December 2011 Sales

[flappist]

Keep it civil guys (and ladies).

Just because someone disputes your argument does not give you the right to take it as a personal attack or respond likewise.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Davez621

Oh, and nothing's changed in VE's 5 1/2 years either, right? I suppose a whole new direct injection engine and 6-speed auto counts for nothing?

Where did I say anything about the VE? Just pointing out EA to ED was a constant evolution. Although bar engine and gearbox very little else has changed in VE really.

Originally Posted by csv8

What if Ford had kept LR..Evoque could have been a REAL luxury badged SUV for Ford..above Tezza.....

No LR has ever been badged as a Ford, nor would it have happened. Its much smaller than Territory too, if it had of been badged a Ford they would have had some problems selling a much smaller vehicle for a much higher price, no matter how good the Evoque is. I would own one in a heartbeat if I was looking for a luxury small SUV, they are awesome. Drive really well from all accounts too. Near same 2 litre Ecoboost as Falcon as well.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by prydey

he's just taking over from where the other clown left off, flying all round the globe. any excuse will do.

Ford and Holden have their business cases prepared for next product cycles,
they are deliberatly waiting off, not to see what the market is doing, no it much
simpler than that, the press has everyone running scared, especially the politicians
who need everyone on side in tight times and election years, the ultimate con is at hand
and will be played out in the US board rooms of Ford and GM.

"Oh please, don't stop local manufacturing"
"You gave Toyota money for new Camry.....How are you going to help us?"
"Here's a truck load of money to stay and guarantee the next product cycle is a local car..."

[jpd80]

These two graphs speak volumes and tell the story of why Geoff Polites had
the good sense to develop Territory instead of persisting with LWB cars.
Holden went with local Cruze but the returns are far less...............





This third graph shows the importance of 4x4 Utes and the steady decline of 4x2 utes

[Joe5619]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

this blokes going toooo....

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/s...-1226238796616

a shame the Vic premier isn't going to meet Ford top bosses!!!

[csv8]

The Euro is going up..now 80c to the Aussie $..By June it is expected to be 84c.
Will Focus Mondeo's have a price reduction ? I think not!!

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by csv8

The Euro is going up..now 80c to the Aussie $..By June it is expected to be 84c.
Will Focus Mondeo's have a price reduction ? I think not!!

Focus from Europe is a short term deal and will be moving to Thailand as soon as plant is up and running,
while the price may not be lowered, I would expect that Thai production allows Ford to add content.

Mondeo.
Does Ford continue to import Mondeo from Europe with huge shipping distance and build timings
or do they bite the bullet and build the new one in Thailand or maybe even Australia?
Let's not forget that Ford put in a whole new press line (21) a couple of years back....

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Focus from Europe is a short term deal and will be moving to Thailand as soon as plant is up and running,
while the price may not be lowered, I would expect that Thai production allows Ford to add content.

Mondeo.
Does Ford continue to import Mondeo from Europe with huge shipping distance and build timings
or do they bite the bullet and build the new one in Thailand or maybe even Australia?
Let's not forget that Ford put in a whole new press line (51) a couple of years back....

Line 21

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Barraxr8

Line 21

Thanks, I'll correct my post.

In terms of monthly sales, Focus sems to have done well on the back of advertising
of Titanium and its features as well as Ambiente's $19,990 drive away price...

maybe a different strategy of low or no interest financing with full retail would help drive sales better.

Focus...... $24,000 drive away, $1,000 deposit, $250/mth over 48 mths with 50% residual?

Mondeo.......$40,000 drive away, $1,000 deposit, $400/mth over 48 mths with 50% residual?

I know it's subveening the residual but using aggressive financing through a return of Ford Credit may be a good way...

[brydie76]

Originally Posted by prydey

what about the members that are still living in the past and see ford as the falcon car company?? take your blinkers off. all large sedans are going the same direction. can't see the wood for the trees.

This. The Focus/Cruze/3 sized car is becoming the new "everyday car", and the Territory/Pajero/Captiva is the new "family car". That is purely based off personal observation, mind you, but I think it rings true in the sales and driveway tests. I used to do a lot of babysitting for younger families, and the trend seems to be steering towards Mum driving the big 4WD with the kids and any friends in it to school/shops/wherever else, and Dad takes the smaller car to work. The only families I found that had the Commodore of Flacon sized car were given the, by their employer.

I think that sized car is stuck between the 2 levels that everybody seems to want now. If you are a no/1 child family, a Focus/Cruze will be large enough to fit the weekly shopping and everybody, plus it is cheaper to own and run that the Falcon/Commodore. 2 or more kids, and the 4WD becomes almost a necessity, especially when factoring in carpooling/having friends over- if you have only 2 kids and each wants to have a friend over, your car is already full (and squishy, I still remember that clearly!). Once you get to 3 kids, the 7/8 seater car is almost a requirement. Again, small sample size (should also disclaimer at this point I'm obviously not a parent so speaking off limited experience only here!) but every family I babysat ended up with at least 3 kids over the years, and every family ended up with a Pajero or similar. They just felt it necessary to keep sanity over time on car trips ("hey! He pinched MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!") and to future proof as kids got bigger and a 5 seater of any size became impossible to travel comfortably in.

[martyk54]

Originally Posted by flappist

Keep it civil guys (and ladies).

Just because someone disputes your argument does not give you the right to take it as a personal attack or respond likewise.

Personally I really don't care and don't take it as an 'attack', I'm just interested in sound discussion without assumptions and argumentative BS.

I merely told prydey to quit manufacturing false claims to either support his weak point of view or attempt to weaken mine... which he's done several times when replying to my posts in this thread. When I pick him up on it he says I'm taking it as a personal attack? Fail. Enough said.

[jpd80]

Thanks to Russel's technical resources, we can see which vehicles the market wants.
As I see it Ford needs to do much better in the light and small car sectors as well as small and Mid sized SUVs,
Ranger will address the 4x2 and 4x4 ute sector but Ford really needs a vehicle that can bridge the
mid sized and large car sectors, that then doubles the sales potential of one vehicle, so how do they do it?
What ever vehicle is chosen will have to have one body and delineate classes by engine size,
- Mid size = I-4 EB and I-4 TDCI
- Large car = V6 petrol/ TDCI/LPG and either V6 EB or V8.
- Falcon Ute is History, replaced by 4x2 Ranger
- Territory or a global SUV stays as companion production to new sedans.


Corporate FWD/AWD or Local RWD platform sharing with Mustang doesn't really matter as long as business case is strong.

[Joe5619]

Originally Posted by csv8

The Euro is going up..now 80c to the Aussie $..By June it is expected to be 84c.
Will Focus Mondeo's have a price reduction ? I think not!!

Have we seen any price cuts from ALL the other import car companies over the last 12-18 months??? NO!! So, why should be Ford any different?

[csv8]

I agree..but Euro'shave upped the specifications of their models. Harley have reduced the price of their bikes by $1000 to $2000 as the dollar is par with the Greenback.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by martyk54

I merely told prydey to quit manufacturing false claims

i think you are being quite pedantic.

Originally Posted by martyk54

I said performance, which includes a whole range of things such as handling, braking, suspension, transmission.. etc, etc. Women traditionally put these things below a range of other needs / wants. Maybe sensitive new age guys are the same??

Originally Posted by prydey

too many times on here the argument over which car is superior goes straight to the straight line performance times etc. have a look at the top 10 sales models every month and you'll soon understand that performance, handling, braking is ample in most cars on the market.

its pretty obvious the first part is a general statement.

like i said, you seem very defensive.

perhaps you can enlighten me as to how important performance, handling, braking and suspension is then. maybe have a look at the top 10 sales to give yourself some clues.

[brydie76]

Originally Posted by martyk54

Personally I really don't care and don't take it as an 'attack', I'm just interested in sound discussion without assumptions and argumentative BS.
...

Originally Posted by martyk54

....
How about you 'new age women' loosen up just a little? I was purely addressing a correlation between the sexes and automotive marketing. You'd think in this day and age a female could address the topic rather than continually pulling out the sexism card and deflecting the thread... nope. Is society that hard for women? The % amount in therapy suggests so I guess.

Yeah, what would you call the second quote?

The others are correct. Performance features mentioned above, unless they are linked in with safety, don't matter to most people. 99% of cars out there are used to get from A to B, be it work, school, the shops, etc. Most people are not willing to pay an upfront premium, along with the higher costs for fuel, parts etc for a "performance car", unless said performance acts as an advantage for them otherwise (eg towing capabilities added to a smaller car). I would have loved to have gotten some sort of "performance" car when I was looking (a VW Polo GTI was high on the list), but the associated costs were not compensated for by the perceived benefits. Even my dad, massive car enthusiast, went very close to buying a Mazda 3 when he was looking (thank goodness he got the Golf GTI!). As money and space become more scarce for many, the thrills previously achieved by performance ars are attained in other areas, such as bikes, boats, etc.

Obviously this is just my personal observations being used to form an opinion, but I think that the statistics in this thread do back it up.

[Nic85]

Maybe back on track a bit here... Is there any breakdown yet of each manufacturer? Car by car?

[russellw]

Threads merged as they were similar in topic.

The segment analysis is now uploaded into the Tech portal which competes the annual reviews for 2011.

Cheers
Russ