Why Ford will fail in Australia.

[hayseed]

The Australian car market is (roughly)1.25% of the Global market. Of which 2/3rs is Left hand Drive.
Ford head office aren't gunna lose Too Much Sleep over some little RHD outpost at the Bottom of the Globe. Despite what platitudes they Spew.

They will keep sending Us; Rangers Mustangs & Transits while ever We keep Buying them, & Whatever RHD Vehicles they Think We Might Buy/Deserve..


And that's just the way It Is, IMHO..

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by hayseed

The Australian car market is (roughly)1.25% of the Global market. Of which 2/3rs is Left hand Drive.
Ford head office aren't gunna lose Too Much Sleep over some little RHD outpost at the Bottom of the Globe. Despite what platitudes they Spew.

They will keep sending Us; Rangers Mustangs & Transits while ever We keep Buying them, & Whatever RHD Vehicles they Think We Might Buy/Deserve..


And that's just the way It Is, IMHO..

Ford has an alliance with VW to use their electric vehicle toolkit, so should be some
interesting vehicles coming in the next few years.

[FTE217]

Originally Posted by hayseed

The Australian car market is (roughly)1.25% of the Global market. Of which 2/3rs is Left hand Drive.
Ford head office aren't gunna lose Too Much Sleep over some little RHD outpost at the Bottom of the Globe. Despite what platitudes they Spew.

They will keep sending Us; Rangers Mustangs & Transits while ever We keep Buying them, & Whatever RHD Vehicles they Think We Might Buy/Deserve..


And that's just the way It Is, IMHO..

Correct, for some hope on getting more USA product we go LH drive

[CyberWasp]

Don't forget Ford Aus should have access to the new shared Van options with VW.
From what I can work out it means we should have a Ford version of the VW Caddy which opens up some fun options, being that the new Van is based off the new Golf platform.

Ford is also working on a 1 ton Van as part of the program also. I haven't seen any news on where that is going but are interested if anything cool is developing there.

[XR Martin]

Ford have had a VW caddy equivalent for years, the Transit Connect.
Wouldn't expect a shared one any more likely to get here.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by CyberWasp

Don't forget Ford Aus should have access to the new shared Van options with VW.
From what I can work out it means we should have a Ford version of the VW Caddy which opens up some fun options, being that the new Van is based off the new Golf platform.

Ford is also working on a 1 ton Van as part of the program also. I haven't seen any news on where that is going but are interested if anything cool is developing there.

Next Gen Crafter is supposed to be a RWD Transit built by Ford in Turkey.
There's no word on Transit Custom - Crafter tie up but I bet something is in the works..
Transit Connect becomes a Caddy because Caddy gets access to VW MQB EV toolkit and AV tech.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Everyone makes mistakes, hindsight is a wonderful thing but this mob just keeps making one stupid decision after another and thats fine, they get paid well to make them, what annoys me is when joe average like myself suggests they've misread the market and get condascending responses by those spruiking the party line with their inside intel only to see a policy backflip 10 minutes later when they realise they ****ed up and those same spruikers then go on to tell you about the genius deciscion thats been made at HQ that contradicts everything before it.

Don't worry next week they'll have a new CEO and do a 270 degree turn and head off in another direction

I've got leaked footage of Ford USA's board meetings with the CEO determining company strategy:

[Adamz Ghia]

In case anyone is interested, I didn’t see the need for a new thread for this, they’ve painted over all the Ford signs at the Geelong plant this week. Was actually a little shock to the head seeing all the signs gone.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by hayseed

The Australian car market is (roughly)1.25% of the Global market. Of which 2/3rs is Left hand Drive.
Ford head office aren't gunna lose Too Much Sleep over some little RHD outpost at the Bottom of the Globe. Despite what platitudes they Spew.

They will keep sending Us; Rangers Mustangs & Transits while ever We keep Buying them, & Whatever RHD Vehicles they Think We Might Buy/Deserve..


And that's just the way It Is, IMHO..

Yep. Our market is a small pimple on the worlds butt. Ford just want FoA to stay profitable on what they sell here, and that's about it. North America is where most of the money is. And where they rightly put their main focus on.

But in saying that, Ranger is Fords second most profitable model.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Adamz Ghia

In case anyone is interested, I didn’t see the need for a new thread for this, they’ve painted over all the Ford signs at the Geelong plant this week. Was actually a little shock to the head seeing all the signs gone.

The site has been handed over to Fortek now, and the Product Engineering offices separated from the manufacturing plants.

[stevefreestyle]

Originally Posted by hayseed

Here's an interesting analysis of Ford in Australia...By a very polarising Figure I Know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9X49mzrn-I

This rabid anti-Ford conceited cretin has to be unequivocally the biggest F###Wit on Youtube - my 96yr old mother knows more about Fords than this idiot, with his monumental, grotesquely disproportionate, and ironic arrogance!

[Tassie f100]

Originally Posted by stevefreestyle

This rabid anti-Ford conceited cretin has to be unequivocally the biggest F###Wit on Youtube - my 96yr old mother knows more about Fords than this idiot, with his monumental, grotesquely disproportionate, and ironic arrogance!

Trouble is,on most points he is 100% on the money.Sometimes you just have to take the blue tinged glasses off and look clearly at the big picture

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

I do have a fetish for a 2.7L Workmate Thailux with a Borgwarner EFR 6258 hanging off the side of it

Ah, my trusty northwest Chariot.
Mount the Borg Warner over the rear axle, maybe put a carton or two there as well, you'll be sweet and the ute a bit more balanced than my revvy, thrashy, bouncy workmobile.

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Probably because it’s easier to drop the price than raise it.
Ford has a new leader who’s more of a car guy than the last,
I think he knows that things aren’t right.

Always good when a car guy runs an automotive business.

Edit: last 15 years of the US companies in Australia have been a fascinating resource of how not to run a business. Ford has survived which is good, and has seen off old rival Holden. We've seen merry go rounds of CEOs, model names, pricing strategies; we've seen Jeep soar like a comet and go down in quality control flames. The bit where the GM executive told Australians they would have to be educated to FWD in the Commodore was classic hubris before a terrible fall. And Ford survived in spite of it all.

If it were me, and I could get Dearborn to sign off, I'd develop a separate line and import & convert America's strength: F150, Expedition, Explorer etc - to add more ute and SUV in massive size to the already successful Ranger and Everest.

[Bossxr8]

4th highest seller atm. If Ford are failing, then what are the other 50 odd car brands doing so wrong?

[minheim]

As we see electrification of vehicles increase I suspect the ability and design and build them in both RHD and LHD will increase along with cost savings. Hopefully this see a bigger range of Ford cars for Australia in the years ahead.

I think Ford are here for the long haul and afre transitioning well to bring an importer. So long as they can improve their marketing they have great vehicles to work from.

[minheim]

As we see electrification of vehicles increase I suspect the ability to design and build them in both RHD and LHD will increase along with cost savings. Hopefully this sees a bigger range of Ford cars for Australia in the years ahead.

I think Ford are here for the long haul and are transitioning well to being an importer. So long as they can improve their marketing they have great vehicles to work from.

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by minheim

As we see electrification of vehicles increase I suspect the ability to design and build them in both RHD and LHD will increase along with cost savings. Hopefully this sees a bigger range of Ford cars for Australia in the years ahead.

I think Ford are here for the long haul and are transitioning well to being an importer. So long as they can improve their marketing they have great vehicles to work from.

There will be a time when no exhaust system and no steering column means designing both will be easier and cheaper.

[aussiblue]

The latest Auto Expert epistle will get a mixed reaction too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgVY...ertJohnCadogan

My sympathies to the non-enduring Endura owners.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by aussiblue

The latest Auto Expert epistle will get a mixed reaction too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgVY...ertJohnCadogan

My sympathies to the non-enduring Endura owners.

Wub wub wub wub wub goes the 2009-spec dubstep intro