Ford Sales Slowest In 60 Years

[Rodge]

^^ At least Holden appear to have a plan, big price cuts and lots of new technology...and they're flat out building stock to meet supply demand from the States...meanwhile over at Ford, management collect nice fat salaries and attend expensive future vision promotions and the rest of the time they appear to do little more than this


Perhaps because they know the end game in October 2016, morale is so bad they no longer care ?

[Elks]

It has me amazed me the where and why of all this.

A relative of mine just bought Jeep Grand Cherokee limited over a Territory Titanium, despite my efforts to stop him. Deciding factors were cabin noise, tech and towing capabilities. Had to add an aftermarket DvD and it has neither SatNav nor leather.

True the jeep can tow more but both easily can tow his 1.6 van
Both are quiet, but I would say the TT is actually quieter.
Tech. He's already over some of it. It's three weeks old.

But here is the kicker. He wanted a higher quality imported car. His headlamps are full of water, the parking sensors front and rear only work sometimes (which effectively means never as you cant trust them) and the thing was supplied without its reverse camera. Due in October. Really if it was a Ford everyone would be screaming. I drove it. It drive like a pickup truck.

Better still he justified the upgrade from his old car to an SUV to get 7 seats, the Jeep has 5.

In reality he simply didn't want a Ford. Which makes me sad for the brand and where it's going.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by xrystl

At what point (monthly sales) do Ford cry "enough" and shutdown manufacturing ? ; IMHO the new model won't make a scrap of difference to their monthly sales as most people have already turned off the Falcon as being available .
Ford has 200 or so dealers Australia wide and last month sold under 600 Falcons , that's an average of 3 cars per dealer per month ; they must have a point where it's just not logical to continue and surely that point must be close to being reached ? and I doubt that the new model will have big bucks thrown at it to make it a seller , just as the new Commodore (it's a good car) is not setting any sales records (despite price cuts) and with (probably) a new Government reducing the cash splash to the car manufacturers it's probably better to bail out sooner than later to stop more hurt .
Not knocking the Ford product , just their method of advertising /selling the product and the misery of dealing with the Ford dealers. I have bought many new Fords since 1969 , however now I wouldn't set foot in their dealerships after being burnt a few times by Dealers and their Non Service departments.

The point of no return, is the point where Fords strategy to make the Falcon completely un-competitive and totally forgotten about to the general public succeeds.

You can tell they no longer care cause they didn't even bother re-acting to the VF's release. I know it's not just the Commodore they have to compete with now but it's the Falcons closest competitor and warranted some sort of reaction. But typical Ford wheel out the old large cars are dying spiel, the segment continues to drop, 3.1 % bla bla bla. Just don't mention that the Falcon is the reason the segment is dropping because the Commodore and Aurion sales have risen or stayed even.

[RikBiel]

I was told the same story - low sales - during the week.

I am a definite new XR6T buyer - but whether it is an FG2 or the new FH - remains to be seen.

The "slow reveal" crap doesn't help decision making.

If I like the look of the new FH - that's what I will go for
If I don't I'll stick with a last of the FG2

But until I see the FH I can't choose.
So Ford should stop stuffing around and release some picture and specs.

I want to buy or order now but my purchase is being delayed.

[RikBiel]

And I HATE SUV's soft roaders wannabes- I hate 4WDs.
Yes - tradies and serious offroaders - fine

But soccer Mums in their Prados and Terries.....Grrr !
I am sick of seeing people who can't drive or handle them on the roads - they are a nuisance.

Diesels smell too..........

[geehaa]

Originally Posted by csv8

!!!!

[Blue_Uterus]

I agree Rik, those soccer mums can be downright dangerous on the road. And mostly they drive SUV's for their safety.. because they can't drive properly!

[RikBiel]

What worries me with the situation as well - just a niggling doubt in the back of my mind - with the guys on the floor making these cars having been told their end dates - will/has quality on current builds/builds since announcement suffered in any way?

I'd like to hope all the QA and testing and pride in their work would mean not. I really like to believe the best in people. I would hope their professionalism would remain unchanged.
But I can't help but wonder...it is a big blow....maybe I'm just paranoid...

It's really just a crappy situation all round - for the guys for losing their jobs, and the fans for losing an icon and losing confidence in the brand.

Management mismanagement

[Bossxr8]

No change in quality, if anything it will have improved because there has been a big focus on getting it right before it goes out the door, because we have more time to do it now.

[RikBiel]

That is reassuring to hear and one of the great reasons for being part of this forum.

I'm guessing you work at the factory - and if so I am glad to hear your comments - cheers.

[Elks]

The question is. What can Ford do.

Lets se if we can wrestle up some positive ideas.

[rdmr]

Originally Posted by Elks

The question is. What can Ford do.

Lets se if we can wrestle up some positive ideas.

A new Aussie President. That would be a major start.

[351ciofgrunt]

Originally Posted by rdmr

A new Aussie President. That would be a major start.

I agree, Australia should be a republic

[Rodge]

Originally Posted by Elks

The question is. What can Ford do.

Lets se if we can wrestle up some positive ideas.

Mate they need to follow conventional discounting norms in the motor vehicle industry as suggested in my posts earlier in this thread.
Its simply not plausible to try and sell meaningful volumes of aging Ford Falcon and FPV product without reacting in a authentic way to competitor price and technology pressure.

Its a time honoured business methodology in the motor vehicle industry...as your product ages and becomes less competitive on a technology and market freshness perspective you start serious discounting to take the game back to your competitors who cannot match your price due to supply constraints and are asking full retail or close to it. Ford, especially with their higher model FPV product and to some extent turbo 6 vehicles and high end Tezza's, appear to be largly ignoring this well proven approach and then wondering why their sales continue to decline at significant pace

In short, meaningful price reductions are the only way to make FPV Falcon and Tezza product competitive in the lead-up to FH's arrival which for Ford's sake, can't come quick enough. It shouldn't be up to customers to tell Ford how to run their business. If current management arn't any good then get rid of them.

[dimka100]

I have seen the new Territory add played a fair bit on TV recently, It’s not a bad add too … As for the Falcon, I’m afraid it’s all about the FH now as the FG it’s just too old and lacking the requirements new buyers are looking for ...

[DanielXR8]

Originally Posted by Rodge

Yesterday I made an enquiry with my GT-P selling dealer regasrding a possible update for my MK 1 SC GT-P to a new Mk2 SC GT-P in Kinetic blue.


The response came back, we are not in a position to give you special run-out pricing.

Which of these applies - Multi-choice, you tell me.
a) Ford America wants to wind-up production as soon as possible to minimise their losses so has instructed Ford not to offer special pricing on FG2 Falcon product

e) All of the above.

I think E, all of the above.

How about Ford NZ imported a batch of FPV stock months ago that is just sitting around as no one is interested in it. Ford Australia won't give any cash back on the cars or any other kind of incentive, so Ford New Zealand has nothing to offer the dealers and the dealers are stuck with the cars which they need to sell as close to full price as they can.

You asked for a massive price drop, which could only be done if the dealer principal took a bath. He declined.

Said dealer hangs on to stock and hopes someone will think the GT-P they have is collectable and will make a better offer. If come 2014 these cars are still around, the dealers probably will take a big hit to move them. You get your car cheap and dealer principal wonders after the Falcon experience if its time to:

a) Get another franchise from another more popular brand.
b) Give up on Ford altogether, irrespective of what happens with a.

[DanielXR8]

Originally Posted by Rodge

Mate they need to follow conventional discounting norms in the motor vehicle industry as suggested in my posts earlier in this thread.
Its simply not plausible to try and sell meaningful volumes of aging Ford Falcon and FPV product without reacting in a authentic way to competitor price and technology pressure.

Its a time honoured business methodology in the motor vehicle industry...as your product ages and becomes less competitive on a technology and market freshness perspective you start serious discounting to take the game back to your competitors who cannot match your price due to supply constraints and are asking full retail or close to it. Ford, especially with their higher model FPV product and to some extent turbo 6 vehicles and high end Tezza's, appear to be largly ignoring this well proven approach and then wondering why their sales continue to decline at significant pace

In short, meaningful price reductions are the only way to make FPV Falcon and Tezza product competitive in the lead-up to FH's arrival which for Ford's sake, can't come quick enough. It shouldn't be up to customers to tell Ford how to run their business. If current management arn't any good then get rid of them.

Current management should go as should marketing, but that would require sacking themselves. Better to blame the guy on the production line, whose crime was to assemble what he was told to.

[DanielXR8]

Originally Posted by 351ciofgrunt

I agree, Australia should be a republic

USA - United States of Australia. Leader of world trade agreements and proponent of the flat earth policy.

[Rodge]

Originally Posted by DanielXR8

How about Ford NZ imported a batch of FPV stock months ago that is just sitting around as no one is interested in it. Ford Australia won't give any cash back on the cars or any other kind of incentive, so Ford New Zealand has nothing to offer the dealers and the dealers are stuck with the cars which they need to sell as close to full price as they can.

You asked for a massive price drop, which could only be done if the dealer principal took a bath. He declined.

Said dealer hangs on to stock and hopes someone will think the GT-P they have is collectable and will make a better offer. If come 2014 these cars are still around, the dealers probably will take a big hit to move them. You get your car cheap and dealer principal wonders after the Falcon experience if its time to:

a) Get another franchise from another more popular brand.
b) Give up on Ford altogether, irrespective of what happens with a.

There are a few GT-P's sitting around on the N.Z. market and dealers are asking retail or close to it, which here is circa $97,000 on the road.
On one hand you have new parallel imported Jaguar XFR's which can be had for within 10% of that figure and then there's the full kit Chrysler SRT8 as demo's which can be had for $70,000 and the newer and much fresher VF product to contend with as well.

Regardless of who's to blame aging FPV product doesn't make a compelling case for itself at the price point where Ford dealers are being asked to try to sell it in New Zealand. OTOH if you could buy a new MK2 GT-P for $80,000 drive away I think they'd be selling...

That's where they need to be to shift product in N.Z. in my opinion, and about $5-6,000 less drive-away for a GT. Do they want to sell stock here or not...

Plenty of other manufacturers discount aging product lines by 20%, often considerably more...this is not rocket science and is a well proven stratagy that's been used sucessfully in the motor vehicle industry for many decades yet Ford have a product that is already an orphan and known to be finishing soon and yet refuse to follow conventional norms...go figure.

[barra240t]

This month is really picking up compared to the last few months, should see a different vfacts result I'm sure next month.