Falcon upgrade at least a year away
Third-quarter 2014 release confirmed for Ford Australia’s facelifted Falcon and Territory
Ford’s Falcon will soldier on unchanged for up to 18 months before the vital new 2014 model is released in the third quarter of next year – around the same time a facelifted Territory will hit showrooms.
The later than expected timing means the facelifted Falcon line-up will follow the June release of its fiercest rival, Holden’s upgraded VF Commodore range, by more than a year.
By the time the revised Falcon sedan and ute family hits dealers, it will also have been almost two years since Ford showed a murky teaser video of the 2014 Falcon at the Sydney motor show last October.
However, Ford denies any delay in the Falcon program, which will culminate in the production of the last all-Australian Falcon.
“It's not delayed,” said Ford Australia Communications and Public Affairs Director Sinead Phipps at this week’s launch of the new Kuga medium SUV.
“That always been our timing. We've just never said when before, other than 2014.”
The future of both Ford’s locally built Falcon and Territory remains under a cloud beyond the facelifted 2014 models, with Ford yet to commit to manufacturing in Australia beyond 2016, when both revised models will be just two years old.
While Commodore sales are down more than 40 per cent so far this year, the Falcon’s showroom popularity has slumped 27 per cent in a mainstream large-car segment that is down 30 per cent in 2013.
That’s on top of the 25 per cent sales plunge both models experienced last year, in a large-car segment that shrank by more than 20 per cent in 2011 and 2012.
Excluding 5733 Falcon Utes, Ford Australia last year sold fewer Falcons (14,034) than Territorys (14,646) – despite the introduction of new six-cylinder LPG and all-new four-cylinder turbo-petrol engines.
Speaking at the Kuga launch, Ford Australia chief Bob Graziano said that despite sharing the same underpinnings, turbo-diesel-powered Territory and four-cylinder EcoBoost Falcon models will remain mutually exclusive.
Graziano said customer demand has indicated there’s no place for a diesel-powered large sedan within the Blue Oval’s local line-up.
“What [Falcon] buyers are looking for is what the EcoBoost and EcoLPI represents,” he said. “The diesel, really, is fit for purpose in the Territory, so we think we’ve matched those correctly.
“We’re finding that now that we’ve added the diesel, that’s really what people are gravitating to. I think we’ve got the right matching of powertrains... for both Falcon and Territory.”
Conversely, Graziano said that a four-cylinder Territory would also miss the mark, despite other SUV models in Ford’s own line-up offering lower-output four-cylinder entry models in a bid to get bums in seats.
It’s a philosophy that hasn’t worked with the Falcon. Currently, EcoBoost and EcoLPI models account for less than 20 per cent of all Falcon sales, but Graziano said both models still need time to resonate with consumers.
“I think we were pretty clear that we thought it was going to take a while for people to overcome their perception of a four-cylinder’s ability to work in a large car,” he said.
“[The situation] is not too dissimilar to the challenge that we had with EcoBoost [engines] in the F-series in the United States. Now, over 40 per cent of the F-series’ sales are EcoBoost powertrains.”
“They went from nothing to 40 per cent, which I think is a significant percentage, but it took years to get there, for that same perception. “I don’t know if Falcon will get to 40 or 50 per cent, but what we need to do is to keep getting people into that vehicle, and have them understand how good that EcoBoost powertrain is in the Falcon. “So we’re not seeing huge uptakes in EcoBoost but as you get more awareness and word of mouth out there, then I think you’ll start getting a bit more momentum behind it.” Graziano was elusive about technical details of the $103 million upgrade for the FG Falcon, saying: “There’s a bit of technology added and that’s what customers told us they want.”
But it seems minor engine and transmission tweaks, the fitment of low rolling resistance tyres and improved underbody aerodynamic panelling are more likely to bring incremental fuel consumption reductions than the addition of features like idle-stop or VF Commodore-style weight reductions.
“More of it [environmentally-focussed aspects] is focussed around engine technology, tyres and aero as opposed to specifically around light weight,” Graziano offered.
http://www.carsales.com.au/news/2013...ear-away-36099
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Originally Posted by HSE2
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