Ford Fairlane, LTD face the axe ??

[loxxr6]

Hope this isn't a repost (did a quick look and didn't see anything).

http://www.drive.com.au/editorial/ar...f=2&bg=32&pp=0

[347Stroker]

That would be a sad day to see the luxo barges go.

[XR Martin]

Longest continous running nameplate in history. (Fairlane)

[Poetic Justice]

If it aint selling, then it makes good sense to can it, and focus more attention on the vehicles that DO sell well.

[347Stroker]

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Longest continous running nameplate in history. (Fairlane)

Exactly, closely followed by Falcon, Suburban, and Thunderbird.
Conjecture over F Sereis though, seeing they have been about since the 40's....??

[Barry_v]

how about they make it look different to a normal falcon.

[LUXO_8]

Originally Posted by Barry_v

how about they make it look different to a normal falcon.

agreed, last time a fairlane looked different enough to the falcon was NC/DC..

[Falcon Freak]

Will be a sad day if Ford does cease building these cars. Prior to the mid 1990s the LWB Fords were symbols of small business men doing well. My uncle owned three LTDs. Then he became a big business man and started buying Mercs.......

FF

[ClevlndStemer]

well it ain't value for money anymore. just a stretched fairmont ghia. they need to change the style and get some decent equipment in there.

[Iphido]

I think its pretty safe to say its getting canned. Ford isn't even selling 100 a month and thats with the BF face lift and the new VE statesman is only weeks away and a LWB 300c comming as well. Also given the wagon is dying off it would have to pay for door tooling etc itself. The accountants are going to red flag this.

To make a case for the LWB cars you have to:
-Gain a export market. UAE would be pure gold volume and profits await. But some diversity with S.A and E.U(prestige) or U.S (volume) would not hurt. Target volume would have to be atleast double what is currently is and all of that increase would have to be nonfleet. Of course Orion and LHD have to occur.
-Adopt low cost low volume manufacturing techniques. The unique roof could be made out of composite (cf, fg, tp), as could the rear quarters and boot. No tooling required, or only cheaper tooling, saving millions. While per unit costs are up, you can sell the advanages of lightweight materials. Consumers are ready to accept Carbon Fiber panels as they have already been used on exotics and prestige european sports cars.

The should have done this with the BA LWB. The AU roof is a key reason why shes so ugly as it requires the AU rear glass that funked up the entire rear end. The roof could have been C.F or plastic and would have given the ability for the BA LWB to look sexier. It should have a sun roof standard (if its good enough for ls430 you can do it too). Fuel tank needed to big bigger too, after all it is a cruiser and Fairlane buyers don't worry a whole lot about fillups costing $100+..

Also equipment levels have to be assessed. $75k and no optional xenons? No seat heaters? No real wood? until BF they still had 16" wheels! Wheres the special engine? Cabin space and style isn't really much diffrent to the falcon (MKII helped that tho but the metallic look dash looks cheap). How about proper audio?

So cars that are to be axed by 2008:

Futura sedan
XT Wagon
Futura Wagon
Fairlane Ghia
Fairlane G230
LTD

That leaves Ford with a extremely reduced lineup. Orion better see some huge tangible benifits from cutting half the lineup out.

[Poetic Justice]

Originally Posted by MADNC_8

agreed, last time a fairlane looked different enough to the falcon was NC/DC..

You think the AU fairlane looked like the Falcon?

[Poetic Justice]

Dunno what my uncle will do, he's a ford dealer and only ever drives Fairlane/LTD :P

[chevypower]

why not improve the cars so that people actually want to buy them? The holden Caprice was not selling that well at one stage either, so they changed the way the car was, presented it as sports luxury for a younger market instead of the older grandpa car style. I know Ford have the G220, but it's not quite there yet. And the LTD was always the car that had more than everything else... these days, it has nothing of the sort, it looks bland and might as well have Toyota badges on it. If they make the car what it's supposed to be, it will do well.

[LUXO_8]

Originally Posted by blackout

You think the AU fairlane looked like the Falcon?

it did look different, but not different enough IMO...... plus it was ugly

[LUXO_8]

Originally Posted by chevypower

why not improve the cars so that people actually want to buy them? I know Ford have the G220, but it's not quite there yet. .

agreed, the G220 was a bit of a flop because it had the same engine as per the regular fairlane.... it needed at least the 260 from the XR8, XR8 exhaust, an optional MANUAL trans, some decent wheels, XR8 suspension etc IMO, then it would have sold like hotcakes...

[Walkinshaw]

Holden dont seem to have much trouble selling their LWB....oh hangon It looks diffrent to the SWB and actualy looks good.

"wow that XT falcon has leather interior, oh wait its an LTD, I couldn't tell."

Ford lost the plot after 1978 with their LWB.

[chevypower]

In addition to my previous post... LTD stands for Lincoln Type Design not Toyota Type Design....
When Ford have stuck to this methodology, that car has done quite well, and when have you ever seen advertizing for the LTD??

If they have the prestige interior and exterior the Town car has, with the power and driving dynamics suited to Australian drivers and roads, it would be awesome.

http://www.lincoln.com/towncar/photo...y_exterior.asp

imagine that with the 260kw 5.4L V8 =esp if it has an aluminium block, 6 speed auto, upgraded brakes, touring suspension with control blade IRS, and limited slip differential. Ford Australia should make their engines E85 compatible to get with the times. Actually marketing the car is a good idea too.

[GlennBA]

They aren't selling because for aren't doing enough to make them appeal.
Look at them, they have the same front and rear as a falcon pretty much, they charge much more than a fairmont ghia for not many more features, they have very shocking depreciation. So you're basically paying $10k more over a fairmont ghia for an uglier, heavier car. They need to be loosely based around the falcon, i.e. same interior, different look.. like the days of the NA-NC, and the AU fairlanes. They were completely different looking, you got something different for your money and i think thats what appealed to people.
They could make them sell.. i'm sure of it.

[AWD Chaser]

Bout time the LTD gets a major lift or gets dumped.

The LTD needs to really be able to compare with Mercs and BMW's.

Lots of wood, lots of fancy little things, etc. They either need to do some serious design or p*ss it off.

Holden did an alright job of marketing the Caprice with that TV add with the chopper and zooming out to show the dual TV screens.. speaking of, where is that in the Ford?

[Dezza]

Well, I believe the LWB models should be sold as a sport/luxury model. The last truly successful Fairlane was the NL, and part of the reason why this was so successful was that it looked absolutely awesome. With the twin exhausts and the full-width taillights, they looked quite sporty (as much as a Tank can look sporty). Make the Fairlane look more different from Falcon, make it look sportier (like the Galaxie 540 concept) and rather than using the 3V V8, switch to the Boss260. A Turbo Fairlane would be awesome too. Should also bring in a number of accessories exclusively for Fairlane and LTD, that aren't available for Falcon, and use unique interior trims, etc.

[mcflux]

Maybe they're all being replaced with a GTHO model? : :

[russellw]

It's interesting. When Tom Gorman arrived here and we had a chat, the LWB future was one of the discussion items. At that time he took the view that they formed an important part of the Ford line-up even though we struggled to see how.

In the years when the Fairlane dominated the LWB market, annual sales peaked at 10,930 units for the ZF (source HERE) while the LTD peaked at 2,200 odd for the P5 and P6. Compare that to the current volumes with Fairlane struggling to make over 1,000 units a year and LTD struggling just over 100 and it's easy to see how the once mighty have fallen.

This isn't because of a drop in the segment overall. It's been one of the most stable for 3 decades in terms of total numbers of vehicles sold and most of the additional volume lost has been won by the Holden duo. When time permits I'll add the Holden numbers to those charts and it will be clear to see.

The more pertinent question is why?

There are a greater number of buying options in the segment now and other prestige motoring choices like the upmarket SUV's that have stolen some sales away from the big 2. However, if the Fairlane/LTD duo had the volume of the Statesman/Caprice pair then they wouldn't be facing the axe given that their manufacturing cost is incremental only and they are massively profitable.

The LTD has always been a tough gig to see any value in, particularly once the price uplift got beyond the 10% mark and as the equipment levels in the Fairlane (and Fairmont Ghia) improved it became harder again to justify. That the Fairlane is a lesser equipped but longer version of the Ghia is a mistake in the positioning of the models that has added to the whole problem.

Back in those glory days there was no way of mistaking a ZF Fairlane for anything else OR a P5/P6 LTD as a Fairlane even but since the NA/DA they have beome harder to distinguish and the sales numbers reflect that as they head downwards at a rate of knots.

Ford continually talk about the 100m test where model differentation should be visible from that distance but the current crop of LWB cars don't even pass a 10 metre test - in gact you can barely tell from the drivers seat of a G220 what you are in. It looks cheap and nasty.

So where is the fix?

Basically ditch it or revamp it and it looks as if the former is the preferred option. At the current volumes that's probably a smart move and we can just hand the segment to the Holden duo and the 300C which has been stealing sales from both anyway. Probably better (strategically) to spend any money available on trying to make a mid sized contender out of the Falcon or other Ford chassis in the mould of the Cortina. Fiesta and Focus are hardly dominating their segments but it's the medium sector that will boom and the 6 cylinder Cortina saved Ford from the last fuel crisis by offering a near full sized car with a range of engine options. Manufacturers without a viable contender in the class are going to be doing it VERY tough the next 5 years or so. Those who start to feel the pinch in the full sized cars like Falcon and Commodore will start looking for a mid sized replacement and find nothing in the Ford showroom that is affordable and competitive. Not much better in the red corner either.

I should rename our Statistical segments to reflect the new terminology but to clarify the segment we refer to as MEDIUM is actually now called SMALL with the SMALL termed as LIGHT. I won't as there is too much data there.

Cheers
Russ

[Polyal]

Ford have themselves to blame, simple as that.

Its a pretty safe bet that the LWB's will be canned, its just a shame because there has not been a decent one since NL, which was probably one of the best IMO.

But I would be happy if they pimped out a territory or a SWB thats better than a Ghia. I think the Current fairmont ghia is a "luxury/sports" car, to have a pure SWB luxury car would be great.

Hey Russ, you got that 300C yet?

[AWD Chaser]

Yeah, Ford f'ed the LWB up. It's almost they just turned a blind eye and just hoped it would do well by itself... almost designed itself really....

I suppose with the massive boost with sales in the Territory, they can afford to drop it, and who knows, maybe the FPV range might get the LWB chassis, but I reckon if you are gonna ditch it completly, just make all new models (from the new Orion onwards) in the LWB chassis. Why not? Better then letting it go to waste.

[klawsterfobik]

:( oh no. I love my Fairlanes and LTD's.

It makes sense good business sense that they would drop them, but i think they need to think about how they are marketed to. An LTD with the 290 boss engine in it, NON 4wd suspension, and LTD exclusive gadgets etc inside would be a good idea i would think.

*shrugs*

[AUIII XR8 MAN]

Originally Posted by ClevlndStemer

well it ain't value for money anymore. just a stretched fairmont ghia. they need to change the style and get some decent equipment in there.

I agree, look at what's you get in some of the other cars in that market range.

[Smoked]

300kw Manual V8 Fairlane, Yum.

Perhaps if ford approached it with this attitude, they might lift their sales.

[outback_ute]

I think they should make the LTD with a 300-500mm longer wheelbase to chase the hire car/limo market, and both Fairlane and LTD should have longer rear doors (current ones are very poor). They should look seriously at exports to the UK too, there are some private imports there and they don't have the stigma there is out here of being based on a taxi.

[UNR8D]

to make a better fairlane they need to have quality, quality leather with a few choice options, DVD screens std, Xeon beems std, LED tail lights (differ from SWB) std, 6 Speed auto boss 290 or Turbo 6 as a NC option, DOD on the V8's and GRANGE COMPETOTOR to give a hero to the fleet.

[Hawk]

You honestly cannot blame Ford for dropping it if it comes to that. The decline in sales has been happening for a while. Would be a shame though, because the Fairlane is a classic name and car type that I personally love (because Dad used to have them as his work car). I always enjoyed them.