Gorman on Mondeo, Diesel & LPG

[Tles]

Mondeo will come to Oz with diesel power.
ord M

Future Models - Ford 2008 Mondeo Passenger


Blue Oval medium:
Ford's Mondeo mid-sizer set for an Aussie comeback - at the expense of Falcon

By MARTON PETTENDY 1 November 2006


FORD Australia claims the Blue Oval's redesigned Mondeo is too good an opportunity to miss for the growing mid-size car segment – even if it comes at the expense of Falcon sales.

President Tom Gorman told GoAuto at last week's Australian International Motor Show in Sydney that the new-generation Mondeo, revealed at September's Paris motor show for the first time, was on Ford's hot list for Australia, where it also has the potential to cannibalise Falcon sales.

"We think Mondeo is a great product and we've seen the changing market dynamics here … The issue with us bringing the new car in is to strike the right balance between substitution of Falcon and driving incremental business," he said.

Mr Gorman told GoAuto last month he believed Falcon sales were being eroded by medium sedans like Mazda6, Liberty, Accord and Camry. Now it seems Ford would prefer to "share its lunch" among its own family.

"We're trying to grow our business incrementally – not just substitute one for the other – but as you’ve seen with the shift from sixes to fours, other people are taking advantage of that and we're not really participating.

"I think there's enough evidence now with the growth in the four-cylinder market that that's an area in which we're really not maximising our position – and Mondeo may in fact play that role for us."

Mr Gorman said the increasing popularity of diesel in Australia is what makes Mondeo an even more logical import choice for Australia.

"Mondeo is one of the things we are looking at very, very closely and it's another product that also offers diesel technology already built in. So I would say Mondeo is one of the things that has moved from the back-burner to the front-burner as we've watched the dynamics of the Australian market-place change."

Mr Gorman said Australian car-buying trends had changed dramatically since Mondeo was last sold here in 2000 after just four years on sale.

"We obviously had Mondeo in Australia before and we think it's a very exciting product. If you look at what's happening with fours versus sixes … we're giving Mondeo a lot more consideration than we would have, frankly, two years ago."

Along with the new Mondeo, diesel will also power Australia's Focus – but a diesel Fiesta is unlikely.
"We sell about 650 Fiestas a month but Focus is around 2000. It's quite a difference that gives us the opportunity to extend that brand," Mr Gorman said. As previously reported, Ford Oz is also looking at a diesel Territory, but now it appears LPG is also on the cards for Australia's most popular SUV.

"We now have almost double the LPG (vehicle) production capacity we had previously at 120 cars per day and the mix continues to grow. LPG will play an important role for us but Territory's a bit different because it wasn't designed with LPG in mind," he said.

"But, like diesel, we're also thinking about LPG and how we can do something with a factory fit or working with a supplier more closely. But we're not in a position to announce anything.

"More than 25 per cent of the medium-SUV segment is diesel, so we're missing that and would very much like to participate in it. But for us it's a case of finding the right engine and putting the right business case together. As soon as we have that figured out we'll let you know."

[Poetic Justice]

Im all for it!!

[ClevlndStemer]

if a performance mondeo is offered at a decent price, i'm sold.

Tom is right. Even at the expence of Falcon. Mondeo needs to get here fast.
I still think that not many people will cross shop Falcon with Mondeo.

[Quicklier]

Originally Posted by ClevlndStemer

if a performance mondeo is offered at a decent price, i'm sold.

Modeo ST220
Straight conversion of price in the UK is AUD 59,000.
I'm not sure I'd pay $15,000 more for a mondeo over an SS Commodore.
The Modeo would however depreciate less than the Lion's fastest.

The bog stock mondeo would come it at AUD 38,000 which is still too high to be competitive.

However... In saying that, lets take an example of a model that is already sold in the UK and Australia.
I've chosen the Focus Zetec (lesser models get confusing with engines as we only have the big 2.0L in Aus). Info for UK Model and AUS Model can be found by clicking.

UK Price - £14,045
AUD Conversion - $33,708
AUD Price (Ford AUS) - $27,490
Saving - $6,218.00 - about 18%

Now... if we use that margin as a guide (rough, I know)...

Mondeo LX - £15,995 becomes $31,478
Mondeo ST 220 - £24,540 becomes $48,294
or
Mondeo ST TDCi - £22,795 becomes $44,860 (go fast diesel)

And when you consider a Mondeo is pretty much the same thing as one of these
the word 'value' starts popping up everywhere.

If an ST TDCi were to come to Aus at $45k, I'd be one of the first to grab one... and it'd be a wagon, probably in blue.

[Poetic Justice]

I'd be very interested in a sports edition of the displayed Mondeo sedan they were bringing into Europe... with those big lambo wheels too! (Borrow from XR5!!)

[Paxton]

Will they make these in South Africa like they do the Focus? It might keep them Competitive.

[photn]

Originally Posted by Paxton

Will they make these in South Africa like they do the Focus? It might keep them Competitive.

if they do i dont doubt that they will inherit the same problems.... bad build quiality!

[chevypower]

if you look at the camparison between cars in UK and Australia and go by exchange rate, you realize we pay MUCH LESS for our cars (even European ones) eg a Golf is about 17,000-18,000 pounds - or AU$30,000
So i would say the Mondeo diesel would be more like AU$35,000 here

I remember when it was cheaper to import a car from England

[RS500]

Please no more South African built cars. The stuff i have seen come out of there in both couriers, focus it would be better to pay more and have European built cars.

The difference between the SA focus and the european ST (XR5) is huge.

A mondeo would be a good car to have in the range to go up against the mazda 6

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by RATT

Tom is right. Even at the expence of Falcon. Mondeo needs to get here fast.
I still think that not many people will cross shop Falcon with Mondeo.

Want to make a bet!

The Mondeo ST220 is the best Ford product I have ever driven, period. Ok it hasn't got the mumbo of the FPV's, but for overall performance no falcon gets close.

For a during the week car, a mondeo is perfect, keep the FPV's for the weekend
:

[The Stylist]

Originally Posted by Paxton

Will they make these in South Africa like they do the Focus? It might keep them Competitive.

Nope, they will most likely come Belgium as the Genk plant supplies New Zealand and most European markets with the Mondeo.

[Fair302]

Funny how everybody is worried about it taking sales from the Falcon. Has h*lden sold less c'dore since it started selling vectra?

[plee]

Originally Posted by Fair302

Funny how everybody is worried about it taking sales from the Falcon. Has h*lden sold less c'dore since it started selling vectra?

No, because nobody bought the Vectra

[Quicklier]

Originally Posted by plee

No, because nobody bought the Vectra

Which is dissapointing, it's a good car for a hack. Any Executive or XT driver would feel right at home in them. Sure the V6 was thirsty, but the 2.2 was the better choice.

However, at the same time you could purchase a Mazda 626, Honda Accord, Hyundai Grandeur (bad example). It's not like they were robbing it of the sales! The total sales for that segment would have been so low that all manufacturers were just taking a few orders a day over the country.

[Lagom]

Originally Posted by plee

No, because nobody bought the Vectra

Vectra used to sell well before they got cocky with pricing on the current variant. They were building it in Adelaide, but then shut the Vectra line down in order to get more Commodore capacity.