Ford Falcon 2009 News

Congratulations Ford Falcon After the polls closed on Wednesday this week with more than 17,000 people having voted across six categories, the Ford Falcon led the overall field with 2106 votes – holding a small lead over the Holden Special Vehicles GTS at 1904 votes.  Further back in the field, the margin for third place was even slimmer, with the Audi A6 TDI at 1213 votes narrowly beating the Mazda3 with 1109 and the Nissan GT-R at 944.West Australian voters gave a bit more applause to the Red Lion, putting the Holden Commodore SIDI in third place when state-based results are analysed.  Northern Territory voters gave a bit more applause to the all-paw contenders, putting the Toyota Prado in third place when state-based results are analysed, very closely followed by the Toyota HiLux in fourth.South Australian and Victorian voters overall favoured the Mazda3 over the Audi, putting the little Japanese car in third place when state-based results are analysed, while South Australian voters also edged the Nissan GT-R up into fourth.Victorian voters overall favoured the Mazda3 over the Audi, putting the little Japanese car in third place when state-based results are analysed.Tasmanian voters overall favoured the HSV over the Ford – reversing the order when state-based results are analysed – and putting the Toyota Yaris in third overall for the Apple Isle.Both men and women overall favoured the Falcon first and then the HSV, but male voters placed the Nissan GT-R in third place and females went for the Mazda3.  However the Falcon was edged out into second place in the Family category, with the Holden Commodore SIDI taking the gong and the Subaru Liberty coming third.  And the Audi A6 TDI earned gold in the Prestige category, with the Mercedes-Benz E-Class in second and the Jaguar XF third.  The People’s Choice SUV was won by the Toyota Prado, leading from the Land Rover Discovery and then Subaru Outback.Maserati’s Gran Turismo took out the Prestige category with the Nissan GT-R in second and the HSV GTS in third.  People’s Choice First Car voters gave the gold to the Ford Fiesta, followed by Toyota Yaris and Mazda2.Toyota’s popular HiLux won the Commercial category, leading the Mitsubishi Triton in second and the Mercedes-Benz Vito in third.  The 14 voters who as prize winners will share in $70,000 worth of fuel from Coles Express will be announced today on carsguide.com.au.  

There's a two-year waiting list of 60 buyers for the $580,00 Ferrari F458 Italia, and luxury brands BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi also had strong sales months.  But its just not the high end of the car market seeing good times return.   New car sales rose 20 per cent last month compared to last November.Bargain buys and the Federal Government's small business tax break for new vehicles are driving sales.  Among the star cars last month were the Holden Cruze, Toyota Corolla, Hyundai i30 and Mazda Mazda3 - all with starting prices around $20,000.Toyota's workhorse HiLux ute was the best-seller for the month, clocking up 4230 sales largely because of the small business incentive package.  More than 85,000 new vehicles hit the road, up 14,000 vehicles compared to November last year.Many businesses are in a last-minute rush to take advantage of government tax incentives for utes and vans, which ends on December 31. "This is an extraordinary result that provides further evidence that the market and the broader Australian economy are showing signs of recovery," Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Andrew McKellar said."Business sales increased an incredible 35.4 per cent during the month; spurred on by the substantial incentives available until the end of the year," he said.  The off-roader segment was one of the most popular with sales surging 44 per cent.Top 10 cars - November1 Toyota HiLux 42302 Holden Commodore 39563 Toyota Corolla 33094 Ford Falcon 28635 Mazda3 25486 Holden Cruze 22747 Mitsubishi Lancer 20238 Toyota Camry 20039 Hyundai i30 199810 Toyota Yaris 1725

The V8 engine, once touted as a dinosaur ready to crumble beneath the weight of stringent emission laws and soaring fuel prices, refuses to die. Holden and Ford say demand for V8s is still strong despite large car sales declining. Holden's director of sales, John Elsworth, says about 12 per cent of Commodore sales are V8s and that percentage hadn't changed "for years" even if raw numbers are down in line with the falling large car sales.More pertinent is how the V8 engine concentrates itself. Elsworth says 90 per cent of Caprice models, 40 per cent of Utes and 30 per cent of Calais versions are ordered with V8s. "That's because a Caprice buyer wants the top-end car with everything, and that includes the V8, while the Calais V-series and the SS Utes appeal to sports-oriented drivers," he says. The SS and SSV models are solely V8 powered. "These figure haven't changed for a long time suggesting petrol price rises don't affect these buyers. "Today's Holden V8 is quite economical with its ability to shut fuel to four of its cylinders. Buyers are also aware that the resale value of a V8 is higher than other engines."In general terms slotting a V8 into either of the Australian-built brands will add between $5000 and $5500 to the price of the car.Fuel efficiency can vary enormously depending on how the cars are driven, although it is accepted wisom that nobody is buying a V8 to feather-foot the car around town. Ford's 4-litre inline six boasts fuel economy around 10.1L/100km while Holden's latest 3.6-litre V6 is generally good for about 9.9L/100km. Add an extra two cylinders and the extra cost is noticeable: 14L/100km for the 5.4-litre Ford engine and 12.6L/100km for Holden's 6-litre monster. That penalty is handled easier currently because petrol prices are down.Elsworth says the V8 was also historically linked to Holden since the first time it was fitted to its range in the HK of 1968. "The heritage is the thing for us," he says. "Consumers think V8 and to them, that means Holden."Ford spokesman Justin Lacy says the V8 is "definitely here to stay". "We have some exciting V8 news next year ... but we can't reveal that yet," he says.Ford and FPV report a slight downfall in V8 sales but Lacy says that's only partly to do with the retraction of the large-car sales segment. He says V8 buyers tend to ignore issues such as fuel economy, hence sales have relatively minor fluctuations. While Ford says V8 sales are relatively stable, it more than Holden has felt the effects of model changes. It also has a worthy performance equivalent in its 4-litre in-line six-cylinder turbocharged range which has attracted many would-be V8 buyers.Since moving to the FG range last year, Ford has reduced the models available with a V8. The V8 is now not available in the wagon and Ford Australia has deleted the Fairlane and LTD. The V8 is now available only in the XR8 sedan and Ute. The previous model offered a V8 in three sedan and four ute versions.So from a percentage of engine sales, Ford's V8 has slipped from 9 per cent in 2005 to about 7 per cent. "Historically for Ford - excluding FPV - V8s are a higher percentage of total Falcon Ute than they are of total Falcon sedan sales," Lacy says.FPV sales are historically weighted in favour of V8s by about 60 per cent. While the Aussie V8s dominate sales there are plenty of other bent-eight engines available for local sale.OTHER V8s INCLUDE: Audi: Q7, A8, R8 and RS4Bentley: Arnage and AzureBMW: range of modelsChevrolet: CamaroChrysler: 300CFerrari: all V8sJeep: Grand CherokeeLand Rover: DiscoveryLexus: range of modelsMaserati: all V8sMercedes: range of modelsRange Rover: petrol and dieselToyota: LandCruiser petrol and diesel 

The Melbourne-based carmaker is looking at the light at the end of the tunnel with cautious confidence, brought about by solid forward orders of its high-end Falcon range and good signs for the facelifted Territory.  Ford Australia boss Marin Burela said Fiesta has grown its share but the Falcon result — particularly the model mix and private share — was outstanding news for Ford in October."Our desire was to do something special with Falcon sedan, dating back to 2006, we outsold Falcon sedan vs Commodore sedan.  "I can't tell you what great celebration and great delight there was in this — our share on Falcon sedan has grown over the last year from 25 to 35 per cent in sedan.   We're extremely excited by that, I can't tell you how delighted we were with that."Burela is pleased with the Falcon sedan result but the good news is also coming from its imported line-up.  "The biggest challenge we had was maintaining our supply to dealers, we exceeded out targets on Focus, Falcon, Ute, Ranger, Transit, we had our best Ranger 4x4 private sales ever, the second best Ranger sales on record," he says.Burela believes the company has lost Territory sales because the factory was failing to match demand for the facelifted SUV, something the company was rectifying.  "We're focussed to get the car from build to dealer in a streamlined process.  "I think we're losing sales because we don't have enough vehicles in the right locations to meet demand," he says.The company will make a decision before the end of the first quarter of 2010 on the fate of the Falcon wagon based on market demand for long-serving wagon, which faces competition from within from the Mondeo wagon.  "Mondeo wagon has been pleasing, the wagon is now starting to attract some fleet interest, government, small business and the private buyer ... we're seeing a lot of activity on that,"  Burela says.The Ford boss is looking to 2010 with cautious optimism and says the company has no non-production days planned for 2010.  "We believe the industry will kick up from the second quarter, we can re-balance quickly if we need to."The 2010 market, I'm a glass half full guy, my view is that the industry will be soft in the first quarter, but I think it will be 920-950,000, let's wait and see — we think 2009 will finish 915,000-920,000.  "We have to be cautious with the optimism, there's a lot more work to be done to get the industry back to where it needs to be," he says.

The factory-backed Ford Performance Racing team is definitely set for a three-car operation in 2010 after expanding through a new deal with Rod Nash. The Bottle-O backed team owner, who is fielding a Commodore for Tony D'Alberto this year in V8 Supercar racing, is moving to the latest FPR Falcon next season with promising youngster Andrew Thompson on the shortlist for potential drivers.Mark Webber finished his most successful grand prix season in fourth place on the drivers' championship table. Two wins and a string of podium places were capped with another second for Red Bull Racing in the final race of 2009 in Abu Dhabi last weekend.David Sera and Matthew Wall have done it again in the latest major go-karting contest, sweeping their events at the Formula 100 nationals in Melbourne. Sera took his total of major championships to 10 when he won the Formula 100 light category while Wall took the 100 heavy final despite a failing water pump that slowed him in the later laps.Championship pressure has forced V8 Supercar champion Jamie Whincup to ditch his plan to compete in the Race of Champions in China against everyone from Michael Schumacher to Sebastian Loeb. Luckily, motocross star Chad Reed who, like Whincup, is backed by the Monster energy drink has agreed to fill his place at the RoC alongside retired MotoGP star Mick Doohan.A multi-car pileup took Marcos Ambrose out of action in the latest Nascar race at Talladega Superspeedway, leaving him classified 34th and dropping him to 18th in this year's Sprint Cup championship standings. But Ambrose has a firm drive for the next two seasons with his JTGD team after it renewed and extended its deal to race with Toyota Camrys from the Michael Waltrip stable.Honda rider Dan Reardon continues to lead motocross superstar Chad Reed in this year's Super X championship after beating him in the third round of the series in Perth. Reardon has a narrow two-point advantage over Reed, who won in Geelong on his Monster Kawasaki, with Jay Marmont just four points further back on his Yamaha in the open class battle.The Victorian sprintcar season fires up this weekend with some enticing prizes including a Ford Fiesta for the most successful racer in the A-main events of the Eureka Garages championship. The first race of the summer season through 2009-2010 will be at Avalon Raceway.The Australian Rally Championship will become a one-tyre series in 2010 under a new deal with the Korean company, Kumho. The move has been made to cut costs but is unlikely to help defending champions Simon and Sue Evans, who are expected to defend their 2009 crown in a new Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X.

The field for the COTY contest will be set over the next two weeks as the 100-plus new arrivals this year _ everything from the baby Suzuki Alto to Holden's latest economy-focussed Commodore and the brutally luxurious BMW X6 M, is whittled down by the most experienced team of jurors in Australian motoring.Between them, the nine COTY judges have more than 150 years of combined experience as reporters, testers and commentators on the Australian motor industry.  They also make up the only coast-to-coast crew and are drawn from News Limited daily papers and the Carsguide.com.au website.The first group of five COTY finalists will be named next week, with the final members of the 10-car field locked into place the following week.  Once the field is set, the judges will assess the contenders for their value, safety, economy, safety, style and comfort.  The objective is to find the car that does the best job in every area, at the best price, for Australian car buyers in 2009.The test process is exhaustive, from city, country and highway running to a racetrack session at Lakeside in Queensland to assess the car's dynamic and safety abilities.  The 2009 COTY will join a long and strong list of previous winners from the Holden Commodore VT in 1997 to the Ford Falcon G6E, which took the crown in 2008.This year's COTY contest begins today with the naming of the four cars which will fight for the Green Car of the Year award. For all the stories, video and photos of this year's awards, visit Carsguide Car of the Year 2009. Make One Degree of difference today by calculating your carbon footprint and finding out what you can do to reduce it.

Ford Performance Vehicles boss, Rod Barrett, says although his heart his willing, the FPV chequebook is reluctant to open in the service of returning the GT-HO to the road.The poor sales response to Holden Special Vehicle's hot one-off W427 Commodore is believed to have indirectly cooled FPV's desire to recreate the halo Falcon. HSV built just 137 7.0-litre V8 W427 sedans with a pricetag of $155,000.The Clayton carbuilder had originally intended to build up to 427 hot Commodores, referring to the car's cubic-inch capacity. Barrett admits he was a keen spectator to the whole W427 process. "I think there was a huge learning experience for us in that car," he says. "I'd hate to think that I would be putting a car on the market that was as expensive as that. "I would like to be able to do something at an affordable price for the man in the street."Despite the sobering W427 experience, Barrett's desire to build a GT-HO remains strong. "The GT-HO is a dream of mine," he says. "I'd love to be in charge of FPV when we bought out a GT-HO."Dealers around the country hold thick files of prospective orders for a GT-HO but Barrett admits the mystic surrounding the original may not transfer into modern-day sales. Despite keen interest, the company has not even crunched the numbers of how many it could build or sell.But Barrett is adamant it would not be a limited-edition Cobra or special 40th anniversary car. "It would be something entirely unique," he says. With such a car comes a responsibility not to "stuff it up", he says. "I've always said I'm not to prepared to even think about it until we've got all the hardware we require and the financial resources to do it properly," he says.A GT-HO needs to be a car that has unique performance, handling, braking, aesthetics, colour and limited build number "and it needs to reflect what the Phase III was", he says."Whether I'm there, or any man that follows me into the chair at FPV, it is a very brave move to put out a GT-HO if you don't do it right and don't have the financial backing to do it right."Barrett admits 2011 would be an ideal time to introduce a new GT-HO, which would mark the 40th anniversary of the Phase III car. "It is a constant question, it's the question that comes up at every car club event I go to," he says. "I love it but it is so far away from being a reality at the moment it's just off the table."FPV is on track to sell about 1975 cars this year, just 3 per cent down over last year's figure of 2035 cars.Barrett says the full tally is still good considering the economic meltdown. "We're not too bad considering the state the rest of the industry is in," he says.V8s still make up most of the FPV volume with 41 per cent of cars being six cylinder models. "Going forward, we're heading for a pretty good year under the circumstances," he says.Barrett also believes buyer confidence is coming back into the market. "Inquiry levels are up and I'm very confident about the future of FPV," he says.However, FPV's figures still trails arch-rival HSV by a significant margin. HSV sold 4778 cars last year and to the end of July, sold 1551 cars.

From Ford with the four-cylinder Falcon to the V8 Supercar grid, which is now converted to E85 ethanol fuel, everyone is looking for a fuel-efficient answer to the challenge of the 21st century.No-one expected roads to also go green, but that was before the team at Swinburne University swung into action. The development team at the university's Centre for Sustainable Infrastructure has come up with a recipe for roads which are more environmentally friendly. And it all comes down to bricks.No, Swinburne is not proposing a yellow brick road, or even the sort of brick paving which put the Indianapolis 500 on the road, but a way to incorporate more recycled brick into road pavement without hurting the strength of the end product.Swinburne has found a way to increase the brick content and, in a partnership with VicRoads, some new roads are going to have as much as 15 per cent of crushed brick in their makeup.That is because road pavements are primarily made up of crushed concrete and rock. And the Swinburne work has proved it is fine to switch to recycled crushed brick, instead of the current specification which only allows up to three per centre of 'foreign' material - brick, glass or metal - in a road.Swinburne's lead researcher, Dr Arul Arulrajah, says the VicRoads change means a lot of the 500,000 tonnes of bricks that go into Victorian landfill each year could be re-directed to roads. "It would be great to increase our use of materials that would otherwise be dumped," he says.VicRoads will now trial the new specification, although we should no expect to see a network of greener new freeways. It is starting with low-volume roads, such as freeway access roads, including new roads and ones which it is rehabilitating.VicRoads is hopeful that the greener roads program will be widely implemented in coming years and the specification will also spread throughout Australia.Follow Paul Gover on Twitter!

The Toyota four cylinder eclipsed the Holden Commodore by just 35 cars last month to become the biggest seller. It is the fourth time in 18 months it has turned the tables on Holden's locally built big six. The Japanese carmaker sold 3856 Corollas versus 3891 Commodores last month.The Corolla led a modest small car sales spike last month as buyers continue to chase economy purchases over large sedans. Apart from small cars, the latest VFACTS industry sales figures for July reveal that sportscars and off-roaders also recorded positive sales gains.Small car sales were up 2.7 per cent in July compared to the same month last year. Sportscars increased 10.3 per cent while medium and luxury off-roaders were up 2.4 per cent and 7.2 per cent.The FCAI's sales figures show that 75,333 vehicles were sold last month, 8643 fewer than the same month last year. Year-to-date 530,556 new vehicles have been sold, down 15 per cent or 96,115 vehicles, compared to the same period last year.Toyota continues to dominate as sales leader. It has sold 110,897 vehicles so far this year to secure a dominate overall market share of 24 per cent. Toyota's lead is almost double that of its nearest rival, Holden with 66,418 sales with Ford in third spot with 54,239 sales.The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive, Andrew McKellar, said the Federal Goverment's business tax stimulus continued to have a positive knock-on effect on sales.Despite overall sales being down 10 per cent last month compared to the same month last year, business sales remained strong, he said. There was evidence of a flow-on from the very strong June sales result with strong demand for work vehicles, he said. "Particularly from buyers accessing the business tax break on new investments," he said.Some dealers are also reporting waiting lists of several months on certain models because of a backlog of orders on work utes and light commercial vehicles.Top Ten sellers (July) 1 Toyota Corolla 38912 Holden Commodore 38563 Ford Falcon 28344. Mazda3 27855 Toyota HiLux 25636 Hyundai Getz 21477 Mitsubishi Lancer 21298 Hyundai i30 20459 Holden Cruze 198210 Toyota Camry 1717Top Ten brands (July) 1 Toyota 16,6642 Holden 10,2663 Ford 77834 Hyundai 62265 Mazda 60246 Mitsubishi 41667 Nissan 37568 Subaru 28079 Honda 265710 Volkswagen 2361

We've now had three different presidents with three very different plans for the company's future and the latest one, reported in detail this week, has some significant holes.When Tom Gorman was in the big chair he was certain the Falcon should be switched to a V6 engine, then Bill Osborne arrived and changed the focus to local production of the baby Focus.Now we have Marin Burela and the Focus is dead, probably with production to move to Thailand for duty-free imports to Australia, and the new plan calls for a four-cylinder Falcon with much more work on diesel and LPG power for the Falcon and Territory."We have a lot planned," says Burela.Yet none of these plans have become a reality and the latest one shows very little of the detail needed to generate real enthusiasm. There is talk of a diesel engine for the Territory, but no confirmation of a second-generation model.The Falcon engine developments look good on paper, but do very little to make it more attractive as an export car. And that's the big question. How does Ford Australia now fit into the company's global strategy?The Focus plan would have linked Australia to the Asia-Pacific region but we now have to wait and see if the Falcon and Territory can survive only as locals, or if they can become export earners.The end of the Focus plan is bad news for the component suppliers who would have won fresh business, and could also hurt the other local carmakers - Toyota and GM Holden - who are relying on suppliers to keep their business models working.I always like to keep my glass half full and I'm hoping the Burela plan will work. But there are lots of questions still to be answered.