I actually really like this. Not that I would drive one but I think compared to the focus and fusion and any other car from ford that would compete stateside this is so much better.

I changed my mind... I think if someone gave me this car i would drive the shit out of this car.

I'll restate the obvious: Ford needs to take their nice overseas offerings and bring them here.

Dear Dearborn Dimwits,

I found your new SHO. It's in Europe.

Love,
Brian

@cyclopticgaze: They could create a sub-brand, call it Jupiter or Neptune, and be done with it. Idea seems to be "working" for those other guys.

Ka, Focus, Fiesta, Falcon...

Jeebus! They're fucking beautiful! With a V8! And 422 horses!

And I can't stand up for a little while.

So hangon... Australia gets these. We get the Fusion. How the blue hell is that fair? I understand the country's full of spiders, but it still seems like a bit of an imbalance. We have Prius-driving hippies that we need to piss off.

Oh, and Ford, if you're reading this... we also have EYES. That means we can see that this car is gorgeous and the Fusion is not. Your behaviour towards us in this regard has been duly noted, and a reference made on your record.

@Brian B: That would be Australia but they probably can't tell the difference anyway.

The tail lights need to be changed unless the only people buying ford sedans and compacts are fans of fake Altezza lamps.

@Brian B: OZ actually.

Okay... so I know it's too much to ask of Ford to expect the Falcon stateside, but can I PLEASE have the wheels from the blue one on something sporty over here? I realized Ford is really into the new Verve/Fiesta "spider-web" wheels, but I much prefer the GTI-ness of these - even if they are a bit derivative.

@Pope Dearthair the Awesometh: The Fusion's actually not bad compared to Ford's other eye-numbing creations. But, yeah, this is a Ford vehicle in which I'd happy to store my hard-earned dino juice. Funny that...always the ones I can't get.

Teenage mutant ninja fjords? Just an orange one in there, and and old rat... (focus)

@RoninianHoon:
Edit button would be NICE! throw* and change and to add... lousy hamsters!

I just drove a G8 GT the other day. Australia is my new hero. The amount of better that car is than anything in Ford's USDM lineup is embarrassingly large. Galactically (galacticallie?) large. I mean, the G8 is probably 90 percent as good as an E60 5 series, for (literally) half the price. Or less, if you want a V8 in that 5er.

There is no equivalent vehicle in the Ford lineup, but the closest is probably...what...the Taurus? The Lincoln MKZ? To engage in slight understatement, neither of these cars are 90 percent as good as an E60 BMW.

Ford must bring the Falcon to the US immediately, and in penance for making us wait way too long to have a car this good on our shores, they should be forced to sell the first 1000 units for $10, each.

@Brian B: Dear Brian,

Australia is the big lumpy country full of spiders down below Asia, far removed from everyone else because it doesn't play well with others. It is not part of Europe.

Austria is a little wee country in the middle of Europe which does not have these cars of awesomeness.

Love,

Dearthair

Why does the rest of the world get the good Ford stuff, and we get the crap?

Because the rest of the world makes their own Fords for themselves.

I would kill numerous people for a Ford Falcon turbo.

I want the F6 Typhoon. 420HP from the Turbo'd 6. Brilliant.

I'll take mine done up in FPR livery, preferably Frosty's Orrcon Green, White, and Blue.
- R

i was under the impression that the only reason America doesn't get the Falcon is because it would out preform the mustang and Ford America doesn't want anything to show up their top of the line sports car (Ford GT doesn't count)

@Preferredcustomer: The rights to purchase the first 1000 $10 FPV Falcons will be auctioned off to charity for $100k each.

@The_Finn: That's probably accurate. We've still got that "excess prosperity" mentality, I think: One car for each purpose, rather than one car for every purpose. Our cars are relatively cheap compared to the rest of the world, so this business model still works.

Hopefully the acceptance of cars like the G8 will help change that mentality a little. But then again, Pontiac doesn't have a sports car that the G8 might damage (Solstice is too far away).

Replace the Taurus and Crown Vic with this.
Replace the Fusion with the Mondeo.
Replace our Focus with their Focus.
Give us all the variants of the Fiesta.

And boom! A Ford car lineup worth paying attention to.

@Preferredcustomer: The Ford Taurus is 90% as good as a Volvo S80 (which must count for something). The Ford Fusion is a Mazda6 (funny how no one complains about wanting something better than that).

More to the point, aren't most Falcons relatively average six cylinder models? Cars that aren't really that much nicer than what we already get, just different?

So Ford sold Jaguar but took the XF with them? The red one especially looks just like the Jag to my untrained eye.

@TriShield:

Exactly right. This car is just as relevant to NA Fords as a Citroen or Mahindra or Tata or AvtoVAZ. There was no consideration of the NA market when developing this car, so there's no point in wondering why we in NA can't have it.

Ford is not a global company in the sense of Microsoft or IBM or Coca Cola. About the only thing these operations share is the Ford logo and maybe synergistic technical support with things like emissions compliance or safety issues. I don't see any global cross-pollinization development work out of Ford. The company simply doesn't work that way.

Everyone who currently drives or is shopping for a 300hp+ over $30K car please raise your hand.

Now who wants 15 mpg next summer at $4.50 gas?

Oh, maybe there IS a reason they aren't sold here.

There's more to a car company than the whims of a few hoons who aren't actually buying squat.

I know some ARE buying these types of cars (I am) but most here bitching aren't.

Lets see... america gets the new craptastic Focus, and Australia gets a pretty kick ass Falcon. No wonder why so many people in the states won't touch a domestic while everywhere else in the world they wonder what's so wrong with the likes of Ford. They get the good stuff... we don't.

Perhaps Ford (North America) should just give up and offer the products of Ford (Australia), of course keeping the trucks and the Crown Vic.

Reminds of this falcon:

@rlj676:

Raises hand. Raises other hand.

I'm not excited about a 15 mpg car with expensive gas, but I'm resigned to it. And if you can use the "TwinForce" engine to improve the gas mileage in heavy pigs like the Flex, why couldn't you do it in a Falcon? I'd like a V8, but if Ford wants to sell me a 400 hp V6 (or the 400 hp I6 from Down Under), I won't complain.

Besides, this is a lame excuse on Ford's part--gas here was cheap for many, many years and we got no Falcons. Instead we got trucks! trucks! trucks!, and cars were treated like they were an embarrassing afterthought.

@rlj676:

I see where you're coming from, but why can we not get the V6/I6 version then? Even with that huge price in gas, you'd still be behind the wheel of a fun-to-drive, RWD, nicely styled, comfortable car, and at the same time be allowing for all the hoons out there to get their V8 that they've always wanted.

@Maymar: The Taurus is actually a very nice car. There's really nothing wrong with it, and I remain puzzled about why it doesn't sell better than it does.

Your point about the majority of Falcons being base models equivalent to the Taurus is taken. I don't really see the Falcon as being a replacement for the Taurus--more of a supplement.

And before anyone complains that there is no room for another car in Ford's model lineup (leaving aside the possibility of finally, FINALLY putting the poor Crown Vic out of its misery in favor of a platform designed in the last decade or two), they have to explain to me the current cross-over lineup and how having a Falcon + Taurus makes any less sense than having an Edge + Escape + Taurus X.

@joshman: @subsammy: That's what I get for skimming (and even missing the headline!) and posting.

/idiot

Gorgeous, fast and wonderful ... but I'd not buy one.

We can complain, but I'm with rlj676; I'm more interested in a FUN car with good mileage ... think MINI Cooper or that Suzuki SX4.

Truth be told, the ZX5 Focus was more to my liking, especially the SVT flavor.

That's MY opinion.

Are those headlights interchangeable with A4's ones? :p

@scoobie: It makes sense on paper, but would even the six cylinder models sell? I don't need to tell you that most people are making a styling and price decision, oblivious to what's under the hood. Then there's the unbreakable stranglehold that Toyota, Nissan, and Honda have on the 35+ crowd.

@Maymar:

The Mazda6 is known for being less reliable than the Mazda3 (a.k.a Euro-Focus). Around here, not many people have one, but Mazda3's are everywhere.

The Fusion is a Mazda6 with an even nastier interior, and none of the suspension tweaks that make the Mazda fun to drive.

I personally think that Ford is mind-bogglingly stupid for pushing the @#$@$# Mustang as their top-spec car. The Mustang was always a second-string muscle car, and should be left that way.

and here we go again. We see a great car that Americans cant have by an AMERICAN company. I really hate Ford and this is why.

@The_Finn: The reason the Falcons aren't sold here has nothing to do with the Mustang.

It has everything to do with the fact that Ford Australia never engineered this car for left-hand drive and that the plant only has enough production capacity for the Australian and New Zealand market.

Ford did consider importing the car for the US but determined that due to the fall in the US dollar and the $300 million+ investment required to re-engineer the car and expand the plant that there wouldn't be any profit in selling it here.

GM's profit on selling the Holden Commodore here is razor-thin, maybe even nonexistent. They're also eating it on the Astra.

Ford isn't stupid enough to lose money on selling it's foreign wares here while the dollar is in the toilet.

@Parramore64: Bingo.

I don't stare longingly at those pics because I want a muscle car. I look at them as the prospect of the style/dynamics we SHOULD have here in the US. Like you said, most people pick based on style, and something with this sort of visual appeal will help Ford keep up.

Love them or hate them, the current Accord and Camry are both pretty modern designs, especially from such historically conservative and derivative design houses. You've gotta get people's attention, and the plain-vanilla, angular Fusion is not exactly the car for the job. The Taurus is okay, but it's literally a 1997 J Mays design still being used 12 years later.

@TampaRon:

Thing is, there is almost nothing in this car that is American except the logo, the V8 block and heads and maybe some technology transfer. The car is simply not a Ford in the way you're thinking of a Ford. Ignore the nameplate, it has no meaning in the US than Vauxhall or Renault or any other brand that isn't available in the US.

@Spasticteapot:

I'd be interested to know what you think a "first string muscle car" is if the Mustang isn't one. Please list all the muscle cars currently available that place the Mustang in the second string position.

@TriShield: Right, they are too smart for that. Instead, they'll concentrate on losing money by making crappy domestic products that too few people want to buy, which when you think about it is a much more efficient way to lose money.

Everyone talks about these American Ford's nobody's buying.

That's not the case. The Taurus is really the only true dog in sales, and it is a nice car but too bland, even for the general US public.

These cars would not skyrocket Ford to the top of sales.

The problem is QUALITY PERCEPTION first and foremost. People ignore the cars due to percieved quality issues. The Fusion is very nice, especially for the cost

@Preferredcustomer: Only the three of us will buy a Falcon 'cause it's awesome. Except TriShield because he loves Mopar. And me because I love Holdens.

@rlj676: No one is saying that the Falcon would "skyrocket Ford to the top of sales." What people are saying is that the Falcon represents another example of a foreign-built, Ford-badged product that is substantially nicer and substantially more compelling than anything Ford builds or sells here.

It may be the case that the Falcon is not well-suited to the US market (though I actually doubt that). It may be the case that the Mondeo is not well suited to the US market, or the European Focus, or the Fiesta...but the question remains: why can't Ford NA build a product as compelling for the North American market as Ford Australia and Ford Europe can do for their respective markets?

Quality perception is part of the picture, but a big part of quality perception lies in product design. Look at VW--their quality is terrible, but the cars look and feel expensive and so people perceive them as being high-quality products that are worth a premium.