Ford's war on large sedans

Newly appointed Ford Australia president Bill Osborne brashly predicts that not only will the Falcon survive a threat to its existence, it will overtake the Holden Commodore as the family car leader. It's a big call as, aside from beating the Commodore by a few dozen sales in 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 migrating to SUVs or downsizing in fuel economy and cabin space to medium and small cars.

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 doesn't expect the large car segment to rebound to a significant extent, although he says the FG will help rebuild Falcon sales.

He says the FG will ultimately overtake the VE Commodore but won't nominate time frame or market-share figure.

“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,” Osborne says.

Ford's challenge is going to be spreading the message far and wide enough 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,” he says.

“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,” he says.

“It's still an important segment for us and we plan to do well in the class.”

In a year that 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 now treading water in sales volume in a segment where business continues to soar, driven chiefly by Toyota's Kluger and solid Holden Captiva business.