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Falcon BA's Exported Overseas?

6K views 53 replies 18 participants last post by  Aussie Falcon 
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#1 ·
I would be interested to know if anyone knows whether or not the Falcon BA would or could possibly be exported overseas, to say the USA, its such a fantastic car, I dont see why not, they are exporting the highly over-rated Manaro, -why not the Ford Falcon BA, I would have to say the BA would have to be the greatest car that has so far been released in Australia to this date, without any doubt, if you can name a better, more successful more reliable and fantastic looking car, then I won't say anything further, I really can't think of any other car better than it in Australia. With its superb handling, and comfort, you couldn't possibly want anything else?

Personally I think the BA will go down as one the most successfuly cars to ever grace Australian roads.

Not only that, Ford Falcon will become Australias favourtie car again, against its rival the Commodore VY, a truly aweful looking car, When you next see a VY check out the back, it looks like a damn UFO!! I swear, a flying saucer....and plasitc under the bumper...!!

This era kind of reminds me of the XD, XE, XF era (1979-1988) when Falcon truly dominated, in both sales and racing, against the smaller VH, VK, VL; to this date Holden have never made a smaller sedan since, they copied Ford with the larger sedan (VN), and look where its got them (for now).
 
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#5 ·
Yes ,they are selling like hotcakes,there are waiting lists for XR6t,XR8 and of course the GTs.
Unfortunately due to the popularity of the BA in Australia we are getting very few over here.
Had a few mates sell there oil thirsty Holdens to buy BAs.
 
#6 ·
I got a memo that was passed around work with impressions of the BA by some of the development engineers in Detroit that had driven the BA and they were absolutely blown away by it. They could not believe that it wasn't available in the US. One guy said "if we had these over here we would sell a million of them". They were very impressed with the handling and the brakes and they loved the power of the Turbo. A GT and a Fairlane G220 were sent over there recently and I think they will be extremely impressed with them also, just waiting for some feedback from them in the future. I'm sure the Fairlane will be thought of as a brilliant replacement for the aging Crown Victoria.
 
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#7 ·
bossxr8 do you work for the Blue Oval in geelong?

Why don't the Yanks import the BA then? They import the extremely over-rated Manaro, whicjh isn't as cranked up to what its mde out to be, the Barra is by far better, and would be cheaper.

The funny thing is they were even bagging it (Holden) on a known TV show, Punk'd on channel Ten tonight (Thursday).
 
#9 ·
Re: Re: Falcon BA's Exported Overseas?

outback_ute said:
Does anyone know if the BA’s they had at the centenary celebrations in Detroit were tested by the media?
I don't believe they have been given to the media.

Long story short, Ford US will have a new range of passenger cars for the North American market so the chances of the current Falcon being exported there is slim.
 
#10 · (Edited)
probally not for the timebeing, first the falcon has not been enginerred for LHD where as the commodore had been engineered for LHD for middle east exports, so it was an easy change for monaro, you make it sound like getting a car to the US is easy but you better beleive how much time/money holden has spent getting the car upto US specs, emissions and regulations, it would be alot of work to get a falcon over there. It would also take a person high up in Ford detroit to be very close to ford aus and aprove of the deal, like bob lutz with holden. Lastly ford simply dont have the production like holden to do it, they are already runing flat out, and with the territory coming, at the moment they simply cant export.
 
#11 ·
corbz said:
probally not for the timebeing, first the falcon has not been enginerred for LHD where as the commodore had been engineered for LHD for middle east exports, so it was an easy change for monaro, you make it sound like getting a car to the US is easy but you better beleive how much time/money holden has spent getting the car upto US specs, emissions and regulations, it would be alot of work to get a falcon over there. It would also take a person high up in Ford detroit to be very close to ford aus and aprove of the deal, like bob lutz with holden. Lastly ford simply dont have the production like holden to do it, they are already runing flat out, and with the territory coming, at the moment they simply cant export.
Robert Lutz didn't get the export program approved because he had some sort of friendly connection with GM-H, there was just a good business case for it due to some forward thinking by the directors at GM-H who pushed it hard.

GM-H expanded to meet the demands of its export program so if Ford were to obtain an export program and the capital outlayed to expand can be recouped through the program then there is no reason why it couldn't be done, so I would rule out that as a barrier to export.

IMO the only future the Falcon could possibly have in the global market is that of a niche one.
 
#12 ·
Id love to see the Utes being exported to america. truely an aussie icon and such a great workhorse and much more affordable compared to the big bulky f-series.

Maybe the FPV's could also be something to look at exporting in the future being the top of the line sports performace. Especally as there powerfull and not too expensive compared to other models.

The only problem is how much time and cost it would have on ford and im guessing it would be too much
 
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#13 ·
I think the major factor we have all missed on in terms of exporting, is the exchange rate in US Dollars, its like 65.7554 at the moment, so basically they would be purchasing these BA vehcles for half pirce, this is pretty much why the Manaro is actually selling over there, or at least accoring to Holden they are, but if we look else where in terms of sales figures we are told they aren't selling too well at all.
 
#14 ·
It's mostly to do with politics. Ford US would not want to be shown up by a superior Australian car and the Auto Workers Union over there would have a fit if we exported to them. They protested pretty hard over the GTO being exported to them and they only agreed for it to happen if it was only exported in limited numbers, so only 18000 will be imported a year which is bugger all for such a huge market. The other thing is that the Ford Five Hundred sedan will go on sale there next year and although it is a size smaller than the Falcon sales of it would be affected.
 
#18 · (Edited)
bossrr8 yes it does come to politics, Ford US wokers won't stand for a BA import, only way to get around it is for them to build them over there, one of the chairmans at Ford US HQ drives a V8 BA Fairmont, but then again, I'd like to see Falcon remain 100% australian. I would accept a version of thier own based on a BA chassis rather than a carbon copy, what do you guys think?
 
#19 ·
Re: Re: Falcon BA's Exported Overseas?

AU4.0 said:
bossrr8 yes it does come to politics, Ford US wokers won't stand for a BA import, only way to get around it is for them to build them over there, one of the chairmans at Ford US HQ drives a V8 BA Fairmont, but then again, I'd like to see Falcon remain 100% australian. I would accept a version of thier own based on a BA chassis rather than a carbon copy, what do you guys think?
Its actually not that, considering the replacement vehicle for the Taurus (Futura) will predominantly be built in Mexico and Canada. I think we all have to accept Ford have just invested heavily in a mid size car program (CD338) which just about rules out the Falcon being exported to the US, so discussing why they didn't want the BA is very pointless.
 
#20 ·
Re: Re: Falcon BA's Exported Overseas?

RPO83 said:
The Five Hundred is not the replacement for the Taurus and sorry to tell you this but the Taurus has always been a bigger car than the Falcon.
Sorry. Got the names mixed up. I meant to say the Futura not the Five HUndred. Since when has the Taurus been bigger than the Falcon. It is at least a size smaller.
 
#21 ·
Re: Re: Re: Falcon BA's Exported Overseas?

RPO83 said:
Its actually not that, considering the replacement vehicle for the Taurus (Futura) will predominantly be built in Mexico and Canada. I think we all have to accept Ford have just invested heavily in a mid size car program (CD338) which just about rules out the Falcon being exported to the US, so discussing why they didn't want the BA is very pointless.
The Falcon is a large car so investing in a mid size car is irrelevant to the issue as they are in a different class of size, but the BA will never make it to the US anyway.
 
#22 ·
Re: Re: Re: Re: Falcon BA's Exported Overseas?

bossxr8 said:
The Falcon is a large car so investing in a mid size car is irrelevant to the issue as they are in a different class of size, but the BA will never make it to the US anyway.
The Falcon is classed as a mid size car in the US, so it has everything to do with the issue.
 
#26 ·
Ive looked into this a fair bit, from a manufacturers perspective and from a private import company perspective.

If the BA was sold globally or atleast sold in a few select markets it would most likely be a break even deal. Alot more hassels and compromises and the end result could be lower, you could say one of the falcons benifits is that it is designed for one country in mind and thats australia (ok and NZ, but lets be honest, mainly australia).

No LHD, well that cuts most of the world market out. You could run a small importing operation in countries but your volumes are going to be pretty limited.

UK export, complying with the UK laws would be one of the easier jobs, although made difficult much more recently as they come inline with general european regs. But the steering wheel is on the right side. However, 4.0L heavy sedan will limit its appeal, as will turbo and V8 varients, I have looked at destroking the six to say 3.0L but a fair wack more cost and issues. Diesel converted falcons? Well its interesting, could be a goer but costs and issues. LPG, again interesting but limited appeal esp being single fuel. Economy, size and lack of badge is what will sink it. Generally they aren't that impressed with the look of the BA. If you could get hold of some long lost english company name and sell them under that then you would get somewhere. No market for factory, potential market for small importer.

Japan? Forget it, way too hard. Even good large european and american brands get chewed up in that market, massively expensive to get into. Factory or small importer there is no maket, only for specialist collectors. Even then you would need the right connections and fist full of cash.

Germany. More of a chance than you might think. Large sedans can sell well in this market if you bring something thats not already there or a diffrent view to things. Ok, its a LHD market, but you might still be able to sell some RHD there. Your talking pretty small numbers for the first 5 years, say 25-500. Depending alot on publicity you get. If its marketed as a full head on competitor to the regular Benz and the beemers then forget it. The germans generally like the look of the BA, they like the specifications, but details would be what would make it or break it. Germany has shown that if you have the right car people will buy it (atleast in certain segments) reguardless of origin. There could be a market, but you would need to be very careful and have the right products. Potential for private importer and factory, the thing is if you can get to break even there, you would get a fair bit of respect from other markets and money to strengthen a niche market. I would guess it would play well back home as well.

Continental europe other. Well forget france, you might be able to have a small importing business else where if it was the only one.

US. Well you have massive compliance issues, then you have styling issues, performance issues (softer suspension and another 100Hp).. then LHD.. Definately a market if you could land them at reasonable prices as a private importer. Factory is a no go zone. At best your looking at colaboration.. Maybe special mention and a twin down the track (might be good, might be bad).

China? Well if you made them there and LHD for a low price.

Asia? Generally no.

Middle east? Yes if they were LHD. stacks of business.

Holden had it easier, they had better connections, better rep, fully completed LHD setup, engines used in the US and known else where, unique in the GM world entirely, lots of capacity. And cash.
 
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