May30
It appears that Ford has started importing some rear-wheel-drive prototypes from Australia into its U.S. engineering operations. The spies at KGP Photography caught this prototype for the next-generation Australian Ford Falcon at one of Ford’s Detroit engineering centers, being unloaded from a shipping container.
The packaging looks consistent with a car that has just made a trip across the ocean–in either a boat or a cargo plane.
The appearance of this rear-wheel-drive prototype seems to support rumors that Ford is looking to Australia for much of its rear-wheel-drive future — a move eerily similar to GM’s reliance on Holden to take the engineering lead on the Pontiac G8, Chevy Camaro, and the likely GTO and Impala spin-offs that are due to use GM’s Zeta architecture.
Ford’s plans appear to be a little less locked-in than GM’s, but some pundits say that the 2009-2010 Mustang may share some Aussie DNA. And if a rear-wheel-drive replacement for Ford’s Crown Victoria is to come about, it will likely rely heavily on the new Falcon.
On Ford’s own media website, Australia’s growing importance in Ford’s global product plans was touted through a hopeful press release, which said: “An all-new Falcon model and future Territory models will form the basis of potential export opportunities for Ford Australia’s globally competitive large rear-wheel drive vehicle platform…. The addition of left-hand drive engineering capability to our product development team will provide significant experience and assist us to develop a viable export program for our world class rear-wheel drive architecture.”
Something definitely appears to be stirring in Dearborn, and this Falcon prototype showing up in Detroit looks to be our first sign that things have progressed beyond mere talk.
About freakin’ time they did something worth talking about.
i second that notion, blakkarr. its about freakin time.
Ford’s Aussie division makes some nice stuff. Why mnost if not all of it isnt available here is beyond me. Check the Ford-Australia web site, they have some sweet stuff including a turbo inline 6 and some really interesting LNG powered autos.!
The Aussies know how to build cars. Ford NEEDS to start importing some new blood, because their North American operations are falling apart. It is working for GM, maybe it can work for Ford.
Looks remarkably like the Aussie’s Ford Falcon. I’d like to see them bring it here, because it really would bring some fresh blood to Ford’s lineup.
if the falcon is brought here, we’d get a fresh competition w/ the upcoming G8 and charger srt8.
i hope for something nice from this.
Fords are better everywhere in the world apart from their own home home country, America.
ford still ganna be a P O S
o hell yeah, after i bought my new super duty, ive been still crusin in my 2000 crown vic, and though a good, relaible, and safe car, it is way behind in what gm is offering, but with over 200,000 miles on the clock, and still running strong it might be a while till i get one of the rear wheel fords…but still great move for FORD!
———->EU-RO FO-CUS!!! EU-RO FO-CUS!!!
fords here except the stang, crown vic, and f150 are crap. bring europes and aussies fords and never again will i joke at ford.(fusion is dumb)
SRT-4Ken… 2-0-1-0!! 2-0-1-0!!
That horse has been beaten to death.
The best part of that mule arriving here is not that Ford is necessarily just importing the Aussie or necessarily just considering importing some FoE cars, but that Mulally and Fields are actually excuting on their goal of having a unified global engineering strategy.
Ultimately, just importing the Euro Focus once does not fix Ford’s problem. Just importing the Falcon won’t either (see Contour and early Focus), what it will take is broad platform development and then targeted modifications for certain markets requiring collaboration between engineering departments across the globe. The fact that Ford’s NA engineers are even letting this Falcon - not to mention one of Ford’s Asian small cars - test here and supposedly be further developed here is a welcome breath of fresh air from a company that has been backwards as far as product development and alignment for as long as I can remember.
Am I the only one finding it very ironic that the big american car companies need to go to their subsidiaries in other countries for cars for the american market? The best part is the fanboys that then start to rave about the Saturn Sky being such a great GM car (or the GMC Acadia etc.). Why not just admit defeat, stop producing the models that don’t sell, and start selling Opel (in the case of GM), should save a bundle on rebadging.
Actually, the Sky is technically American. The Solstice spawned the Opel Whatever spawned the Sky. So in a roundabout fashion it is American.
But yea, car nationalities are a thing of the past, and frankly I think it is better that way. Why stay American or German or Japanese or whatever when you can bring the best of the best together and just build great cars?
Hopefully they aren’t dorking around with this car and this means that we’ll see Australian and European division fords here.
I’ve thought for a while that Ford should sell the Falcon here.
I agree PrimeGTP. Automakers should put out their A game every time.
That Falcon is cool. I used to love watching the Australian V8 racecars.
That is a Ford product I would consider. Its about freaking time as many have said. I think that Ford should also consider equippeing the car with a diesel engine option as well to boost MPGs.
It’s about time.
I’ll hop on the turbo Inline 6. It’s s twist on the V8s. Though I won’t be opposed to the “Hurricane” engine FORD has lined up for the Mustang in the coming years.
Though the Inline 6 would likely be offered in a Lincoln. Speaking of which I would be saddened to see Mercury go but at this point I wouldn’t be surprised.
Rear wheel drive with an independent rear suspension. Conservatively styled sedan. Manual transmission. 3.0L+ inline-6 engine with a turbocharger.
Please sign me up
that is an old VE commodore prototype, identicle to the ones in Australia a year ago
hey meekin111, being as aussie as i am i can definitly tell you that is not a commodore VE. first its the wrong shape, second they look different to those who know that a VE actually looks like. take it from me and every other australian mate, thats a new falcon.
gday guys and girls, time to put an australian influence on this american forum. the new falcon is coming and coming with it is what has been called the best inline turboed 6 with it. yes thats right our locally developed 4 litre turbo six has been in our falcons for the past 3 years and its only gonna get better with the new falcon.
from what ive heard of late you guys have an ageing crown vic platform that ford keep dragging out each year to make the same car each time. FORD NEED TO HARNESS THIS AUSSIE PLATFORM. GM have woken up and smelled the roses and realised that the aussies can build a world beating rear drive platform and have been for over 40 years. why havent you yanks caught on?
Time to catch up fellas, lets see some falcons out the states way.
GLENO, your local aussie!
I even see the rare falcon in the UK - an XR8 Ute in fact… lovely…
I loved the Falcons when I was out in aus… beautiful.
Even the oldschool ones that look like the old Granadas… boxy and beautiful.
It already looks better camouflaged than anything Ford makes now. Amazing and pathetic at the same time.
RWD
personal choice
Yeah bring more products from down under!!! Ever wonder why Ford USA loses money while their counterparts actually make money? They make and sell better product else where, and Mark Fields is not their CEO. Is Michigan this bad for you that you can’t move your family here?
I just checked out the Australian Ford site. Although the lineup is OK (the SUV lineup is the Escape and the Territory, which looks like a jacked-up Freestyle, or whatever that stationwagon is called), there isn’t too much that’s interesting. There’s the Eurospec Focus GT Turbo, and a bunch of sport sedans that look like each other (Typhoon, GTS, etc).
Overall I guess better than the North American offerings, but I didn’t see a Mustang in there.
they have these trucklike cars that are their elcaminos called utes. holden and for i think are the ones with these performance vehicles.
deantj, thats because we don’t want the pile of crap mustang with it’s outdated rear suspension.
Territory is the current falcon but taller and with 4wd, we don’t even have the freestyle here.
Also if you think they all look the same then you must be blind, because I assure you they do not in real life.
there is one thing we do here that is a lot dofferent to anywhere in the world, and that is we make many vartiations of the same platform. the falcon range at current stands with base Sedan, base station wagon, fairmont sedan (higher lux spec), XR8 Sedan (v8 perfomrance sedan), XR6 sedan (performance 6 sedan), XR6T (XR6 Turboed) Fairlane and LTD (both super luxury models). the you have to include the utility vehicles, or utes. they come as base falcon ute, xr6 falcon ute xr6t falcon ute and xr8 falcon ute. then you move into the Territory which is built off the same platform as the falcon with much of the same fairings. and just like you have SVT we have FPV (ford performance vehicles - http://www.fpv.com.au) this is where the awesome cars come out. in the FPV lineup at the moment is GT (V8 Halo Car), GT-P(GT Lux edition), F6 Typhoon (Turbo inline 6 perfomrance sedan), F6 Tornado (typhoon ute version), Force 6 (super lux typhoon), Force 8 (super lux GT), Pursuit (GT ute version and the Super Pursit (Pursuit lux edition)
so there is a basic overview of what we can and have done with a single car. the falcon at the moment has at least 20 variants that i can name, and im sure ive missed some.
just a bit better than the 3 version mustang.
GLENO, your local aussie
PS please check out the possibilityes of what falcon and its varients have to offer: http://www.ford.com.au and http://www.fpv.com.au
It’s kinda funny that you guys have a Ford GTP. Here in America, that name is historically Pontiac. Interesting how the markets differ.
deantj, don’t comment on Australian History when you know nothing about it, our country is 10 times better to live in than ur arrogant **** hole.
Anyway i think its a smart move by FMC the Falcon is a great car, i would know because I currently have one.
I’m not getting in the middle of this crud. America’s on a low (You can blame the larger majorities and their addle brained ignorance) and Australia is hardly a bright point of global civilization. We’re talking about cars and then you [expletive] turn it into some pseudo-religious argument and then you want to smack talk about each others countries. Real mature and good show at showing who is the bigger [expletive].
ONE) Australia and it’s incredibly lax pollution laws, among other factors, allowed the region to continue developing the muscle car without much fault. Kudos. But none of you monkeys can really take credit for that. Just be grateful that FORD didn’t think all you Aussies wanted were pick-up trucks. THE US GOT SHAFTED!
TWO) I personally don’t care what the Australian gearheads think of the MUSTANG, good or bad. It is here now and the Falcon isn’t. So why should I care? Since FORD has not said much about bringing a Falcon over for testing and redevelopment, I can only assume for now that FORD, WHO OWNS FPV AND ALL AUSTRALIAN FORD OPERATIONS, is just messing around again like they did with the 427 and the INTERCEPTOR, to name a few.
THREE) You should have been more interested how this will play out one fresh turf. GM and FORD shipping Australian developed cars to the American driving public. After all the muscle wars never really ended in Australia and I for one would love to see that go again here.
Whatever…. I know at least one reason this place isn’t any fun anymore. People just can’t keep they’re foul mouths shut and enjoy the good news.
Blakkarr, Australian the falcon’s v8 is currently built in the US (it is put together locally though) as is the engine for the commodore, so I would assume it has to meet the same emmission standards as you do.
Tell ya a little secret. American cars are choking on emissions controls. That’s not to say Australians don’t have high standards as well, but they are less constrained by them.
That’s why the Holden Monaro shipped as the Pontiac GTO but ditched the native engine for a Vette Engine that was not well matched to the car. The Native engine didn’t pass muster. But All the same, I’m more interested in the car than the engine. The engine can always be upgraded and boosted. Just give us cars that are really worth the effort.
with any luck blakkarr, theyll sink the GT500KR engine into the front of this new falcon. thatd satisfy pretty much every car nut either side of the pacific.
I hope this will take out Holden’s current position in australia cos ford is totally up **** creek at the moment with no new falcon to show
Wow, we got a couple good Aussie posters, and then we get an idiot like Mystikal.
Sorry if you’ve got your panties in a bunch, but I happen to admire the Australian auto industry. However, if your representation is telling, I do NOT admire the Australian people.
ARRRRRR PrimeGTP the with the Australian people there’s no Australian Auto industry so u make no sense
*without the Australian poeple
http://www.ford.com.au/servlet/ContentServer?cid=1137385654202&pagename=FOA%2FDFYPage%2FFullwidth1024&c=DFYPage
this site tells all, take a look through
What does FPV stand for? Go on say it.. FORD PERFORMANCE VEHICLES. They are very similar to SVT before FORD cut SVT off at the knees.
FORD MOTOR COMPANY is a vast multi-national corporation. It’s not my fault that they think the American market only really wants trucks and thinks we still do despite all the evidence to the contrary. FORD like GM has treated every major region like they were totally different from each other. America likes truck, Europe likes small sporty cars. Australia likes hot muscle cars…. I think no one gave Bill Ford the memo: America loves it all.
Aussie#1,
Much thanks for sharing very useful and hopeful information. I just hope the next mustang which should be a coupe version of the Falcon in the US will NOT have SLA. The Camaro and the Challenger will have IRS. Cutting costs is one thing but GM and Chrysler are dead set on comepeting against the MUSTANG even if it is at a +$3k premium. FORD won’t win the US “Pony Car Wars 2″ if they feign tradition and what the customer wants to justify a sub-par car.
f6typhoon,
The new 5L V8 “hurricane” engine will be much better. The GT500 and KR both have modified truck engines that are just too freakin’ heavy. The Hurricane is said the be NA speced at about 345hp but can easily go as high as 400 without mods or boost. It’s basically a civilized version of the 5.0 “cammer” used for the Mustang GT-R concept…
But if you want to go nuts, try the 6L V10 developed for the Cobra concept slated for the GR-1 (If FORD ever builds it). Speced at 605hp this engine, owing a heavy portion of it’s ability from FORD’s racing program, it the engine we knew FORD could build.
That and apparently FORD is becoming less shy about turbos, as the Lincoln MKR could see turbo-boosted versions of their new 3.5L V6 making about 415hp. Not the same as Jaguar’s 450 supercharged 4L V8 for the XK concept a few years back but still awesome.
With FORD feeling the lost love, they will start playing along, if with little warning fairly soon… Hopefully not too late.
Someone replace Bill Ford and most of the executive staff.
I could not help noticing that as I am an Australian that non of the other Aussies have mentioned that Ford and GM Holden in Australia are in the **** as well, not to the extent as the parent companies but with the Toyota tsunami powering along taking huge market share that were once dominated by Ford and Holden, they are looking at over seas to stay alive. Last month in Australia Toyota held 5 of the top 10 sales positions, the Holden Commodore was at number one mainly due to Federal and State Government Fleet sales (e.g. Defense, Police ext). Ford Falcon was about 4th behind a few Toyotas with a lot of their sales being Federal and State Government fleets as well as Sydney and Melbourne Taxi Fleets plus car hire companies. Ford and GM Holden where caught at the wheel sleeping as the Japanese sailed past. Now it is going to be catching up time, how long it takes and how the big manufactures will end up looking like only time will tell.
Point taken. But let’s keep to our cautious optimism. A world without GM and/or FORD is bound to be either boring or greatly overpriced.
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Blakkarr said:
What does FPV stand for? Go on say it.. FORD PERFORMANCE VEHICLES. They are very similar to SVT before FORD cut SVT off at the knees.
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You’re not an Australian are you. Just because they boost FORD vehicles doesn’t mean that they are a Ford Company. FPV is nothing like SVT - FPV are an actual decent company that tune cars properly. AND they have the full backing and resources of Prodrive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Performance_Vehicles
^^ Look at that and you will notice that it’s a private company, majority owned by PRODRIVE.
God dammit Americans are even more ignorant than they appear on the news these days!
dont forget prodrive is based in england
What a bare 51% Prodrive is just BARELY the owner. But I still wouldn’t be too proud. As Htay5500 said, Prodrive is English. Ignorant, no… mistaken. But the information is also tells that FPV is really nothing more than a satellite company to FORD.
At any rate, I would take any reference to anything on Wikipedia with a grain of salt. It’s very easy to find BS there that sounds totally legit or is just out of date. Since anyone can sign up and start making changes, especially to back up an argument I have to disregard you sole reference.
But having said that, I DID say that FPV was similar to SVT. Key word being “similar”. this is where you’re arrogance shows. I do admit I didn’t know everything but I did make the reasonable assumption that it was not the same but did perform the same function as SVT. The particulars of ownership were not on my mind. But the reasonable assumption would be FORD ownership. Again mistaken.
But again FPV is similar to SVT in function. You should actually read the words as they are and not what you want them to be. It key to proper internet communication.
Ignorance this is not. However, trying to pick a fight over something so ignorable as a this is not ignorance or arrogance, it’s simple ass-brained stupidity, which knows no nationality. Also we’re taking about cars not a religion. I suggest you chill and actually talk to a live person face to face. You need the practice.
Further I have a real job so I don’t have time to study every auto company and related business out there. I rely on nerds and real experts for that knowledge. But monkeys like you I’ll just ignore.
Mystikal,
Have you actually driven an SVT or even seen one in person? Doubtful given your closed minded rhetoric. SVT is still about doing quite well given what they have to work with. That said, the state of FPV being private simply means that the company is not publically traded. This can be considered a good thing, but FORD is still an owned if not the THE owner and they still have a larger control than the 2% deficit in percentage may entail. FORD still makes the cars that FPV upgrades.
Result FORD still decides what work gets done by simple virtue of what they build. add to this that the company is still called FORD PERFORMANCE VEHICLES (it has their name on it), and 51% ownership sounds more like the 49% ownership.
As I doubt you really have any real understanding of American Automotive culture (such as it is) and mine of Australian is quite limited, I’m leaving it at this: I really don’t care if I am wrong about FPV, that is not my concern, and never should have been. My interest is in the Falcon.
If you have a problem with this, toss your feces all you like monkey. You can’t reach me and I don’t care.