Quote:
Originally Posted by roddy1960
G'day , Holden Monaro hung on til 2006 or so apparently which surprised me a little when I read that . The last two door Falcon was way back in 1978 with the lovely XC . Anybody know why Ford cut ties with hardtop/coupe's at the time ? Weren't they popular or something despite the 1977 Bathurst win and the gorgeous Cobra and such ? Just wondering if Ford ever disclosed why.
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Prior to the V2 Monaro, which was released in late 2001 was the first Monaro since its demise in 1976. There were none built between those 2 dates. The V2 lasted until 2006 & GM-H have built none since.
Coupes have always had limited sales success in Australia, for whatever reason.
The XM/XP Hardtop wasn't what you would call a huge sales success when new. So much so that Ford Aust. didn't even bother to produce an XR-XY version, even though US tooling would've been accessible & relatively inexpensive for them. They then went ahead with the XA hardtop based on the Monaro's sales.
The original HK Monaro sold very well at first, but dropped off quite a bit with the HT/HG series. The HQ saw sales go well initially but by 1974/75 it was dead in the water. The HX LE was a method of getting rid of excess coupe panels.
The XA sold quite well, but XB & then XC sales fell off the proverbial cliff. The Cobra was its swansong, for the same reason as the LE.
The Valiant Charger was much the same. It sold well from its 1971 release, but by 1975/76 was all over. It was discontinued in Aug 1978, towards the end of the CL series. The larger Valiant Hardtop never sold well by comparison with the Charger.
It will be interesting to see how Mustangs sales perform over the longer term.
Dr Terry