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Originally Posted by LeadFoot81
Ford Oz carried on with the online 6 because they were able to meet emissions requirements and extend its life though to 2016. Economies of scale on dwindling sales wouldn't have worked with the imported V6, but with help from the government Ford Oz kept the engine plant ticking along.
I'm not sure that public sentiment was a factor.
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Originally Posted by Polyal
That might be one story, the truth is always about $$ and knowing the long term plan.
Imagine dropping the I6, tooling for a V6 for only a couple of years....
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Originally Posted by Kieron
Your right mate. Comes down to $$'s and other factors. Ford AU never considered making the engine here, it was either imported fully assembled or built from kits like the V8. Problem with that was costs weren't fixed and it would have increased the costs of the Falcon which wouldn't work in the shrinking large car segment. In comparison, the I6 was well and truly 'paid for', was a fixed cost and importantly, had a turbo, just need to be Euro 4 compliant. Of course, this was around GFC when Ford was fighting for its life and the Falcon/Territory was facing the chopping block.
As for this Stinger, if I were in the market to replace my FG XR8, it would certainly be on the shopping list. With a 7 year warranty, can't go wrong, the car will be a flagship for Kia and you can bet they will do everything to ensure it succeeds.
Mod wise, if it sells, the modders will come.
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Reading my post back, it was poorly worded. I didn't mean it to say that Ford dropped the V6 because of the public reaction but people did get upset over the proposal of a V6.
Ford considered the V6 back in the AU days. They were going to shut down the engine assembly plant and import them. IIRC the government stepped in at the last moment with incentives to keep the engine plant open.
No, it wasn't going to be the ecoboost V6 but if they had gone V6 back then I would assume that the V6 ecoboost would have found its way into the FG series.
Anyway, I'm getting way off topic here. I think the Stinger will be a great car.