Ford Falcon is no more

[020 Brad]

I just thought I would mention this here as it seems like quite big news really, perhaps even more than we think.

Obviously this forum doesn't focus on the newer Opel vehicles but with Ford opting to kill off its big rear wheel sedan I can't help but wonder who will follow next or how things will change for the future.

We're talking 2015 that production will cease, so it won't really affect too much for a long while yet, but still very interesting.

[021 Chad]

So the Mondeo becomes the new flagship model ?
Hard to beleive really.

[020 Brad]

To be honest I think they will end up bringing over the Ford Tauraus or Taunas. whatever they call it from the states and re-badging it as a Falcon. I think its FWD in its original guise but can be had in AWD turbo V6, much like the Opel Insignia. Ford are throwing away hundreds of millions of dollars each year developing a car for Australia (and New Zealand) and it simply doesn't make economic sense. I guess they could try to export it out to the rest of the world as Holden are doing and have been for years, or at least since they started developing their Commodores away from the Omega, but perhaps the rest of the world won't be interested in Fords backwards engineering?

[127 Gordo]

To be honest I think they will end up bringing over the Ford Tauraus or Taunas. whatever they call it from the states and re-badging it as a Falcon. I think its FWD in its original guise but can be had in AWD turbo V6, much like the Opel Insignia. Ford are throwing away hundreds of millions of dollars each year developing a car for Australia (and New Zealand) and it simply doesn't make economic sense. I guess they could try to export it out to the rest of the world as Holden are doing and have been for years, or at least since they started developing their Commodores away from the Omega, but perhaps the rest of the world won't be interested in Fords backwards engineering?

Ford dealers and customers have been after the Falcon for their domestic market for a long time, ditto for the UK and other markets. However the Ford executives in the States have continually blocked any efforts to open up markets for the Falcon. I'm not a fan of the later cars but so have some sympathy for Ford Australia who have done a great job whilst severely handicaped.

[026 Nik]

Ford US tried doing this in the mid '90's when they imported the Tauraus to NZ/OZ, it was meant to be Fords global large sedan. It didnt work in Australasia back then, why would it work this time round?

[020 Brad]

It didn't work last time because this car http://www.chavisauto.com/images/1999%2 ... Taurus.jpg will never work. Outside of the retarded united states that is. I guess Ford US must have thought those Australians are stupid enough to buy yank motors, they must be stupid enough to buy yank cars. Despite the fact some of us may not have brains it seems everyone down here DOES have eyes

The Falcon in recent years has taken on a slightly more European look. If you put it beside the latest Ford Mondeo they appear very similar. The current model Ford Taurus, which will be the likely replacement of the Falcon in its next generation, also appears to follow the same basic design philosophy.
Mondeo

Falcon

Taurus

[028 Sean]

So will the death of the Ford Falcon mean the end for the V8 Supercars too?? I've grown quite attacthed to watching the V8's racing about down under over the years and become a big fan of talented drivers like Mark Skaife and Greg Murphy but I guess this will all become a thing of the past now as Holden cannot be the only manufacturer left on the grid.

Is Holden's V8 Commodore's future safe because these are now exported to the UK under the guise of the Vauxhall VXR8 or could this announcement by Ford also spell the end for this car too?

[020 Brad]

So will the death of the Ford Falcon mean the end for the V8 Supercars too?? I've grown quite attacthed to watching the V8's racing about down under over the years and become a big fan of talented drivers like Mark Skaife and Greg Murphy but I guess this will all become a thing of the past now as Holden cannot be the only manufacturer left on the grid.

This won't spell the end for the super taxis. In fact it could be quite the opposite. At the moment the cars share the same floor plan anyway, only minor cosmetic differences and the engines distinguish the two from each other. I'm sure the suspension components are shared also. Add to this the fact that neither of the race engines are even factory released motors and you end up asking yourself, what part of the car is actually still a Falcon/Commodore?

What I'm getting at is that the name Falcon will never die. A rear wheel drive platform for Ford may do but at the moment this is not shared with the race cars anyway so theres no real reason why the super taxis series would die.

What I'm hoping is that they will open it up a little and allow a few different manufacturers in there to keep the Falcodoors honest.

[127 Gordo]

So will the death of the Ford Falcon mean the end for the V8 Supercars too?? I've grown quite attacthed to watching the V8's racing about down under over the years and become a big fan of talented drivers like Mark Skaife and Greg Murphy but I guess this will all become a thing of the past now as Holden cannot be the only manufacturer left on the grid.

This won't spell the end for the super taxis. In fact it could be quite the opposite. At the moment the cars share the same floor plan anyway, only minor cosmetic differences and the engines distinguish the two from each other. I'm sure the suspension components are shared also. Add to this the fact that neither of the race engines are even factory released motors and you end up asking yourself, what part of the car is actually still a Falcon/Commodore?

What I'm getting at is that the name Falcon will never die. A rear wheel drive platform for Ford may do but at the moment this is not shared with the race cars anyway so theres no real reason why the super taxis series would die.

What I'm hoping is that they will open it up a little and allow a few different manufacturers in there to keep the Falcodoors honest.

Rumours are that BMW and/or Mercedes are looking at getting involved in the future as they're looking at altering the reg's to suit more modern cars.
I would have thought Toyota would have been interested as they've got the pushrod V8s they build for NASCAR in the States

[020 Brad]

I've heard a Rumour that Toyota and/or Mitsubishi (it was a couple of years back now, my memory fails me) was trying everything they could to get into the series. They were both manufacturing cars in Australia, which is one of the regulations, however the organisors kept moving the goalposts because they prefered to blindly keep it Ford/Holden. After 3 or so years of trying to meet the regulations to enter a car into the series the company (whoever it was) gave up. Shortly after, probably when the series organisers could see the potential demise of the Falcon or Commodore platforms, they offered several spots to some chosen manufacturers, including some European Marques, who all turned them down because the market (Australasia) wasn't big enough to bother spending money in. I wonder if perhaps things have changed with the series now expanding to include other countries.

Again, this is all hearsay, but it does sound feasible.

[014 Phil]

Changes to the regulations from 2012 opens the door to other manufacturers. The series is very big business & continues to grow.

http://news.drive.com.au/drive/motor-ne ... -pvdm.html

[127 Gordo]

Changes to the regulations from 2012 opens the door to other manufacturers. The series is very big business & continues to grow.

http://news.drive.com.au/drive/motor-ne ... -pvdm.html

There are a fair number of Americans that are also catching on - they're getting sick of the "Professional Wrestling" style 'racing' in NASCAR and find the Aussie V8s to be what they expect from racing.