Aussie Falcon threatened

[Swedishmoose]

Hi all together,

a few days ago I've read an article online about Ford USA's plans to discontinue our beloved Falcon. It is a new strategy called "one Ford" with a plan to sell one car design with the same underpinnings in every market arround the globe. :

Well....let me put it that way.....

The only proper replacement for the australian designed and engineered FG Falcon is another new australian designed and engineered Ford Falcon.

Some might say, the Falcon has never been really Australian, but I disagree to some extend.

While the first locally produced australian Falcon might have been a very slightly re-designed US - Falcon , but over the years of evolution, it became a true blue australian icon, designed and developed down under.
Nowadays, the FG Falcon is as Aussie and local as the Holden Commodore.
This is not about who is more Aussie ( Ford or Holden )....this is about the threat to loose another peace of our motoring history.

A Falcon replacement from overseas ( most likely a US- Taurus based front wheel drive design ) , is simply not the same , although i believe that the "global Ford" will be a good car.

To make it easier for everybody to understand my point of view , let me twist it this way......

If Ford decided to replace the Fiesta, Focus or Mondeo, the new models would most likely also be sourced from overseas ( in this case from Germany ).
No one would worry, because it has allways been like that since the predecessor of the Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo have indeed been sourced from Europe. And that was O.K.

But to replace an Aussie icon with something else and unknown , will hopefully not be accepted here. The marketing departement ofFord will almost certainly invest a huge amount of money to convince us to buy that new unknown "Global Ford"-thingy. They might even brain wash us and make us believe, that this new thing is as Australian as the last few generations of our Falcon. Well, I will not fall for that mates....

So....what would I pick then ? Let me think...

1. Maybe the Mondeo ? Because it has alllways been an overseas model and therefore also acceptable ? But whats with the front wheel drive ? Hmmm...maybe


2. That new "Global Ford"- thingy for our local Falcon ? Hmmm...nope.....see explanation above. It would be like forcing me to drink Coca-Cola all of a sudden ,although i prefferred Pepsi all the years and now Coca-Cola wants to sell me a new Coca-Cola that tastes almost like a Pepsi but the real Pepsi is not available anymore. Hmm..no...don't like that

3. Maybe the Holden Commodore ? You might wanna kill me for that thought but go with the flow and let me finish my thought. The Commodore is still Aussie designed and engineered. There are more people in Australia than Ford might believe, who would rather buy an australian designed and engineered car than something "fordish" from overseas and therefore walk away from Ford and knock on Holden's door.


And there is much more behind it...

If Ford USA takes away reasearch and development capacities and capabilities in Australia, we all should not be surprised if in a long term view, Australia might end up as a banana republic, only digging holes in the ground to satisfy Chinas hunger for our ressources, bending some steel and plugging bananas.
The announcement, that Ford Australia could be involved in developement work for the next Ford Mustang seems to be even more rediculous , simply because it is most likely, that the Mustang won't officially be sold in Australia and even more......if they want us to be involved in development work for a car......why can't we just make our own Falcon.....

Thank you Ford USA, you are off my list and hopefully I can find enough enthusiasts who understand my point of view.
The current FG Falcon is planned to be replaced in 2014 and therefore Ford Australia has not made a final decision due to the fact, that work on development won't start until 2011.
That should tell us, that all of us have somewhat a year, to demonstrate and send some decent and polite E-Mails to Ford Australia, that we really don't like what we have read or heard about that decision.

If someone knows the E-Mail adress of the Australian Ford boss ( Mulally ) or even more important , the one from Ford USA , we could take action and get involved.
The current situation at SAAB shows, that the involvement of the car enthusiast can trigger some action....although it is not certain if the swedish car maker will finally be sold or closed down.

But the worst thing would be, if we just accept the decision of Ford USA and later in time, we complain about the fact, that we could or should have done at least something , but didn't.


The E-Mail adress of the australian and american Ford boss would be a first step. If we can find that out, we could really send many nice and decent and polite E-Mails to let them know that we all are disappointed.



Regards


Swedishmoose

[gcg2503]

This has been discussed in various other threads Moose

[DJM83]

As above and this doesnt belong in the AU forum