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Ford Australia president is very confident about the future of the Falcon.
Newly appointed Ford Australia president Bill Osborne brashly predicts that not only will the Falcon survive a threat to its existence but it will overtake the Holden Commodore as the family car leader.
It's a big call as, apart from beating the Commodore by a few dozen sales for the month of September 2003, the Falcon has not been a dominant force in the large car segment for more than a decade.
The FG Falcon arrives for duty in May with the eighth-generation family car coming at a time when the segment has been decimated chiefly by those either migrating to SUVs or by downsizing in both fuel economy and cabin space to medium and small cars.
The market for large cars has dipped by as much as 20 per cent on year-to-date figures to the end of February. The Falcon is down 1288 while the Commodore has dropped 1495.
Dark clouds continue to give the domestic family car bunch a gloomy future but Osborne remains optimistic that the sales erosion will not continue at such a rapid rate.
Ford says it has managed its run-out of the existing BF Falcon to the point where it will have a clean changeover with few run-out models remaining.
Osborne warns that he does not expect the large car segment to rebound to any significant extent although he says the FG will help rebuild Falcon sales.
He says the FG will ultimately overtake Holden's VE Commodore but did not nominate a time frame or specify a market share figure.
"I won't give you market share predictions at this point but I do believe it (Falcon) will ultimately attain market leadership," Osborne said.
"It's something that's not going to be accomplished overnight.
"But I think it is head and shoulders above our principle competitors in the market and I say that without apology.
"I have no fear of comparing this product head to head with the Holden or the Toyota (Aurion) offering because I do believe it is world-class."
Ford's challenge is going to be spreading the message far enough and wide enough so that people will come and drive the FG Falcon.
"It's up to us to convince consumers we have the best product in that market and up to our dealers to get people in the vehicles and drive them head to head.
"If you offer a product for a compelling and appealing price and tell enough people about it, eventually they will come."
However, Osborne says there is no silver bullet that will bring people back to large cars, saying that offering the best engineered sedan was crucial.
"Our simple strategy is to offer the best engineered and built sedan in the segment. It's still an important segment for us and we plan to do well in the class."
In a year which heralds another milestone in the Falcon's history, the Falcon-based Territory faces its moment of truth.
There is no upgrade for 2008 and the versatile wagon is treading water in sales volume in a segment where business continues to soar.
It is chiefly driven by Toyota's Kluger and solid Holden Captiva business, while Mazda's stylish and functional CX-9 seven-seater has provided incremental growth.
"I wish we had a freshened (up) Territory," Osborne said.
"We will be examining how we go to market with Territory for the rest of the year.
"It continues to be a very important vehicle for us and I would describe it now as holding its own."
Ford has learnt valuable lessons in take-up rates following its failure to detect potential demand for the diesel variant of the new Mondeo medium car. The mix is up to 40 per cent for the diesel, a figure Ford undersold by 100 per cent, which has constrained sales performance.
"We are working to fix that. We undercalled the diesel mix at introduction and did not have enough diesel stock at the launch," Osborne said.
"I don't think we will make that mistake again."
Comments on this story
Kieran of Brisbane Posted at 01 April 2008 11:16am
RON CAMPBELL Posted at 25 March 2008 10:12am
Allan Perrett of Brisbane Posted at 24 March 2008 8:32pm