Refresh sees Ford going through the motions
FORD Australia’s final fling as a carmaker look set to be two inglorious years of going through the motions.
THE final countdown to Ford Australia’s closure as a manufacturer has begun, with the release of images of its last roster of models. They include the XR6 and XR8, revealed last week, and the Falcon G6E and Territory.
The redesigns focus on the easy bits to change — the front “clips” that take in the grille and headlamps. They draw the Australian models more closely into line with Ford’s global design themes and their signature features of trapezoidal grille and narrow, angular headlamps.
This is the “face” of the Focus small car already on sale, plus the Mondeo sedan, Mustang coupe and Everest SUV due next year. So the last gasp of Ford’s Australian-only vehicles will be closer to the One Ford ideal than ever before. Which is a little ironic when that approach is one of the key reasons Ford Australia will be quitting manufacturing in little more than two years.
Engine line-ups will be unchanged and centre on Ford’s ageing but likable in-line four-litre, six-cylinder petrol, naturally aspirated or turbocharged. The Falcon also gets the excellent turbocharged, two-litre petrol Ecoboost unit and the Territory a diesel V6.
Some efficiency gains are likely, but little in the way of outputs. The exception is the XR8, which returns a V8 to Falcon after four years. It’s expected to be a version of the supercharged five-litre unit used in Ford Performance Vehicles, which are being wound down.
The final Aussie Fords are the result of a rescue mission in 2011 by then industry minister Kim Carr and the announcement in January 2012 of $34 million in federal funding plus an unspecified amount from the Victorian government. Unquestionably, it prolonged the life of Ford Australia and delayed its closure announcement until the middle of last year. It has also let Ford Australia make the mental switch necessary to realign itself from being the Falcon Car Company to one with a full line of imports.
In reality, customers have already forced this change. In the three years since the rescue mission, Falcon has lost its position as the brand’s bestseller after being overtaken by the Focus small car and Ranger ute.
Since then, demand has spiralled down and now sits at half the level of 2011. The refresh arrives too late to salvage this year’s numbers, with Falcon down 30 per cent, the Falcon Ute down 32 per cent and Territory 39 per cent at the halfway stage. This year, Ford will produce a little more than 20,000 vehicles from a plant that a decade ago pumped out five times that figure.
The refresh is too little, too late. It cannot match the wholesale changes Holden wrought with the Commodore last year when it moved from VE to VF. Those have seen Commodore demand rebound from last year’s lows to record impressive gains.
The Falcon and Territory have drifted off buyers’ radars and the refresh will not be enough to bring them back. Ford Australia’s final fling as a carmaker look set to be two inglorious years of going through the motions.