Come Home Geoff!

[bathurst77]

Originally Posted by MoreHPformyXR6

So when you start talking the size of Mazda 6 Subaru Liberty Honda Accord Euro. Do you think Ford would be able to sell enough volume in this market for it to be feasable? (I think not) It aint going to happen IMO volume wouldnt be viable.

Many people these days are moving out of Falcon/commondire into smaller cars but dont want to go all the way down to a corolla or laser.

They dont want a big 6 but they dont want a small city car either.

[XR Martin]

Originally Posted by bathurst77

Then how do you explain the 30 years of success of fairlane/ltd and the current success of satesman?

Because they didnt look like a base model Falcon, offered alot of features that couldnt be had in the base or mid model, none or little competition. If you wanted a luxury car in the 70s and 80s there was only two choices, Fairlane and Stato. Only the pompous bought Euro and they wernt as affordable then as now - lowered import taxes have seen to that, and there were no Jap Luxury cars.


Why is that so hard to understand?

Statsman is only viable because they are exporting them, something like 90% of them go overseas.

[RPO83]

Bathurst77, the things you have highlighted are due to Geoff. The C/D segment was abandoned by Geoff, who had analysts looking over the segment statistics. They reported that it was shrinking in market share so the decision was made not to fill the segment with the Mondeo or any other C/D car.

The Fairlane/LTD cost cutting exercise was also a call from Geoff which he acknowledged publically would severely impact sales.

[JPFS1]

lwb are not dead yet, there is a glimmer of hope ;)

[uranium_death]

For the cost of a Fairlane, you don't get anything in a Mercedes. A C180 (C for Cheap, Common Crap) has terrible seats, drives like crap and looks average.

A Fairlane is far nicer.

The Ford Laser in its latter years was a fair size.

But I think Ford will need to introduce a new 4 litre sedan and wagon and market it...get people excited about it!

Need to give it some bullpoop European name. Everybody is currently jizzing their undies over this whole "European designed" phase, so Ford should take advantage of the poor, gullible public's mind.

[Kryton]

well from what i was reading today there is a push (strong push) from Ford Europe to make us have Diesel Falcons. this may sound good but they want us to have 2.7ltr (or something similar) V6 diesel engines instead of the 4.0 I6.
news articles is in the Cars Guide of todays Herald Sun.

[uranium_death]

Originally Posted by uranium_death

For the cost of a Fairlane, you don't get anything in a Mercedes. A C180 (C for Cheap, Common Crap) has terrible seats, drives like crap and looks average.

A Fairlane is far nicer.

The Ford Laser in its latter years was a fair size.

But I think Ford will need to introduce a new 4 litre sedan and wagon and market it...get people excited about it!

Need to give it some bullpoop European name. Everybody is currently jizzing their undies over this whole "European designed" phase, so Ford should take advantage of the poor, gullible public's mind.

I meant 4 Cylinder... :sm_drool:

[RPO83]

Originally Posted by uranium_death

The Ford Laser in its latter years was a fair size.

But I think Ford will need to introduce a new 4 litre sedan and wagon and market it...get people excited about it!

Need to give it some bullpoop European name. Everybody is currently jizzing their undies over this whole "European designed" phase, so Ford should take advantage of the poor, gullible public's mind.

How did the Focus not meet most of your criteria?

[outback_ute]

Originally Posted by davway

well from what i was reading today there is a push (strong push) from Ford Europe to make us have Diesel Falcons. this may sound good but they want us to have 2.7ltr (or something similar) V6 diesel engines instead of the 4.0 I6.
news articles is in the Cars Guide of todays Herald Sun.

Well if they are prepared to take the cars as exports we'll build them I suppose...

RPO83 - lack of curtain airbags on Focus is something that needs attention, a serious area where the car can't compete with its rivals, & one reason my sister didn't buy one.

RPO83 - lack of curtain airbags on Focus is something that needs attention, a serious area where the car can't compete with its rivals, & one reason my sister didn't buy one.

How many small cars have curtain airbags as standard? Your choice will be very few, and pricey.

[Lagom]

Originally Posted by RATT

How many small cars have curtain airbags as standard? Your choice will be very few, and pricey.

Nissan Tiida ST-L - $22,240
Hyundai Elantra SLX - $22,490
Citroën C4 VTR - $23,990
Peugeot 307 XS - $24,990
Holden Astra CDX - $24,990
Renault Megane Authentique - $25,490
Volkswagen Golf Trendline - $25,490
Mazda 3 Maxx - $25,500 (could option up a Neo with ESP/Curtain Airbags for $22,820).
Honda Civic Sport - $29,990

I know a few who have ruled out the Focus because curtain airbags are not even optional.

[Steffo]

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

I could be wrong, but FPVs and XRs actually sell dont they? Which mean people want them!
LWB Falcons do not and have not for years, what do you think that means?
Thats a fact.

If you ran a company they'd be selling Adventras, LTDs, Avalons, 380s, Vectras etc etc. And wondering why they dont sell?

The reason they don't sell is they don't provide appeal. When the Fairmont Ghia provides everything the LTD has minus some legroom, who would fork out almost 30k more? What they need to do to make them sell is actually differentiate them from the SWB cars. Almost completley.

[Franky]

It would be a bit pointless spending a lot of money resurrecting the Fairlane as the market is rather small and it doesn't need a simple workover; it really is a shocker.

The Mondeo would be a much better decision to fill the gap between Focus and Falcon. Also I disagree with you about having just 2 cars, the two euro models are becoming more popular and are selling pretty well considering they are 2 brand new models that have not been sold here in the past.

Lineup should be:

Small-Fiesta
Medium- Focus/Mondeo
Large-Falcon
4WD-Territory/Explorer
Sports-FPV
Luxury-Force Models/Ghia

[outback_ute]

Originally Posted by RATT

How many small cars have curtain airbags as standard? Your choice will be very few, and pricey.

I didn't necessarily mean standard, but they are not even optional (presumably because of the Sth African build? because the car has them in other markets and on the XR5T). They have ended up getting a VW Jetta, also looked at Focus Zetec (didn't want a 4sp auto Ghia sedan, wanted a manual), Pug 307, Astra, Mazda 6 & 3. All the others had curtain airbags available or standard.

I don't have to tell you that curtain airbags are a significant, worthwhile safety feature.

[XR Martin]

Originally Posted by Steffo

The reason they don't sell is they don't provide appeal. When the Fairmont Ghia provides everything the LTD has minus some legroom, who would fork out almost 30k more? What they need to do to make them sell is actually differentiate them from the SWB cars. Almost completley.

Isnt that what ive been saying for the last half dozen posts? :

[McobraR]

Dont think theres anythin wrong with Tom, seems like a nice person to let Craig drive the Torana. I say give Tom some time. Theres nothing much he can do since the BF and BFII stage had probably already been set when he arrived. I'm sure he'll do a good job with Orion.