coconutphotography

coconutphotography

TRAMS_AM

Garb

Tomorrow maybe, er' wha? Ahh...
...yes ahh what you say?

LandofMinos, is begging congress for more hotpants for GM

P.S. is it easy to obtain marijuana in Oz?

TRAMS_AM

LandofMinos, is begging congress for more hotpants for GM

lowdendarkohjas

(Just incase you are lost "ST = Sanitary Towel" - bloody idiot)

Bob1967

Garb

suzq044

Great engines (especially the soon to be killed turbo inline six), nice look but running on empty...

silentbutdeadly

LandofMinos, is begging congress for more hotpants for GM

Ford have been very tight lipped about the LHD engineering on this car, they say it's not been engineered for LHD but I remember reading a few years back that Ford were looking at ways to make this car US ready.

I speculate that like Holden, they like to keep these little projects out of site from, not the public but from their meddling parent company in the US.
So maybe there's a remote chance we might see a cackey handed Falcon over there in the land of milk and honey.

But what is for certain is that the next all new Mustang WILL be sharing the platform with our next Falcon. We just hope that Ford US don't fuck it by trying to engineer it themselves.

LandofMinos, is begging congress for more hotpants for GM

LandofMinos, is begging congress for more hotpants for GM

Lotucris

danio3834

danio3834

Armand Bengle

Tanshanomi

IamZardoz

Tomsk

I agree though, the car should be sold here as-is and all of Ford's US cars should be RWD with the same tasteful interior and exterior styling.

TriShield

Anyways, back on topic... When does the next Typhoon come out, the turbo six is usually a better engine than the V8 (this does not refer to all V8s, just those currently used in Falcons).

the good dr zero

You're not completely wrong, but there is a catch 22.

To charge the premium for those cars, as they are more costly, you have to have a decent quality reputation.

Car people know VW's are problematic, Carrie the carbuyer seems blissfully unaware. Ford has the opposite problem.

The future will be different with common cars.

rlj676-new job, same problems

The-Simpsons-Rule!!

NovaloadMissesPolar

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.

Preferredcustomer

TRAMS_AM

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

rlj676-new job, same problems

Preferredcustomer

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.

Uncle Bo, ironically aestheticized

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.

The Name's Ash78, Housewares

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.

TriShield

TampaRon

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.

Spasticteapot

Parramore64

yagobal

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.

DonSchenck

/idiot

Brian B

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.

Preferredcustomer

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.

scoobie

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.

Preferredcustomer

dolo54

Triborough

knyghtryda

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.

rlj676-new job, same problems

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.

Uncle Bo, ironically aestheticized

stuntpuppy

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?

Maymar is convinced M.C. Escher engineered his car

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

AdamBLang

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).

The Name's Ash78, Housewares

EndlessMike

The_Finn

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

DRFS Rich

I would kill numerous people for a Ford Falcon turbo.

TriShield

Hart88

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

Bronx Mowgli Deartháir

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.

Preferredcustomer

RoninianHoon

RoninianHoon

brandegee

33rtp

subsammy

VeeDub

joshman — repeatedly clicking expand all

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.

Bronx Mowgli Deartháir

Ka, Focus, Fiesta, Falcon...

The Name's Ash78, Housewares

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

Love,
Brian

Brian B

cyclopticgaze

VeeDub

VeeDub