Alright ford, a rose by any other name smells as sweet, bring back the fairmont/ghia

[anto]

Originally Posted by Joe5619

The name change was the best thing ford did with FG.. The old ones where dated & crap & only grand fathers buoght them!! I wouldn't be seen dead buying a Fairmont Ghia, buy love the GE6T!! It is all in the name!!

this is just another myth thats gained traction and now everyone repeats it.
I had a BA Ghia V8 and I am 36.

youre tellin me you wouldnt buy a G6E if it was called a Ghia ...?

Wow...no words, just wow.

[RAPID_BA]

Why is the fairmont ghia an old pops car? Isnt it because more or less old pops could afford them, the younger buyers bought GL falcons then pinched the fairmont ghia badges. In any respect if its an old mans car? Do we cut off peoples heads if they are old?

I think we should all go to the lone star, pro fairmont ghia members on one side, pro G6/G6E/G6ET/GFPQ1234 members on the other side, finish eating our meals and in true lone star style smash some chairs over one anothers heads (joke)

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by HULK_BA

Why is the fairmont ghia an old pops car? Isnt it because more or less old pops could afford them, the younger buyers bought GL falcons then pinched the fairmont ghia badges. In any respect if its an old mans car? Do we cut off peoples heads if they are old?

I think we should all go to the lone star, pro fairmont ghia members on one side, pro G6/G6E/G6ET/GFPQ1234 members on the other side, finish eating our meals and in true lone star style smash some chairs over one anothers heads (joke)

You really are starting to show your age Hulk.. Have you forgotten what you posted an hour ago??

[RAPID_BA]

Originally Posted by DASH GT

You really are starting to show your age Hulk.. Have you forgotten what you posted an hour ago??

Dash,

I respect your opinion but its not just me saying fairmont ghia is the better name. What does my car whatever i own have anything to do with it.

I bet when you see a FG fairmont ghia (G6ET to some) you will think "fairmont ghia". Just like when you see a rose, you think "rose"

[My poor XF]

A Fairmont isn't an old mans car it just conjures up images of elderly men driving to bowls in them. The same demagraphic that bought them and the i6 ghia's are now buying the G6E. What the G6ET has done is introduce a new type of buyer to the falcon range. Younger people that want luxury and performance but don't want the xr looks.

The fairmont and futura name plates are tired, and really don't suit the looks of the FG.

I'm 24, I would buy a G6E if it was badged as a fairmont but I prefer the G-series moniker. I would buy one because I'm blue through and through, but for other people my age who arent an enthusiast the old name plates just aren't going to cut it.

The name change was an excellent idea. It's success shouldn't be measured after 3 years. And in a segment in decline the raw percentages point to an increased attraction to the g-series range.

[anto]

Originally Posted by DASH GT

Anyways im sure your interpretation would be different if you owned an FG G6E rather then your fully *** BA Fairmont with its P plater exhaust... Confused much??

is that necessary?
It has nothing to do with owning one and no one is saying the G6E is a bad car, it is clearly superior in every aspect.

it boils down to the fact that some of us like heritage while others ( it would seem most ) want contemporary.

personaly Im really hoping they rename the flagship car to something like

FGseries2G-SERIESXR6SERIESG6ET-TS50-XT50.

The more letters and numbers the better.

[DJM83]

[drew`SEVNT5]

People are getting mighty precious over a label that was applied to Lasers, Meteors & Corsairs.

[CODSASR]

I prefer the G series names but I wouldnt choose a car based on what its called.

I dont associate them with a Fairmont too me the G series is alot sportier then the Fairmonts where. Looking at the official stats the G series are selling at a higher percent then the Fairmonts did but no one knows if it the name or the car itself and really who cares its still selling more then the previous badge

[russellw]

It's an interesting debate.

The decision to drop a trio of Australian nameplates with as long a history as Futura (1962), Fairmont (1966) and Fairmont Ghia (1980) wasn't made without a lot of consideration at Campbellfield.

Certainly, the buying demographic was not what they were aiming for (having an older average age than was deemed desirable) and the sales numbers in the latter part of their lifespan were, frankly, dismal.

The simple fact remains that the 'G' nameplates have roughly tripled the sales of the previous equivalent models and if that doesn't convince you that it was a good change then I don't know what will.

The Futura nameplate was, somewhat ironically, killed by the success of the XR6 with the user chooser fleet market which had been the mainstay of the Futura.

The Fairmont and Ghia trundled along with reasonable sales but certainly nothing to get excited about and I suspect that if we hadn't seen the success of the re-branding exercise then they would have joined their wagon cousins on the scrap heap.

If we look at the history of these models then we will get something of an idea as to why the market moved beyond what they represented.

The original XL Futura was introduced as the luxury model with such features as "wall to wall" carpet, padded sun visors and chrome wheel trims. It disappeared, with the arrival of the XR Fairmont which was the new face of luxury in 1966 only to reappear with the XW - pitched firmly at the private buyer who wanted a little bit more than a standard 500 offered but who didn't want to stretch to the (moved upmarket) Fairmont.

This started the trend of the Fairmont being perceived as (effectively) a short wheelbase Fairlane with lots of fruit (by 1960/70's standards anyway); favoured by business owners and managers of mid sized companies which helped explain the somewhat older demographic. This positioning continued through the XY, XA, XB, XC ranges, with the Futura marketed as "stylish" and the Fairmont marketed as "luxury".

The waters started to muddy a little with the XC. The Futura name was dropped (again) and an attempt was made to reposition the Fairmont nameplate for a younger demographic with the Faimont GXL pitched firmly at what would have been GT buyers albeit with a more luxury slant.

The introduction of the Ghia nameplate with the XD models saw the Fairmont Ghia ESP filling the sports luxury market and the Fairmont being down-specced to allow room for the Ghia as the new top of the luxury tree.

With some minor variations, this continued until the ED was launched (although it could be argued that the various "S" models effectively replaced the Futura) and the Futura reappeared - still pitched as stylish and refined but also introducing the "value" equation to the nameplate which it continued to represent until its demise.

Indeed, it probably became more synonymous with value than either style or refinement through AU and BA-BF and it was likely this that led to it's popularity with fleets and eventually killed it as (1) the user chooser fleet market grew and the XR held more appeal for them and (2) the XR became a better representation of style and value for the fleets with a stronger resale value to boot.

By the time we got to the BA-BF models, the XR's were selling considerably better volumes than the Futura which had reached the stage during BFII of single digit monthly sales. Hardly a sound reason to keep it.

I could go on with a Fairmont history lesson but that would just labour the point.

Cheers
Russ