Ford Falcon 2013 News

The doubts have come after its regional boss refused to commit to manufacturing beyond 2016 and discounted the role of its Melbourne design operation in the brand's centrepiece at the Shanghai motor show.Work on the show car, a four-door larger than the Focus sedan that revives the famous Escort badge, was led by the 1100-strong design and development team in Melbourne, Ford's new Asia-Pacific design director, Joel Piaskowski, said last week.However, senior Ford executives including former Australian chief Marin Burela, now based in China, shrugged off the role of its Victorian studios at the show and said the Escort concept was a “global car”.Asia-Pacific president Dave Schoch said the car was shaped by Chinese customer input and declined to credit Australia. “Our product development process is global,'' he said.“We've got bits and pieces of it done in Europe, in Australia, in Nanjing.” However, Ford lacks a Chinese design centre and Ford Australia sent a delegation to Shanghai that claimed the design as their own.Mr Schoch also played down the significance of reviving the Escort badge and Ford executives spoken to by The Australian were unclear whether the car would have a life outside China if it enters production. “Think of it as a concept vehicle,” Mr Schoch said.“The Escort is well respected and we thought it would resonate with Chinese customers.'' Ford has been slow to exploit the opportunities in China compared with General Motors or Volkswagen. However, in terms of a single car, the Ford Focus was last year's bestseller in China, helping it reach No 1 on the global sales chart.The concept car based on the Focus targets China's fondness for rear-seat amenities and preference for sedans over hatchbacks. Ford expects the Chinese vehicle market to reach 32 million by the end of the decade and plans huge expansion in the region with five new plants opening in the next few years.But Mr Schoch refused to say whether Ford's Broadmeadows plant could continue beyond the life cycle of its Australian-made Falcon and Territory, which is due to end in three years. “We've made commitments and we're sticking to them,'' Mr Schoch said. “We have nothing to announce beyond 2016 and are still evaluating.” 

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.

In the blue corner, Ford is getting to within a whisker of Holden in the red corner in the passenger car sales race. Last month Ford came to within 1 per cent of Holden's share of vehicle sales. Ford had 11.2 per cent of the May market versus 12.2 per cent for Holden.Holden is still ahead in year-to-date terms with a total vehicle share of 12.5 per cent against Ford's 10.3 per cent but the individual model count shows the gap is closing.Sales of the tradies' favourite, the Falcon and Holden utes, are with 0.1 per cent of each other this year. The Falcon ute has a 17.2 per cent market share and the Commodore ute a 17.1 share.In overall terms Ford has experienced a modest gain in passenger car market share, up from 9.5 per cent last year to 10.5 per cent this year. By comparison, Holden's passenger share has remained relatively stagnant since last year but the Red Lion brand is still ahead by 3.9 per cent.Ford is soon to ramp up its marketing message by launching a Fiesta and Focus assault on its toughest market, Sydney, to go head to head against Toyota."Sydney remains our toughest market," Burela says.At the other end of the Ford scale Burela says the FG Falcon, after a slow sales start at launch last year, is gradually winning over large car buyers.In overall terms both sedan and ute sales are still down 2 per cent and 14 per cent, but importantly Falcon, along with the VE Commodore, is improving its large car market share. The Falcon's share of the large car sales pie has increased this year to 31 per cent against 25 per cent for the same period last year. The Commodore's share has increased from 42 per cent to 47 per cent.Burela says the FG is also bringing younger buyers to the brand. The average age of a Falcon owner has also come down from 55 to between 35 and 45. Although it is still too early to forecast full-blown large car recovery, Burela believes the signs are good.A key indicator for Falcon's climb back into buyers' minds is that Ford is selling a richer, more profitable, mix of high-end FG Falcons than the previous model.The XR sports models are the most popular, accounting for more than 50 per cent of FG sales, followed by the luxury G-Series cars, with 43 per cent and the XT accounting for 4.5 per cent. In the previous Falcon the XT was by far the most popular car, accounting for 60 per cent of sales.With Holden's new VF Commodore around the corner, Ford plans to respond with a range of initiatives to maintain its FG sales momentum by promoting the car's economy and technology.