for that reason and its big. The only others are BMW and merc..
I say import the falcon for a 1 year trial in the USA and permanently in the Middle east and in the UK. Models to run with are the LTD badged as a lincon, and the Futura (rebadge as just a Falcon), Fairmont Ghia(rebadge as just the Fairmont) and the XR 6/8 and the Ute.
Originally posted by FM Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the Falcon exported world wide, but at the moment it doesn't make good product sense for Ford global so they won't do it.
at the moment it may not make sense, but i'm talking about the long run. we can just look straight ahead. a corporation has to look outside the square to succeed. look at csr and bhp - would they be where they are today if they stuck to their core business? no chance in hell... i'm not saying ford should go and manufacture thongs or whatever, but they should look outside their home market in order to remain competetive.
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<p align="center"> *** just because it sells it doesn't mean it's good *** </p> Tickford Owners Club of NSW
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