FPV plans for a stronger future with Ford.
The future of Ford Performance Vehicles could include everything from hot compacts to limited-edition showroom ticklers.
The change in direction is being assessed against the backdrop of falling sales for the flagship Falcon and the failure of the F6 X based on the Territory SUV, which has just been cut from Ford Australia's showrooms.
Planning for a more-flexible future is about to shift into top gear at company headquarters in Campbellfield, according to FPV's British boss, David Richards.
"We have to be flexible under the current circumstances and look into the future and work very closely with Ford to adapt the product that we produce to what the market requires," says Richards, speaking while watching his Ford Performance Racing team in action at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.
"I see a very strong partnership in the past continuing for some time.
It's just that it will be in a different guise in the future and more flexible."
Richards, who built FPV in Melbourne as an extension of his Prodrive motorsport and special vehicles company in the UK, says the hot Ford shop still has a solid future and he is confident it will survive any short-term downturns.
"The fundamentals are not about the individual cars, it's about the principle of what FPV can deliver to Ford," says Richards.
"What it does is provide a very flexible partner. Historically we have produced a range of performance cars, but who is to say that in the future we couldn't be adapting cars for other requirements.
"A lot of that is that a large factory like Ford Australia is very efficient at producing volume models, but quite often you do need 1000- off or 2000-off special vehicles that need to be done off the production line. And having the ability to that just next door to Campbellfield has been a great asset over the years."
Richards says the situation is the same across the world and has created new opportunities for Prodrive in the UK.
"Recently we did an Alfa Romeo in Europe for the UK, because the feeling was that the product that had been produced for Italy and the rest of Europe didn't suit the British roads. And they wanted it tuned for British roads. And it's been a great success.
"Of course we've done other products in the past. The last Focus RS was done by us for Ford."
He says the workload for specialist companies that can engineer and build smaller-volume cars is only going to increase.
"As the car companies slim down their facilities and focus on really delivering efficiencies into their model ranges, so the place for a business such as FPV - or Prodrive in Europe, for that matter - becomes even more important and valuable.
"That's what we do in Europe, more and more, for different manufacturers. It is often driven by the sales and marketing teams, who look for a particular product for a niche for a particular marketplace."
So Richards admits there will be a changing job description for FPV.
"All we've got to do is adapt to the product requirements of the future. Whether that is small vehicles, whether it is still a smaller number of high-performance V8s, or what it's going to be is still a little hard to determine. But that's our role.
But does Richards see the Falcon as the future of FPV?
"Not necessarily. That's what its heritage is based on, but I fundamentally believe we've got to be flexible. If that means leaning towards smaller performance vehicles, the Ford Focus or whatever, then so be it.
"We work very closely with Ford and I'm very confident of our ability to do that."
