Ford Falcon 2011 News

The dedicated gas Falcon is also good news for anyone hit by the rising price of petrol. The EcoLPi liquid phase injection promises zero compromises for the Falcon's six-cylinder engine, right up to the XR6, with  27 per more power and 10 per cent more torque than previous E-Gas LPG system and fuel consumption cut by 12-15 per cent. The new-age LPG system is coming a little late, a delay put down to the engineering load at Broadmeadows for the global T6 pickup development program, but nothing like the six-month overrun on the EcoBoost four-cylinder Falcon that won't hit showrooms until January 2012. Ford says it is using the most up-to-date LPG technology available, with much-improved operation and driveability than the previous ventur-  style vapour system fitted to its E-Gas Falcons. The heart of the system is an injection system that is similar to a conventional petrol engine, using a high-pressure fuel rail that delivers liquid LPG directly to the intake port. So there is no gas conversion before the liquid is fired into the cylinder for combustion. The system is also more controlled and efficient, which provides the boost to performance while also cutting consumption and CO2 emissions. "Falcon EcoLPi offers customers the power, torque and overall engine performance they expect from a traditional Aussie six ... while at the same time delivering the fuel costs of a smaller car," says the president of Ford Australia, Bob Graziano. Ford has yet to reveal the exact economy of the LPG system or the pricing.

The painfully delayed diesel engine variant of the Ford Territory is partially funded by a $42 million green subsidy. It runs far leaner and cleaner than the petrol model and it's crucial to the survival of the only Australian-made SUV.This was therefore the perfect moment for Tony Abbott to propose cutting $500 million over four years from a program of automotive research and development.  Any advance on that? Julia? Tony? The car industry was disgusted that Labor reneged on an agreement to which it had obliged Holden, Ford and Toyota to commit in writing and did so without so much as an preemptive email to the effect of: “Queensland's up that certain creek, boys, so all bets are off.''After all, the three local producers have done alright under the green fund.In addition to the diesel Territory, Ford will this year roll out a four-cylinder turbo engine and an advanced LPG system for its sales-crippled Falcon, a $230 million investment. Holden is about to produce the Cruze medium car in Adelaide and Toyota has the means to make hybrids in Melbourne.But Abbott's notion of gutting the Automotive Transformation Scheme is “absolutely catastrophic'', as the peak industry body possibly understated it.  This is precisely not the moment to be playing fast and loose with our biggest manufacturing industry. Yes, previously the Australian car industry has been about as worthy of public subsidy as a travelling workshop on interpretative dance. Once it was complacent and smug behind tariff ramparts more than 57 per cent tall. Joke from the recent past: “What do you call a lot full of Holdens and Fords? Answer: A Jurassic car park.''The malaise lingered long into the last decade. Ford's poor decision making is entirely to blame for its diesel delay. Instead they went for turbo petrol which it’s since dropped.Yet while the local car making operations remain mere colonial outposts of vast auto empires, there are not a few governments of emerging industrial nations that would give a great deal more than ours to assist an industry that in a good year is worth $5 billion in export earnings, supports 60,000 jobs and is responsible for some $700 million dollars in research and development.Many first world nations do so. An example - Volkswagen is intent upon knocking Toyota off its perch of world's leading auto maker by decade's end. VW is the grateful recipient of state and federal funding, one of Germany's biggest employers and producer of the world's most sophisticated and greenest affordable car technology.As Abbott strives to outbid Gillard in being seen as the most compassionate in response to the staggering blows sustained by Queensland, the car industry makes a tempting target.Implying, as some are, that its funding is welfare for fat cats is emotive and dishonest. Acting as though this funding is dispensable at the time the industry has earned the right to government assistance is flagrantly counter productive.Be an arch rationalist and insist that we shouldn't support the car making - but acknowledge that if we lose this manufacturing capability, we won't get it back.  Some of us prefer to think of this country as capable of being something more than a quarry for China.

He has to defend Ford, and do it at a time when there are far more questions than answers at the blue oval brand. Ford Australia has plenty of international development work, and is recruiting a big batch of new engineers for Broadmeadows, but there is plenty of bad news and worrying rumours clouding the future.Ford's showroom result in January was miserable. No-one is sure if the locally-made Falcon will continue beyond 2015. There is talk of a re-badged American Taurus, a failure once before in Australia, to carry the Falcon forward into a front-wheel drive future.Ford has a lot of update work coming this year, mostly on the efficiency and showroom appeal of the Falcon, and is revealing the updated Territory for the first time this week. The Falcon will be good, because that's what Ford Australia does, and the Territory work seems impressive.But the flagship Falcon is spiralling down in showrooms and will need more than just an ecoboost four-cylinder engine to reverse the long-term trend. And the Territory has been overtaken by Korean and Japanese rivals while Ford has dithered on everything from a diesel engine to quality and design improvements.Graziano is the newest president of Ford Australia - a job that's been a revolving door in recent years - and promising a lot of good things, without going into much detail. He comes from China with an impressive track record at overseas postings including Mazda in Japan, but he is not giving enough detail."This country is very special, as we're beginning to find out," he tells Carsguide this week. "If you look at our total business, and what the team has done over the last several years in restructing the business, based on demand, they have done a tremendous job on building a sustainable business going forward. We are going to focus on that. And that each area contributes going forward."So that's the broad-brush stuff, but what is really happening on Falcon?"It's tough to speculate on what the future has to hold. What I'm focussed on now is to add new technologies to this outstanding platform. The freshen and the technology will be well accepted," he says, without addressing the underlying problems. "It's a very important namplate for us. My desire is to continue to build that brand as we go forward."Graziano ducks all the tough questions, answers none of the speculation, and generally tries to give the impression that everything is fine in Broadmeadows. But it's not. He's even wearing rose-colour classes on the sales disaster in January, when the Falcon was only 13th on the list of Australia's favourite cars."If we deconstruct January, year on year, we saw very encouraging signs. It was a best-ever month on Fiesta, a good month on Focus, Territory same, and the private buyer was very strong on Falcon."It's not easy being blue at the moment, as Graziano will discover. But what really matters is rebuilding confidence in the blue oval and the future of Ford in Australia.

All the signs are positive after a strong run through 2010 on everything from new models and new technology to the price of cars and petrol and even motorsport.Last year produced a million-plus result in showrooms, only the third on record and a huge turnover in a country with a population of just over 22 million people. And the sales total for 2011 is likely to be even bigger.The fuel for the sales growth will come, as usual, from the importance of cars in Australia and the incredible number of new models that his showrooms each year. No-one can underestimate the sense of freedom that Australians tap with their cars, or the genuine needs of people who rely on cars for everything from day-to-day commuting to long-distance nomadic work.Car companies are currently doing all they can to clear their backlog of 2010 stock in readiness for the first arrivals of 2011, which means great buying for at least another month. Cars are like horses, because they all get a year older on the same day, and anything in a showroom now with a 2010 build date is out-of-date.But there is nothing out-of-date about the lineup for the first major motoring event of the year, the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. It opens next week with the unveiling of everything from a Hyundai Veloster and the next Honda Civic to a new Porsche supercar.There will be lots of news from Detroit, perhaps including Holden's plans to revive Commodore exports to the USA and the potential future of the Ford Falcon. Chrysler will show its new 300C, which will take more than a year to reach Australia, and Chinese brands are promising another new wave of technology and small cars.Chinese cars will be one of the big stories in Australia in 2011, with Chery, Geely and Great Wall all planning to start passenger car sales down under. Great Wall is already doing well with its value-priced utes and SUVs but it's Chery that is looking for the big breakthrough with baby cars that undercut the Korean price leaders.On the motorsport front, the Dakar Rally is already blazing through South America - with Bruce Garland doing his best for Australia in an Isuzu D-Max - the V8 Supercar championship will be another boomer, and Mark Webber will be looking to improve on his 2011 season in another year with Red Bull Racing.Melbourne will be motoring central again this year, not just because it is home to the three local carmakers - Holden, which has the local Cruze this year; Ford, which is about to go with the updated Territory; and Toyota, which has an all-new Camry for 2011 - but also thanks to everything from the Australian Grand Prix to the latest running of the Australian International Motor Show.The organisers of the show have confirmed this year's dates as July 1-10, with the promise of a truly world-class event. Moving the date is planning to bring more people indoors to look at the shiny new metal and, more importantly, open up a new position on the global motoring calendar to allow the Australian show to become a major Asian motoring event each year.

The Melbourne-based car maker has updated the FG Falcon's features list and improved its fuel economy in the process.  The Falcon range now complies with Euro IV emissions regulations thanks to the inclusion of the ZF six-speed auto across the petrol sedan range, as well as a number of other changes. Also on the list of improvements is a new catalytic converter, software changes - including "Enhanced Deceleration Fuel Shut-Off (DFSO)" for better metropolitan fuel economy.  The Tremec six-speed manual remains the standard gearbox on XR sedans and all utes (the ZF is an extra $1000 on the XR6 and a $2000 option on the XR6 Turbo), with the latter now getting only the six-speed auto as a $1000 option with the demise of the five-speed automatic. Ford says it has a new six-speed column shift mechanism for the entry-level workhorse ute, so customers can still have the extra passenger in the three-across seating set-up.  Other changes includes the inclusion of side airbags on the XR6 ute range and the Bluetooth phone link and full iPod integration - previously on the options list for all models bar the G6E Turbo - as standard across the Falcon line-up. The changes have dropped the Falcon petrol six-speed auto sedans to an ADR fuel use figure of 9.9 litres per 100km, an improvement of between 2 and 5 per cent, depending on the model.  The utes consumption has improved by 8.5 per cent to 10.7l/100km Fans of the V8 performance models will have to wait until Ford announces its plans for the XR8 range, which the company says will be "revealed at a later date." Ford Australia president Marin Burela says the factory has lifted its build rates and the company is confident about 2010.  "We have a strong order bank coming back in the second quarter. "Our product pipeline is on stream ... I think you're going to see a very different share performance as we start to deliver over future months," Mr Burela says.  "We are bullish what the 2010 industry will look like for the industry and for Ford.  "The daily build rate is up from 258 to more than 270 cars a day. "In 2010 Broadmeadows throughput will increase by between 15 and 20 per cent compared to 2009," he says.  The upgrades come with a price rise but Ford says the increases are more than offset by equipment upgrade. FG Falcon range represents even greater value for money for large car customers, with the additional standard safety and technology features more than offsetting the slight increases to the Manufacturer's List Price (MLP) on most models.  The G6 sedan, for example, increases by $500, but Ford says it is getting almost $2500 worth of extra gear - the six-speed auto, Bluetooth phone link and iPod integration as standard. Fuel consumption: FG Falcon sedanXT   five-speed auto  10.5     six-speed auto  9.9   5.7%G6   five-speed auto  10.5     six-speed auto  9.9   5.7%G6E   six-speed auto  10.1     six-speed auto  9.9   2.0%G6E Turbo   six-speed auto  11.7     six-speed auto  11.7   -XR6   five-speed auto  10.5     six-speed auto  9.9   5.7%XR6 Turbo   six-speed auto  11.7     six-speed auto  11.7   -FG Falcon UteBase   five-speed auto  11.7     six-speed auto  10.7   8.5%R6   five-speed auto  11.7     six-speed auto  10.7   8.5%XR6   five-speed auto  11.7     six-speed auto  10.7   8.5%XR6 Turbo   six-speed auto  12.5     six-speed auto  12.5   -Pricing: FG Falcon sedanXT   $40,290   +$600G6   $43,490   +$500G6E  $50,390  +$500G6E Turbo   $58,990 (not including LCT)    +$1100XR6   $42,990   +$100XR6 Turbo   $48,990   +$600FG Falcon UteBase (CC)   $31,095   +$600Base (SSB)   $31,395   +$500R6 (CC)   $33,095   +$600R6 (SSB)   $33,395   +$500XR6 (CC)   $37,890  +$600XR6 (SSB)   $38,190  +$500XR6 Turbo (SSB)   $42,190   +$500

The current FG Falcon is safe for at least another four years as Ford's local spearhead and plans are beginning to integrate its replacement into a new-look, globally-focussed One Ford organisation. The move is unlikely to affect Ford Australia's local manufacturing operation, with the Falcon-based Territory SUV also set for an even longer run through to 2016, but will lead to greater efficiencies and a leaner, greener local family car.  The broad sweep of the Falcon plan was outlined exclusively to the Herald Sun yesterday at the Detroit Motor Show by Ford's worldwide president, Alan Mulally. He pointed to a continued role for the Falcon in Australia within an integrated global product plan. "We'll be in the Falcon market, yes. But as we go forward we'll continue to use all our assets around the world," Mulally said.  "We have learned so much from the Falcon, because it's a dynamite car. Whatever that Falcon morphs to, for the next one, it will be available for everyone around the world. He also effectively dismissed suggestions that the Falcon, a traditional rear-wheel drive design, would be replaced by the front-drive Taurus built for the USA. The Taurus has already failed once in Australia, in the 1990s.  "We're going to have a large sedan. The whole thing about rear-wheel drive? We're going to have a rear-wheel drive car," Mulally said. "And we've got the Mustang. So you can imagine, going forward, that there will be a next version of the Falcon that will be even better. In capital letters."  Rumours of a end to the Falcon's run in Australia, and perhaps even an end to local production by Ford, were categorically denied yesterday in Detroit by the president of Ford Australia, Marin Burela."No company that was going to pull out of Australia would be spending $230 million on bringing the world's best powertrain technology to Australia for the Falcon," Burela told the Herald Sun.He said the coming introduction of a four-cylinder engine in the Falcon would allow Ford to compete against new rivals, including the Toyota Camry, as well as setting a new class benchmark for engine efficiency."Our strategy is very clear. We took a very bold step forward when we announced a significant investment in Falcon only a few months ago. No other local manufacturer has committed that sort of investment in recent times," Burela said."Why did we do that? We did that to give Falcon an incremental level of growth opportunity over time."If you look at the things we have done on Falcon, and we are planning for Falcon, there is absolutely no reason for us to deviate because the plan is working."Burela highlighted an improvement in Falcon's share of family-car sales in Australia in 2009 at the expense of the Holden Commodore, and even the need to work some weekend shifts at its factory in Broadmeadows to satisfy demand.  "It's actually delivering a very, very very exciting return," he said.Burela stressed that planning for the next new Falcon is barely into the research stage, with no urgency on any sort of commitment. He also hinted that it would be possible for the car to share much of its basic mechanical package with the next all-new Mustang, but with a local body above the mechanical package."The Falcon's changeover is due to take place at the end of 2014, or early in 2015. Our decisions . . . for Falcon don't have to be made until we get through to the middle of 2011. So we have time on our hands.  "At the moment, all is well on the Falcon side of things. All is very well."

Production of the two local heroes will continue into the next decade at the earliest, according to the president of the Ford Motor Company, Alan Mulally. But the long-term future of local carmaking under the blue oval is likely to be with the smaller European-designed Focus, which will run side-by-side with the local family fighters on the Broadmeadows production line from 2011. "I think there will always be a Falcon-sized vehicle. There is a market for Falcon, both here and overseas," Mulally said in Melbourne this week. But he would not confirm a local production future for the Falcon that will eventually follow today's FG, or even the chance of it being designed in Australia. And he refused to be drawn on the potential for an imported car wearing a Falcon badge after 2012. "There will be no new announcements today," Mulally said. The worldwide Ford chief hit Melbourne the morning after lobbying Federal ministers in Canberra, including Prime Minister Rudd, for what he described as a `pause' in the planned cut in import tariffs on motor vehicles from 10 to five per cent in 2005. "The key thing about the pause is the near term. It's an important time right now to take this pause. Right now I think it's a critical piece," Mulally said. "Clearly, we are at a real transitional time in the auto industry worldwide. Our commitment is to continue to invest. "Our real plan is to create a viable, complete business in Australia. Australia is a tremendous opportunity for us." Ford has already announced the end of local engine assembly and a switch to an imported V6 from 2010, then the start of Focus production in 2011, as the local operation is integrated into the One Ford global plan. Mulally said he had good news for local workers as he headed for a staff briefing at Broadmeadows, although he could not rule out any additions to the 350 job losses announced last week as the company adjusts Falcon and Territory production to falling sales. "We will size our production to the demand," he said. Mulally said Ford Australia is strong and viable despite its recent troubles, including the resignation last week of company president Bill Osborne. "You guys have got to be bullish on your industry. For where we are, in a terrible business environment, it's doing extremely well," he said. The switch to Australian production of the Focus, which is currently imported, is part of a regional export plan for the car. "In all honesty, Australia's connection is to Asia-Pacific. We need a strong export program. And we need to export into Asia," the executive vice-president for Ford in Asia-Pacific and Africa, John Parker, said at the Mulally briefing. "It is absolutely critical that our Australian operations make the transformation from only building large cars, which have only one way to go which is down, to making cars which are relevant to what the Australian customer wants and what the AP customer wants. "We can have scale. That was the big decision in driving Focus here."  

The FG Falcon scored a five-star result in the latest round of tests for the Australian New-Car Assessment Program, matching the benchmark set by luxury cars such as the Mercedes C-Class, BMW 3-Series and Renault Laguna. It is the first Australia-made car to achieve a five-star ranking. Results of the testing will not be announced until Wednesday, following a recent series of crash tests and safety assessments of Ford's new local flagship. Apart from the traditional frontal-impact test, any five-star contender must also pass a side-impact test. And it must have seat-belt warnings for every passenger space. From the start of this year, any car awarded the top ranking by ANCAP must have ESP stability control fitted. Ford is likely to make a considerable fuss over the five-star success, as the rival VE Commodore only has a four-star ranking. The locally-made Toyota Camry and Aurion also rate four stars, the same as the now-dead Mitsubishi 380. Full results of the ANCAP testing should also include the Falcon's rating for both child occupant and pedestrian safety, which are now taking a higher priority in safety scoring across the globe. A five-star result will allow Ford to promote the car in showrooms with a special ANCAP sticker, which has been offered to any carmaker with a safety standout but so far only taken up in Australia by Subaru.  

Osborne, who took over two months ago, confirms a diesel engine, almost certainly a reworked version of the PSA group's unit used by Peugeot, Jaguar and Land Rover, will be dropped into Falcons and Territorys in 2010. He says development of the FG Falcon is too far advanced to initiate any diesel program to be ready for the May 1 launch. “I think the team made the right decision to delay introduction (of diesel) so we can get our calibration process right,” he says. “Generally speaking, we like to have two full summers and winters to do calibration work and that allows us to launch a quality powertrain with excellent calibration. In the end if you rush stuff to market you risk quality.” Osborne, as with most in the industry, has concerns about the family-car segment — in free-fall and under pressure chiefly from small cars and SUVs. “In all honesty I'm not that worried about the product but I'm a little worried about the segment,” he says. “Our goal is to have the FG Falcon ready to revitalise the segment and then bring in more fuel-efficient powertrains.” Ford is hoping to find export markets for the Falcon but the new offering first needs to be a fashionable car again on home soil before those export plans are swung into action. However, Osborne believes the new car is good enough to take on the world. Serious discussions about the export potential of the Falcon have been simmering since Osborne took on his new role as Ford Australia president two months ago. With the Commodore now being sold in the US after its huge acceptance in the Middle Eastern markets from the late 1990s, among other regions such as South America, Osborne says the new Falcon is good enough to hold its own anywhere. “I strongly believe that it is a car for all markets,” says Osborne, who was formerly based in Canada. “I came to Australia without any preconceptions about Falcon whatsoever. The minute I drove the FG my first reaction was that we should be selling it around the world.” Ford's head of global product development visited Australia this week, with Osborne outlining specific details about Falcon's export potential. “We should be trying to promote this vehicle in China and I think it would be the perfect vehicle platform for making luxury brands in the US,” he says. “Those are the discussions that I am trying to engage in now.”  

The hi-tech 5.0-litre V8 will be introduced in 2010 - a year that is shaping as a boomer for Ford Australia with the first facelift of the Orion Falcon, the switch to V6 engines in Ford's family fighter, and the likely introduction of the next-generation Territory.There is a good chance 2010 will also bring the first diesel engine to the Falcon and Territory, a 2.7-litre powerplant already in use in Europe. The good news on the V8 front comes as Ford Australia confirms plans to axe its existing 5.4-litre V8, which was standard in the G8, Fairlane and LTD and optional in a range of other Fords, including the Falcon ute.The Jaguar V8 is a new all-alloy design that was developed for the upcoming XF hero car, which is a make-or-break model for the legendary British luxury brand.The new Jaguar V8 will be available both in naturally-aspirated form and with a supercharger and the basic bottom line is 375kW. It will be the hero engine for the XR8 Falcon and will also be used in the fliers from Ford Performance Vehicles.The move to the Jaguar V8 is part of a shift prompted by the end of production of the existing 5.4-litre engine.Ford Australia imports the engine from the Essex plant in Ontario, Canada, which has been steadily phasing out the engine.Locally, the engine was known as the Barra 220 or Barra 230, depending on the application, with the number reflecting its kilowatt output.Still, Ford will continue with the part-locally assembled, four-valve twin-overhead camshaft version of the same engine in its Falcon XR8 and FPV models. The three-valve V8 was optional on the base-model BA Falcon from 2002, replacing the ancient 5.0-litre Windsor pushrod V8.But Ford's Broadmeadows factory has had little use for the engine, according to Ford Australia's president Tom Gorman.“Quite honestly, we were down to about 10a month and it's not a major impact on our business,” Gorman says.“They've actually ceased production in the US and, as you know, we're ceasing production on our long-wheelbase cars.”Gorman says Ford has enough remainingV8s stockpiled to meet demand in the long-wheelbase cars until production of the Fairlane family in a few months.