Export push for FG

Ford Australia's export ambitions for the new FG Falcon will be at the top of the agenda when senior global executives meet in Australia next month. Derrick Kuzak, Ford's Global vice-president of product development, will head a delegation of senior executives at a meeting in Melbourne on May 1-2.

“It will be an excellent opportunity for us to demonstrate just how good this car is and argue for an export program,” Ford Australia president Bill Osborne said at this week's launch drive in country Victoria.

Osborne says he had no idea of the new FG Falcon's quality until after he drove it early in February.

“When I arrived [in Australia] I had almost no knowledge of the cars being made here,” he says.

“So my team organised a comparative drive with some of our competitors. I have to say I was absolutely blown away by the car.”

Osborne says one of his first actions after the drive was to pull the engineering team together and explore the potential for an export FG Falcon program.

He would not specify an overseas market for the FG but North America and Europe would be at the top of the wish list.

“What we have to do is work out a strategy on how we can build a business case and get finance to build a left-hand drive version of this car for export markets,” he says.

Unlike at GM Holden with the Commodore, Ford Australia's rear-wheel-drive architecture is not unique to the Blue Oval world, which would make it more difficult to justify moving the car internationally.

Holden in Australia is the “centre of excellence” for rear-wheel-drive technology for GM worldwide.

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