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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Ford , Australia , FPV "You guys are obsessed with rear wheel drive," Alan Mulally mused to the Australian press after a browbeating about which pair of wheels might propel the Falcon into the future. Try as they might, the Ford Chief would not be pinned down about the chassis architecture of future Falcons, saying only that the choice would be customer driven, and plugging front and all-wheel drive vehicles as "pretty spectacular." Mulally is right that Ford's global push to put exceptional small cars in showrooms is what the automaker's focus is and should be. The Falcon has long fallen off its sales peak from the halcyon days of two decades ago, and while Mulally agrees that it's "an absolutely dynamite vehicle," small cars in the future will prop up the more niche-y vehicles like the FG Falcon. Mulally went on to say that Australia will serve as an engineering and product development outpost for Ford, and the big...
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Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs , Ford , Australia After holding the title for just over six months, the President of Ford Australia has resigned and is moving to the United States to "fulfill a career dream." President Bill Osborne, who took the position only in February, insists his departure has nothing to do with the fact that the company just announced 350 jobs will be cut at Victorian plants. Mr. Osborne is mum on where he is heading, although a company spokesperson said it is outside the automotive industry. Ford has not announced a replacement, but the new boss will have his or her work cut out as the Australian market adjusts from its high-horsepower diet to more fuel efficient vehicles. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? [Source: News.com.au ] Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Marketing/Advertising , Videos , Ford , Australia , FPV Click above for photo gallery. Follow the jump for the video. Ford Performance Vehicles' new range of Ford FG Falcon-derived super sedans and utes is mind-bendingly appealing. Big turbocharged or NA power, bright colors, and that menacing Alice Cooper eye makeup in front make for an entire farmer's market of forbidden fruit. Sure, on this side of the world, Ford's SVT performance division gives us the Shelby GT500 and the even more monstrous Shelby GT500KR -- but seriously, as hot as the factory super-Stangs are, the lineup of FPV rides you see above is hot enough to turn that desert sand into glass. Only, they can't -- because everything you see there is virtual. Both the backdrop and the cars are CGI. The photo-realistic vehicle models were created using the real cars' CAD data for a brand new FPV TV spot that premieres in Australia this Sunday. If you don't live in Oz, no worries...
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Filed under: Economy , Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Ford , Holden , Australia The Australian government has both feet firmly planted on the hybrid bandwagon, and the blokes down under are looking for more of the automotive combo platter in its fleet. The government already has 355 Toyota and Honda hybrids in its fleet, but Aussie lawmakers would like to utilize its own home-grown workforce for future models. NSW Premier Morris Lemma wants the option to purchase hybrids from both both GM-owned Holden and Ford of Australia, and has even guaranteed that his government will be one of the first customers in line if Holden offered a battery-assisted Commodore within two years, as has been reported . Unfortunately, a promise from the government for a few hundred sales is hardly enough incentive on its own for an automaker to begin developing a hybrid, so both Holden and Ford will no doubt be investigating closely whether or not there's enough demand in the Australian market for a gas-electric...
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Filed under: Trucks/Pickups , Ford , Holden , Australia Click either image to view high-res gallery of the Ultimate Sh-Ute-Out While the U.S. is about to get its first taste of two-door, rear-wheel-drive, car-based pickups in the form of the Pontiac G8 ST (official name still TBD), Australians have been enjoying these things, called utes, for decades. While Holden introduced a new version of its Commodore-based ute last year, Ford has just gotten around to meeting the challenge with its new Falcon-based ute. And you know what that means: Ford vs. GM cage match in Koala Bear country! Pickuptrucks.com has pitted the Holden SS Ute and Ford XR8 Ute, both top-shelf sports models, against each other in this Ultimate Sh-Ute-Out for the ages. For as similar as these utes are in price and power, we were surprised to learn how different they actually are. The Ford ute, for instance, is considered more of a workhorse than the Holden and thus continues to use a leaf-sprung rear suspension instead of...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Sports/GTs , Trucks/Pickups , Ford , Australia , FPV Click above for high-res gallery of the FPV F6, more galleries after the jump FPV's seemingly endless rollout of its new FG Falcon-based lineup has finally culminated in the actual launch of the cars (how novel), which we've already touched upon . To that end, we'll keep this brief and turn you loose on the multiple new photo galleries now available (check out the rest after the jump). The FPV range encompasses both Falcon sedan and Ute bodystyles, and power comes from either the turbocharged F6 inline-six or the 5.4L Boss 315 V8. The six delivers 415 horsepower and a tire-humbling 416 lb-ft of torque. The eight's no slouch either, pumping out 422 horses (315 kW, hence the engine's name) and 406 lb-ft. A Tremec TR6060 6-speed stick is available across the full range of cars. Speaking of that, here's the rundown: FPV F6 Ute FPV Pursuit (V8 Ute) FPV Super Pursuit ( Top-of-the-line V8...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Sports/GTs , Ford , Australia Click above for high-res gallery of the new FPV Falcon F6 Ford is getting ready for a battle in Australia for the hearts and minds of performance enthusiasts. Its new FPV Falcons will go head to head with what HSV offers from Holden, and today the Blue Oval from Down Under released officials specs for its souped up, gnarly-looking rear-wheel-drive sedans. First we have the F6, which is powered by the familiar turbocharged 4.0L straight-six engine now producing 416 horsepower and 417 pound-feet of torque at just 1,950 rpm. That's a 54-horsepower increase over the prior straight six, and matches up surprisingly well with Ford's other engine offering, the 5.4L Boss V8 producing 422 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque at a loftier 4,750 rpm. The Boss motor can be had in the GT E, GT-P and GT sedans, as well as the Super Pursuit and Pursuit Ute. The exceptional straight-six meanwhile, is only offered in the F6 sedan and...
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Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing , Ford , Australia That didn't take long. After Monday's article in the Detroit News reporting that Ford's U.S. operations were going to be developing its own RWD platform here in the States, the FoMoCo crew from Down Under refutes that story saying, "It's too early to speculate on that." With the dollar not holding up like it used to, the idea that Stateside Ford engineers would develop their own left-hand drive, RWD architecture seems sound, especially considering that the Falcon's underpinnings can't support switching the controls from starboard to port. If Ford's U.S. team can manage to provide both, then there's going to be a serious glut of manufacturing and engineering jobs in Australia if and when it happens. [Source: CarPoint via TTAC ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Coupes , Sedans/Saloons , Ford , Australia Ford has apparently finally heard the call and green-lighted development of a new global rear wheel drive platform and a family of vehicles to be built on it. However, unlike General Motors, Ford will not rely on its Australian division to do the heavy lifting. Since the collapse of the U.S. dollar has made the United States a low cost country, the development of the new platform has been moved back to Dearborn. The most recent attempt at a rear-drive architecture that debuted on the latest Australian Ford Falcon was something of a debacle for the company. Unlike Holden, which designed its RWD Zeta platform to be built in right- and left-hand-drive versions, the new Falcon platform is right-hand drive only. This new Ford architecture to be developed near Detroit, however, will spawn models for both the Ford and Lincoln brands, including an all-new Mustang. With Ford making a major push to reduce weight in future models, hopefully these...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Ford , Holden , Australia Holden and Ford have been fighting the battle of Commodore vs. Falcon for many years, and with the recent announcement of the new Falcon range , the war has heated up. Holden's very competent Holden line has been given quite a jolt in anticipation of the Falcon's release, with many offerings trumping Ford's recently introduced Falcon models. The Commodore will now feature standard side curtain airbags across the model range, as opposed to only two of eight Falcon models having the safety tech standard. The Commodore's side air bags will also protect both first and second row passengers, as opposed to only the front row in the Falcon. Holden also held the price of the upcoming Commodore wagon to within $1,000 of the sedan's price, where before it was an extra $3,000, and air conditioning is now standard on all models. Pricing for the eight Falcon models has yet to be announced, so Ford still has a chance to retaliate...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Sports/GTs , Trucks/Pickups , Ford , Misc. Auto Shows , Australia , FPV Click image for a hi-res gallery of the turbocharged FPV F6 Despite how it might seem, all the action at the Melbourne motor show is not happening over at the Holden and HSV stands. Dearborn's Australian outpost put on its brass knuckles too and is teasing Melbourne showgoers with Ford Performance Vehcie's latest, greatest muscle. The arrival of the new FG Falcon means that a full lineup of FPV variants follows, and the new F6, GT and Super Pursuit ute are all on display. Like HSV, which hasn't announced power numbers for its W427 , FPV is keeping the stats for its new machinery under wraps for now. We're confident that the numbers will match the cars' gloriously extroverted looks. Colors out of a gumball machine, matte black accents, and stripe packages give the cars a vintage musclecar vibe. Big wheels, big brakes and all the requisite badges and bulges complete the...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Podcasts , Economy , Hatchbacks , BMW , Chevrolet , Chrysler , Ford , Jaguar , Jeep , MINI , Toys , Australia , FPV , Tata UPDATE: Back by popular demand, direct download of the podcast has been added as a link below. The biggest news of the past week: the suckfest that was the Knight Rider movie. Alex liveblogged it so that we didn't have to watch. Sure it was crap, but was it really that bad? The original was a clunker, too, remember. There's car stuff going on, too, and we move on to covering what's in our respective Autoblog Garages . Keep an eye out for some new reviews, and John has a podcast-exclusive announcement, too. We spin off into a small car smackdown, postulate on who should buy Jaguar if Tata flips them , and boomerang back to our MINI vs. Aveo sales number deathmatch. In this week's installment of "Fords We Don't Get," there's a new Austrailian Falcon that is available in full-on sinister. It's badass in FPV...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Ford , Australia Click above for more high-res images of the FG Falcon G-Series But is he getting one for himself? One could certainly infer that's the case based on this GoAuto article , which reports that the Ford CEO was so blown away by the Falcon G6E Turbo he sampled at an Australian test facility that he told Trevor Worthington (Ford Australia's product-development veep), "I want one." And that brings us to the question of the day: is the head of Ford really bringing over a new Falcon for himself to drive? Because while we in the peanut gallery generally agree that the Blue Oval stuff in Europe and Australia has it all over the American-market offerings (Mustang and F-Series excluded), there would be no greater acknowledgment of this than the CEO of Ford cruising around in a desirable RHD-only Aussie sedan while we make do with the Taurus, which even the execs recently made fun of . Americans will need to wait for the arrival of the...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Sports/GTs , Ford , Misc. Auto Shows , Australia , FPV Click image for hi-res FPV will tease everyone with its new lineup of FG Falcon-based sedans and Utes at the Melbourne show, but the tech specs will remain under wraps until sometime closer to June, when the tire-shredders are scheduled to launch. We do know some things, though. As before, power will come from turbo inline-sixes or brawny V8s stuffed under the decaled, domed hood (at least in the case of the wicked FPV GT, above, which has a Boss V8 lurking under there). Gone are all the Ford badges, too. In their place are oval FPV insignias, which make it crystal clear that these are not mere Falcons. The front fascia on the GT is menacing, with "eye black" under the G-Series-style headlamps (hence the Alice Cooper reference), and a pronounced honeycomb lower bumper insert. The offset GT grille badge carries over from past models. Additional matte black decals can be found on the sides of the...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Trucks/Pickups , Ford , Misc. Auto Shows , Australia click above for high-res gallery of the new Ford FG Falcon It's a couple of years late to the party, but the all-new Ford FG Falcon is set to arrive in Australia later this year, when it'll match up with GM's Holden Commodore sedan and Ute offerings on the sales charts and at Aussie stop lights for years to come. Like the Holdens, the Falcons are rear-wheel-drive. The FG is all-new, with a more rigid architecture, new and/or upgraded powertrains, increased variety in terms of visual and interior options, and improvements in fuel economy as well. The factory performance wing, FPV, will also introduce a full range of FG-based sedans and Utes as well. We'll bring you more on the FPV cars when additional info and the all-important photos are released. As for the standard FG Falcon offerings, the sedan will come in XT, G-Series, and XR trim levels, with the Ute joining it in base, R6, and XR Trims...
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