RIP Falcon

What does it matter if the RWD is no longer made?

Annual sales of RWD Falcon have been in serious decline for a long time and will be near zero in 2015 by natural attrition.

No point in having a factory capable of building what no-one is buying.

As for V8 supercars, there hasn't been a Falcon or a Holden in that circus show for a l o n g time.

GP_GTI said:

What does it matter if the RWD is no longer made?

Annual sales of RWD Falcon have been in serious decline for a long time and will be near zero in 2015 by natural attrition.

No point in having a factory capable of building what no-one is buying.

As for V8 supercars, there hasn't been a Falcon or a Holden in that circus show for a l o n g time.

Click to expand...

Agree on both points. Will expand a little tho

- I love the way people - supposed 'fans' - bemoan losing the Falc and or/V8 engine. Go to Bathurst, check out the carpark of the die hard fans; Hyundais (with southern cross logos..), Mondeos, Accords, Audis etc etc. It's one of those situations where people like the idea of having RWD V8 Falcons but go ahead an and when it's their own money (or the company's) buy something completely different. Why? Too heavy on fuel, lame old fashioned design, image, reliability, resale.

- V8 Supercars is very similar now to NASCAR in that; you've got control everything (same engine, same brakes etc), bascialyl two different looking bodyshells with same aero even. The less the road cars become relevant, the less the series will - yes, things are going ok now but I remember theheady days of the BTCC and within a few years it was effectively dead. Get Toyota in, Mazda, whoever wants to join the party. I couldn't stress enough that the All Anglo nature of the V8 Supercars will be its death. The series needs to appeal to more fans and fast.

So anyone wanna buy my EL XR8? Future classic...

I think Ford are making the right move - as Holden are with launching locally produced Cruze models next month instead of the currently imported from Korea models. Both Ford and GM aren't run by complete morons and realise what their current best selling models are and where the future of the market lays. Government departments and big companies are all heading toward 'greening' their fleets which means hybrids and efficient 4 pots. With our higher level of expectation quality wise and the relative cost of automated production lines + duties etc. it makes sense dollar wise for GM to produce the cars locally. I hope Ford find the same and maybe start exporting!!

The V6 and V8 Commodore will be around for a while yet as the bulk of the production currently, according to my 'insiders', is heading to Dubai/Middle Eastern and the USofA (as Police cars for the later). That's actually good news as it places Australia in the position of exporting cars on a large scale for the first time in local car making, as far as i'm aware. I got to ride round in a Statesman as a passenger last weekend and got to tell you - these things are miles ahead of 5 years ago. I'd prefer to be a passenger in a Statesman to an A8 after riding in both. Driving - still a touch different... but the Commodore is a seriously good car these days and it's no surprise export sales are going well. They're producing a world standard car - which is where the Falcon unfortunately fell short.

I'm not sure I can agree that Ford Australia really knows its sh!t.

They have, over the years, foisted some really dud products onto the Aussie market and have been bitten badly by the resulting general opinion - that no matter what class of car they are selling at any given time there is a better, cheaper alternative at another maker. The buying public avoids Ford showrooms.

The last real success they had was the Laser and the Festiva - both these cars had buyers streaming into the showrooms.

But since then, there has been
- the AU disaster - not even a mother could love such an ugg
- the KA - rubbish at a high price
- the first Fiesta - a great little Euro that was brought to market long after it's freshness had gone, and far too pricey.
- the Focus - ditto Fiesta
- the Mondeo - brilliant car, far too expensive and not available in desirable drivetrain combinations, clearly Ford AU worried that Falcon sales would really suffer. They did anyway.
- Territory - a great car, let down by far too long without a diesel. Shocking fuel consumption. Poor after sales service for manufacturing defects.
- the latest Fiesta - good driving dynamics, a bit weird looking inside and out. $25000 for a diesel manual - ya gotta be joking.


I think that Ford marketing is poor - their TV adverts are cringeworthy at best, they bring the wrong cars to market, or they bring the right cars but way too late, too expensive, and wrongly configured.

The cars themselves are usually OK to excellent, burned by poor management.