F150's coming to Oz ??

[ozrunner]

Could be an interesting development.

https://www.drive.com.au/news/exclus...ord-showrooms/

[Polyal]

I can see the EV version making sense, but surely Australia isnt the only country that would be keen on RHD?

[dunga]

article say after an absence of 15 years please correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't that the f 250

[naddis01]

These articles must generate a lot of views because they wheel this story out every now and then on a slow news day. I'm not saying it will never happen but I'll believe it when I see it. It was the same with the Nissan Titan. Nothing happened. Also with the Toyota Tundra. Nothing happened.

[rare ss]

RHD F150 Lightning will be great to see!

[Franco Cozzo]

With 351C noises coming through the speakers

[Nikked]

Only done a thread a few months ago on the possibility of Ford going the GM route with factory backed RHD conversions...

Makes perfect sense, people already are happy to pay for 3rd party RHD conversions, Ford can easily undercut prices and offer full factory support. And from what I've seen, the market is increasing for large trucks.

Being from a rural area, i see a few big utes. Popular amongst farmers and specifically people involved in the equine industry, these large utes offer a better alternative for 5th wheeling over 79'series Cruisers or vehicles like Iveco Dailys.

Of course, quite a few are shiny status symbols however...

[CyberWasp]

Ford Office


RAM Office

[Gumboot]

SCD in Brisbane are apparently converting the F150 soon.
Scroll down on their ausmv sales arm here
https://ausmv.com.au/#

[MITCHAY]

I can understand why they wouldn't bother with an RHD production line but if we can make a factory backed conversion line work for RAM and Silverado surely Ford could do the same? Though it might be a problem even getting LHD trucks here to convert.

Only thing I can think of is the market share. If they all had similar numbers then it would seem obvious that it works but if they start eating into each other what does that do?

[winkle]

Joshua Dowling is the New Idea of motoring. He just makes sh!t up and has been doing so for years. Having said that, I would seriously consider a factory backed F150.

[vbomber]

https://www.whichcar.com.au/news/202...dZE3focro56hUY some photos of what has arrived

[ozrunner]

Originally Posted by MITCHAY

..................Only thing I can think of is the market share. If they all had similar numbers then it would seem obvious that it works but if they start eating into each other what does that do?

I don't get your rationale. Why would you want to share if you could corner this market.

If Ford could have a full compliance and safety converted F150 done for a lot less than the existing 3rd party conversions then why wouldn't you go for market dominance.

[b0son]

Originally Posted by ozrunner

If Ford could have a full compliance and safety converted F150 done for a lot less than the existing 3rd party conversions then why wouldn't you go for market dominance.

Exactly. People are currently willing to overpay for a big truck (relative to the selling price of one of these in the US), so it's not like Ford couldn't continue to charge a premium while being able to significantly undercut the 3rd party conversions. They could take practically the entire market.

Look at the Camaro. The simple existence of the factory Mustang made the Camaro almost an impossible sell. Less car for more money. Only the GM hardcore were silly enough to pay for one.

[MITCHAY]

Originally Posted by ozrunner

I don't get your rationale. Why would you want to share if you could corner this market.

If Ford could have a full compliance and safety converted F150 done for a lot less than the existing 3rd party conversions then why wouldn't you go for market dominance.

I agree but at the moment RAM and Silverado have all the market share as factory backed re-manufacturers.

So what I'm saying is if Ford now enter this market how does this affect it? To clarify I'm talking about conversion not factory RHD.

If all the trucks sell the same numbers between them all then all good you would think but if they start taking sales from the other at what point does it make them unviable?

Ford won't give a **** if they can come in and do that obviously

[b0son]

Originally Posted by MITCHAY

I agree but at the moment RAM and Silverado have all the market share as factory backed re-manufacturers.

And even though they're factory-backed, a lot of people simply look on it as an inferior (to factory-made) product. Arguably, Ford's entry with a factory RHD could actually even grow the market.

Sub-$100k, they'd have people lining up for them.

[MITCHAY]

Absolutely they would, if they can bring it here factory RHD. To my surprise, we know the market is here for these trucks.

I was talking about if they were in the conversion business. Maybe I have confused things a bit

[ozrunner]

Originally Posted by MITCHAY

.......................I was talking about if they were in the conversion business. Maybe I have confused things a bit

You are correct as at this point the article says Ford are looking at who in Oz could do the RHD conversion to their standards.

We are not talking about a full factory RHD but an advantage would be an obvious Ford warranty plus their OZ dealer network could handle servicing which would be a win for the grey nomads.

Also it's possible with Fords direct engineering involvement the final cost could substantially undercut the two existing 3rd party models.

Ford won't give a **** if they can come in and do that obviously

That would be their goal

[MITCHAY]

Whatever way they achieve it I think we fully agree it would be good to have the option to get a F truck. I have seen plenty which must have cost a ****ing fortune around here

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by vbomber

https://www.whichcar.com.au/news/202...dZE3focro56hUY some photos of what has arrived

Anyone now ballpark what it would cost to airfreight one of these LAX-Melb?

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Dr Smith

Anyone now ballpark what it would cost to airfreight one of these LAX-Melb?

40k ball park.

The silly thing is, they are simply ignoring the fact that there are always f series in the local fleet. For bench marking and ideas.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

40k ball park.

The silly thing is, they are simply ignoring the fact that there are always f series in the local fleet. For bench marking and ideas.

Could this be a case of a dedicated asset/costs to the project and keeping things a bit secret?
If this is to be used as a mule to develop RHD parts, it might be something that needs to use
the latest MY22 build for validation

Just thinking, Ford moves in mysterious ways that seem strange…

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Could this be a case of a dedicated asset/costs to the project and keeping things a bit secret?
If this is to be used as a mule to develop RHD parts, it might be something that needs to use
the latest MY22 build for validation

Just thinking, Ford moves in mysterious ways that seem strange…

No relevance to anything. There are always f series on fleet.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

No relevance to anything. There are always f series on fleet.

Gotta love corporate thinking………

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

40k ball park.

The silly thing is, they are simply ignoring the fact that there are always f series in the local fleet. For bench marking and ideas.

...and what exactly would Ford Australia engineers be benchmarking an F-150 against in Australia...Rangers..... or locally RHD converted Rams and Chevs?

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Dr Smith

...and what exactly would Ford Australia engineers be benchmarking an F-150 against in Australia...Rangers..... or locally RHD converted Rams and Chevs?

I would say it would be Ranger's.

A couple of things will stop F-150's from coming to Australia as a factory backed effort like RAM and GM-SV.

1. Ranger! Ford will make more profit per unit with Ranger than an F-150 once the conversion cost is factored in.

2. Ranger! RAM and Silverado have no little brothers underneath them, so in a way that has allowed RAM in particular to price the 1500 at a somewhat reasonable price. With Ranger priced into the $80,000+ mark, an F-150 or 250 will not undercut that at all.

So question therefore becomes where would Ford position an F-Series in their lineup and is the time and expense in finding a partner to do the conversions, crash testing and certifying them for sale worth the effort.

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

I would say it would be Ranger's.

A couple of things will stop F-150's from coming to Australia as a factory backed effort like RAM and GM-SV.

1. Ranger! Ford will make more profit per unit with Ranger than an F-150 once the conversion cost is factored in.

2. Ranger! RAM and Silverado have no little brothers underneath them, so in a way that has allowed RAM in particular to price the 1500 at a somewhat reasonable price. With Ranger priced into the $80,000+ mark, an F-150 or 250 will not undercut that at all.

So question therefore becomes where would Ford position an F-Series in their lineup and is the time and expense in finding a partner to do the conversions, crash testing and certifying them for sale worth the effort.

The Ranger part was more tongue in cheek as that could easily be done in the USA seeing as they build both the Ranger and F-150 there...

I agree there is a strong case of "protect what makes you the money" however I also believe that sometimes sacrificing some profit for greater diversification is also wiser, and lets be honest if a buyer decided to go Ram/Silverado over a Ranger then Ford lost any sale and making any money and another brand gets a toe hold with the buyer where they may not come back.

[Franco Cozzo]

You can already get F150-F450 here in Australia through a company called Vehicle Development Corporation (VDC) based in Coolaroo here in Melbourne - they sell though Harrison Motoring Group in Melton.

https://vdc.com.au/

Ford won't go for a factory setup, the amount of cars they sell in LHD markets means they don't need to engineer and build it to offer in RHD markets.

Which RHD countries would go for it? South Africa, Australia and maybe India.

[Citroënbender]

Indonesia and Thailand, too - but I suspect their local industry is already on top of this one.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

Indonesia and Thailand, too - but I suspect their local industry is already on top of this one.

Thailand and its bull**** engine capacity tax (that they implemented overnight to kill the Territory in their market post FTA) would see an F150 cost about a bazillion spondoolies