Ford Falcon 2015 News

Ford has bled $1.05 billion in red ink over the past five years, as it prepares to shut its factories.

The humble homegrown sedan may have been gobbled up by the all-conquering SUV but car makers are not prepared to give up on the family staple just yet.

Almost 200 luxury cars are now exempt from Luxury Car Tax, so why do buyers of family cars pay millions for the tax-on-a-tax each year?

In June, Australians bought more new cars than in any single month in history, yet Ford sales were down by 17 per cent. Year-to-date, the slide is even worse.There isn't a major brand that is losing market share at the same rate. Or one that has slipped in share for as long as Ford. Sales have been in decline for more than a decade.In 2004, more than 135,000 Australians bought new Fords. This year, it's on track to be roughly half that number.And that's only half the story. Look more closely at the figures and the picture is bleak for the brand that twenty years ago topped the sales charts.How will sales improve when the brand has trimmed its line-up in the biggest segment of the market?Everybody assumes the sales slump is tied to the impending death of the locally-made Falcon and Territory, but the company's local products aren't the biggest problem.Sales of locally-made Fords are down 9.5 per cent year-to-date. Compare that with the imported Mondeo (down by almost 60 per cent), Focus (down 54 per cent) and Fiesta (down 32 per cent).Which makes this week's decision to drop the cheapest model from the Focus line-up all the more puzzling. How will sales improve when the brand has trimmed its line-up in the biggest segment of the market?There are promising products on the horizon, with Everest and Mustang due this year, but products aren't Ford's problem. Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo are all cars most brands would love in their line-up, but the Ranger is the only one that sells.Ford used to be labelled the Falcon car company. It's now in danger of becoming the Ranger car company.Ford says market share isn't everything and it is building a profitable business. But surely there's a point when the showroom traffic slows to a level where profit suffers?

Revheads across Australia have breathed new life into the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon.

Half-time is typically a time for reflection.With six months of 2015 gone — and the official sales results arriving last week — it's time to look at what was hot and what was not in showrooms this year.At a glance, small cars are out and tiny SUVs are in. Diesels and hybrids are out, and turbocharged petrol cars are in. Luxury brands are in demand, local cars are not.Honda and Isuzu sales are surging, Ford and Holden have hit new lows.Sales of baby SUVs are up by 23 per cent in the first half of the year, thanks to the arrival of new offerings from Mazda and Honda. The surprise last month was that Honda's HR-V outsold Mazda's CX-3, despite a get-in price that is $5000 more than the baby Mazda. Buyers are no doubt attracted by the roominess of the Honda's cabin, which shares the clever design of its donor vehicle, the Jazz. Mitsubishi has also benefited from the increased showroom interest in this type of vehicle, with sales of its ASX surging by more than 45 per cent.They share their underpinnings with the new breed of SUVs, but they haven't been hurt by their arrival. Honda again leads the charge, with sales of its City sedan and Jazz hatch surging. Sales of the all-new Mazda2 are also strong and it remains best-selling car in the class. Other models that have captured the imagination of buyers are the evergreen Suzuki Swift and Toyota Yaris, as well as the Volkswagen Polo, which is up by more than 50 per cent thanks to sharp pricing.Low interest rates mean that a luxury badge is now within reach of more car buyers. As a result Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus are all enjoying double-digit growth. Understandably, most of the action is at the lower end of the market, with models high on the shopping list including BMW's Mini (up 59 per cent) and Audi's A3 (up 23 per cent). BMW's new 2 Series coupe and Lexus's NX small SUV have also launched with a bang, but the biggest success story is CarsGuide's 2014 Car of the Year, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, which has doubled its sales in the first half of the year.Somebody is cashing in on Australia's property boom, with sales of sports cars costing more than $200,000 rising more than 20 per cent, albeit off a low base. Ferrari and Lamborghini dealerships are busy this year, with Ferrari logging 95 local sales compared with 52 in the same period last year and Lamborghini jumping from just seven sales to 60. The segment's most popular car, the Porsche 911, also enjoyed solid growth. At the other end of the spectrum, sales of affordable sports cars slumped as the initial shine predictably wore off the Toyota 86, Subaru BRZ and Hyundai Veloster. That will change, though, when Mazda's all-new MX-5 arrives in the second half of the year.They're big news in Japan and Europe, but micro cars haven't captured the Australian car buying public's imagination. Despite the arrival of an all-new model in the Suzuki Celerio and a midlife update for the Nissan Micra, sales are down by almost a third.They're still the nation's car of choice, but the arrival of baby SUVs has put a dent in the popularity of the small-car brigade led by the Toyota Corolla and Mazda3. This time last year, the Mazda3 was the top-selling vehicle in Australia, but sales this year are down by almost 10 per cent, cannibalised by the newer and funkier CX-3. Toyota, which has no mini-SUV in its range, fared better with the Corolla, which almost held its own in a market segment that shrank by 10,000 cars.When locally made cars began to slide in popularity, most pundits said it was because they were too big and thirsty, but the figures show otherwise. Large cars are down by 14 per cent this year, but medium and large SUVs have enjoyed solid growth. Toyota's Camry, which has a hybrid version, has fared better than the rest of the locals, but the Holden Cruze small car has experienced a bigger sales slide than Ford's Falcon and Territory. Overall, the prognosis remains bleak. Australians bought almost as many German-made cars as locally-made ones in the first six months.The Europeans are mad for it — and most 4WD utes use it too — but Australians, it seems, don't like getting their hands dirty. After an initial spike in interest in diesel passenger cars and SUVs among private buyers and fleets between 2005 and 2010, the interest continues to wane. Sales of diesel passenger cars grew sixfold from 2005 to 2010, while diesel SUV sales more than doubled. But in the first six months of this year — and on the back of a decline last year — sales of diesel cars fell by more than a quarter. Diesel SUV sales were stagnant despite big growth in overall SUV sales.Honda - up 33.4 per centIsuzu - up 30.3 per centSkoda - up 30.2 per centRenault - up 30.1 per centLexus - up 24.9 per centFord - down 17.6 per centVolvo - down 16.6 per centFiat - down 16.4 per centHolden - down 8.9 per centNissan - down 0.6 per centToyota - 101,714 - up 0.6 per centMazda - 56,591 - up 9 per centHolden - 51,737 - down 8.9 per centHyundai - 50,099 - up 1 per centMitsubishi - 35,866 - up 9.8 per centFord - 34,810 - down 17.6 per centNissan - 32,950 - down 0.6 per centVolkswagen - 32,020 - up 12.1 per centSubaru - 21,659 - up 8.1 per centHonda 20,602 - up 33.4 per centToyota Corolla - 21,750Mazda3 - 20,427Toyota HiLux - 18,781Hyundai i30 - 15,801Ford Ranger - 14,144Holden Commodore - 13,769Mitsubishi Triton - 13,709Mazda CX-5 - 12,489Volkswagen Golf - 11,829Toyota Camry - 10,426

The June figure of 125,850 is 6.4 per cent more than the same month last year and leaves the industry on track to eclipse the annual high point of 1,136,227 sales in 2013.The results, obtained by News Corp Australia ahead of their official release at noon today, show that NSW and Queensland were the states best placed to benefit from end-of-financial year deals, with sales up 12 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.They cancelled out a small reverse in South Australia and plummeting sales in Western Australia, where demand fell by 8 per cent.The June bonanza was fuelled by small-business buyers racing to exploit tax incentives in the budget.Businesses bought 10.5 per cent more vehicles — almost 1000 a week — than in June last year and snapped up almost as many SUVs as traditional light commercials.They also charged into small cars, helping Hyundai emerge with the month's bestseller in its i30, with 5520 sales.It was enough to outshine strong demand for usual small car favourites the Toyota Corolla and Mazda3, although they both enjoyed gains of 16 per cent compared with last June.Luxury brands enjoyed a bumper month in what is already a runaway yearImports overwhelmed locally made models as the industry prepares to shut its Australian assembly lines over the next two years.Ford's Falcon, despite a freshen-up six months ago, continued its slide down shopping lists with just 530 buyers, and Holden's Commodore also went south with sales down 12 per cent.Toyota's Melbourne-made Camry, with 2600 buyers, was the only local vehicle in positive territory but the industry overall now accounts for fewer than one in every 12 vehicles bought.Luxury brands enjoyed a bumper month in what is already a runaway year, with the German trio of Mercedes, BMW and Audi leading the charge.Mercedes's mid-size C-Class is the luxury bestseller, with 890 buyers last month and almost 4860 year-to-date, followed by the Audi A3 and BMW X5.Meanwhile, Porsche is on track for its most successful year down under, fuelled by the clamour for its mid-size Macan SUV, with sales up 71 per cent for the month and more than 60 per cent for the year.

Australian buyers have committed nearly $50 million on the yet-to-arrive Mercedes-Benz C63 S AMG.

Ford Australia plans to send off the Falcon on a turbocharged high with a limited edition model designed to boost sales in the iconic sedan's final months on sale.It has not gone unnoticed that more than one-in-three Holden Commodores sold are the V8 performance models, and Ford now wants in on the action.In a move likely to come as a welcome relief to diehard Ford fans, the 'Blue Oval' brand is set to add a high output version of its XR6 Turbo to the Falcon line-up to supplement demand for its supercharged XR8 sports sedan.Ford massively undercalled the orders for the reborn XR8 when the final edition Falcon went on sale in late 2014, and quickly moved to double the original production run.But even that is not enough to appeal to Ford fans who want to keep more than memories when the Broadmeadows car assembly line and Geelong engine plant fall silent in October 2016.The project is so secret even Ford dealers are yet to be given any detailsIn much the same way as the modern XR8 has the hardware from the previous generation Falcon GT, the high output XR6 Turbo is understood to use all the best go-fast bits -- and big brakes -- from the superseded Ford Performance Vehicles F6 Turbo.It means that Australia's most powerful locally designed, engineered and manufactured six-cylinder engine will go out on a high, with an expected output of 310kW and 565Nm, not much less than the XR8's supercharged V8.However, the turbo six has proven to be quicker in testing than the V8 because the six-cylinder car is about 100kg lighter.Ford is yet to confirm such a vehicle exists. The project is so secret even Ford dealers are yet to be given any details.The high-powered XR6 Turbo is due in local showrooms at the very end of this yearHowever, CarsGuide understands the high-powered XR6 Turbo is due in local showrooms at the very end of this year or early next year priced from less than $50,000.Ford reportedly has delayed the introduction of the special edition to maintain demand in the remaining 18 months of the Falcon's life.However, based on the latest sales figures, it can't come soon enough.Sales of the new Ford Falcon are down 12 per cent so far this year in a record new-car market.Last year, Ford Australia sales fell to their lowest in 48 years, since 1966, the year decimal currency was introduced.

The latest sales figures show we are now buying almost as many SUVs as we are buying regular cars.In the first three months of this year, SUVs of all shapes and sizes represented a staggering 42 per cent of all passenger cars sold (95,000 of 224,000), according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.Sales of SUVs have almost doubled in the past 10 years, from 173,000 in 2004 to 352,000 last year.The industry believes the SUV boom will continue until at least 2020, where they may even overtake passenger cars.It costs little more to get into an SUV these days than it does to buy a hatchbackThe new generation of city-sized SUVs, or "faux-wheel-drives", are essentially a high-riding hatchback — and most lack a proper all-wheel-drive system or sufficient ground clearance to climb a street gutter."Buyers love the tall driving position, and the flexibility of a wagon without looking like they're driving a wagon," says Richard Johns of Australian Automotive Intelligence.Mr Johns said price was also a factor in the popularity of SUVs."It costs little more to get into an SUV these days than it does to buy a hatchback," he said."The most popular SUV models also cost less than the typical $35,000 starting for the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon."Love them or hate them, sales of SUVs are driving the record growth in the new-car market.Last month, an Australian record for car sales in March, SUV deliveries were up by 15 per cent in a market that was up by 8 per cent.Honda sold more HR-Vs than Civic hatchbacks, Hyundai sold more ix35s than it did of its Accent small car, the Mitsubishi ASX outsold the Lancer, Toyota sold more RAV4s than it did Toyota Yaris hatchbacks and Nissan sold twice as many X-Trails as it did Pulsar sedans and hatches.And the pint-sized Mazda CX-3 outsold the Ford Falcon in March, even though the just-released Mazda had only been on sale for the last eight days of the month.The SUV specialist brands are cashing in. Jeep sales were up 15 per cent and Land Rover up 19 per cent last month.The SUV phenomenon has also hit the top end of town.SUVs now account for more than half of the sales for Toyota's luxury division Lexus, and its oddly-styled NX SUV was the brand's biggest selling model in March.The Porsche Cayenne and Macan SUVs each outsell the 911 sports car by more than four to one.BMW this week released a $200,000 high performance version of its 2.2 tonne BMW X5 that can outrun a Porsche 911.Even Rolls-Royce has joined the fray, planning to release an SUV within the next three years, although it refuses to use the term "SUV", preferring instead to call it a "high riding vehicle".Clearly some people still look down on SUVs.