So your the CEO: what would you change with Falcon?

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by flappist

Optional second fuel tank as most of Australian is not 10 minutes from a petrol station.

Optional suspension that RAISES the car as most of Australia is not in the capital suburbs.

UMM the vast majority of the car buying public IS 10min from a servo and ARE in capital suburbs.

[Iggypoppin']

Originally Posted by stev3n

Seems many people want to see IRS utes - why?
The whole purpose of a ute is to carry a load, There is no better system than a live axle to carry a load or for towing, things that utes do regularly. I reckon if you want a irs ute to prance around the city call holden, if you want a ute to work the current falcon set up is fine.
The things i'd change on the ute
-lsd from the base model up
-better approach angle
-standard tow bar and wiring

I work in the timber supply industry and there's a reason the ford utes are more popular than holdens. All the guys I query about their ute choice picked the falcon due to it's better suspension for loads and better towing capability.
Keep the SRA but please ford refine it somewhat....

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Iggypoppin'

I work in the timber supply industry and there's a reason the ford utes are more popular than holdens. All the guys I query about their ute choice picked the falcon due to it's better suspension for loads and better towing capability.
Keep the SRA but please ford refine it somewhat....

Bingo, get rid of leaf spring in the ute and might as well stop building them.

[MONSOON]

Originally Posted by stev3n

Seems many people want to see IRS utes - why?

because Ford insist on selling utes with 270+kw's, marketing them against the holden sports utes, which clearly have the handling advantage which is attributed to the IRS of thus Holden

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by vztrt

Bingo, get rid of leaf spring in the ute and might as well stop building them.

While Ford struggles to convince tradies to buy base Falcon Utes,
Holden sells mostly V8 IRS Utes to private buyers at higher prices...

What is wrong with this picture.....

[My poor XF]

Keep the old nameplates dead and buried. The new names are much more contemporary and appealing to my generation and im not far of being able to buy a new falcon. Falcon needs new buyers and needs to be attractive to younger people who are future buyers.Nothing against the Futura and Fairmont names but their old and stale.

More tech, diesel engine and improved dealer networks would seal the deal.

Also;

more options (suspension etc)
more colours
improved suspension on performance models
focus RS permanently


Oh and low finance rates.

[Dr Smith]

Vito and Transporter have basic irs and payloads between 1000-1200kg, tow ratings upto 2500kg so it can be done without intruding into the load area.

[No.6]

Have a more aggressive marketing campaign. None of these airy fairy 'soft' advertisements. I want rock n roll, action packed, exciting advertisements for the xr series, up the ante for FPV, and a classy more sedate direction for the luxury cars. I would focus on changing the corporate image of ford from bogan australia, to suburban, fast paced modern living. I would also aggressively pursue and invest in the v8 supercar championships, plus other motorsports that allow the falcon to race, in order to broaden the market from the v8 supercar types to the drifting fans. I see nothing wrong with the current falcon lineup, just the way ford sells it to the masses.

In summary, i would make Ford 'cool' to the young crowds, and luxurious to the elders.

[TheZHLANE]

Exciting bright colours!!!

[Bucknaked]

Originally Posted by STANI

Exciting bright colours!!!

Like Pink.

Wait, Menace was pink?

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by stev3n

Seems many people want to see IRS utes - why?The whole purpose of a ute is to carry a load, There is no better system than a live axle to carry a load or for towing, things that utes do regularly. I reckon if you want a irs ute to prance around the city call holden, if you want a ute to work the current falcon set up is fine.
The things i'd change on the ute
-lsd from the base model up
-better approach angle
-standard tow bar and wiring

Clearly we have a difference of opinion.

You have described the current setup as 'fine'. Not great or best. But fine. We are talking about improving the breed. Sure it is better than all the imported competition for ride and handling, but it could be made better still.

The difference between my (admittedly best ever fitted to an Aussie car) IRS equipped sedan and my live axle ute is HUGE. The powerdown, traction and stability is massively different.

I'd love to have the IRS in the ute for my yearly working trip to Mackay (3800km round trip). On that trip, i carry the most stuff that I do all year. It is still only a couple of hundred kilos. Around town, it would certainly be appreciated without much or if any load.

There might even be neglible cost to add IRS too. Considering that it would simplify the rear suspension to just one style.

Fitting IRS would help move the Falcon Ute to the aspirational, relevant, niche performance market that GMH have largely taken as their own. Ford kept the wagon as tool of trade only. Look at how well that went. It's dead. No need to do the same to Ute.

Fitting IRS to the Ute might make the job of bringing back a Falcon sportwagon easier too.

An SSV Commodore wagon is about the only way you'd get me into a GMH product these days. But, i'm not interested. I would much rather an XR6T. My wife wants a Territory. Having an XR6T sportwagon would keep us both happy and more likely to make me buy new for the first time.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by jpd80

While Ford struggles to convince tradies to buy base Falcon Utes,
Holden sells mostly V8 IRS Utes to private buyers at higher prices...

What is wrong with this picture.....

You seriously think that the Holden brigade will change over. You can't put a Chev on a Falcon.

Doesn't matter anyway whatever they do its wrong according to people on here.

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by jpd80

While Ford struggles to convince tradies to buy base Falcon Utes,
Holden sells mostly V8 IRS Utes to private buyers at higher prices...

What is wrong with this picture.....

Exactly. FG2 XR6T & XR8 ute with 270kW+ engines and IRS would sell plenty.

Trouble is GMH is selling SS & sometimes SSV Utes for $35k. That's cheap.

[tezxr8man]

Me personally,
1. I think that the quality issues should be sorted so that would be top of the list, like back in the day with the durability tests for the early Falcons, design the interior to not fall apart after a few years and prove it too
THEN
2. Market the hell out of it, Market the hell out of all the things that make a Falcon a great car, and top of the marketing would have to be that it is the last AUSTRALIAN car built for australians.
3 Have a propper tradie ute for tradies, jack up the suspension a bit more to get more places
4 Make a run of the mill falcon which is fairly well equiped for a good price keeping in mind that regular people need a car too, Remember people buy camry's because they want a car and that is it.
While doing that use the xr6 to showcase the I6 and show what it is capable of before its gone forever raise power go crazy make it the car it should be not what it is now
5 I would adapt IRS for the performance utes to make them better at being performance utes, it's not like it hasn't been developed before now just never realised. its not hard and people who buy these rarely use them for utes anyway I know, i'm the same

[Sick EB]

-Optional springs in rear of utes insted of leafs
-Free optional lowering of cars
-All utes should come out with a electric lockable hard lid and heaps of lighting
-Premium sound should actually be good sound.

Give Top Gear a xr6t to show that it is better than the holdens.

BIGGEST POINT:
MAKE THE XR5 TURBO ALL WHEEL DRIVE!!!!!!! Everyone would buy one.

[stev3n]

Originally Posted by phillyc

Clearly we have a difference of opinion.

You have described the current setup as 'fine'. Not great or best. But fine. We are talking about improving the breed. Sure it is better than all the imported competition for ride and handling, but it could be made better still.

The difference between my (admittedly best ever fitted to an Aussie car) IRS equipped sedan and my live axle ute is HUGE. The powerdown, traction and stability is massively different.

I'd love to have the IRS in the ute for my yearly working trip to Mackay (3800km round trip). On that trip, i carry the most stuff that I do all year. It is still only a couple of hundred kilos. Around town, it would certainly be appreciated without much or if any load.

There might even be neglible cost to add IRS too. Considering that it would simplify the rear suspension to just one style.

Fitting IRS would help move the Falcon Ute to the aspirational, relevant, niche performance market that GMH have largely taken as their own. Ford kept the wagon as tool of trade only. Look at how well that went. It's dead. No need to do the same to Ute.

Fitting IRS to the Ute might make the job of bringing back a Falcon sportwagon easier too.

An SSV Commodore wagon is about the only way you'd get me into a GMH product these days. But, i'm not interested. I would much rather an XR6T. My wife wants a Territory. Having an XR6T sportwagon would keep us both happy and more likely to make me buy new for the first time.

By "fine" I meant suited to the specific aplication of a ute>.
MOST people who buy a falcon ute buy it to work, farmers don't buy it to perform handbrake turns around their sheep.

I'm not talking about one anual trip, i'm talking about an everyday workhorse.

You can put "a couple of hundred kilos" in the sedan if that's all you carry.
A decent cab-chassis lockable toolbox weighs "a couple of hundred kilos", berfore you put any tools or stock in it.

Perhaps you would be better off prancing around town, unladen, in a holden ute?

[stev3n]

Sorry just got a little excited and went off-topic, please forgive OP

[Brazen]

haha, did someone from here tonight create a "Bring back Fairmont and Fairmont Ghia" group on Facebook? the photo from the start of the thread is used... Good work! Although stole my idea!

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by stev3n

By "fine" I meant suited to the specific aplication of a ute>.
MOST people who buy a falcon ute buy it to work, farmers don't buy it to perform handbrake turns around their sheep.

Open up your mind. Some people want a cheap RWD vehicle with 'Utility' values. You know, space, capability, versatility and passenger car comfort.

Originally Posted by stev3n

farmers don't buy it to perform handbrake turns around their sheep.

Originally Posted by stev3n

I'm not talking about one anual trip, i'm talking about an everyday workhorse.

I've been honest with how I use my vehicle. On that trip, it's decked out with builders bars, and full width tool box and heaps of materials etc. For paid work, I'm no longer on the tools, i work in engineering design instead. My vehicle is used daily as transport, fun on the weekend, moving furniture, towing (yes i have a towbar on both vehicles), renovation building materials etc.

Originally Posted by stev3n

You can put "a couple of hundred kilos" in the sedan if that's all you carry. A decent cab-chassis lockable toolbox weighs "a couple of hundred kilos", berfore you put any tools or stock in it.

Maybe you could. I've probably done it. There is a reason I have two vehicles. Gets back to 'space' and versatility without having to resort to towing.

Originally Posted by stev3n

Perhaps you would be better off prancing around town, unladen, in a holden ute?

Stupid comment. Perhaps you should be apologising to me too?

Simply, by adding IRS will appeal to more people. As it's already been pointed out having IRS doesn't preclude heavy work. There are several GMH models which have higher load ratings too. Staying with the leaf rear keeps the Ute as more tool of trade too. IMO That is the wrong segment for Falcon, as T6 Ranger will come in and steal plenty of those types of sales. There is also less profit at that end of town for a vehicle like Falcon.

[Revolver]

Originally Posted by Stefan

UMM the vast majority of the car buying public IS 10min from a servo and ARE in capital suburbs.

Well you wont need a haircut for awhile, That 747 was close enough....

[Revolver]

Well,

- On the next model shape, develop a chassis & suspension system that can rival a european around the twisty bits.

-Take GT to 350kw, GS to 320, F6 to 325

-Spicen up the inclusions on the mondeo, & make it a real contender for fleet sales.

-Drop GTE, make it's body kit & inclusions on GT & P

-Strip down a GT to it's undies, rebuild as a stripped out budget road/track blaster. Supply a one make race series to get the interest going. Call it GT-RT

-Fire marketing department, poach Holdens.

-Reintroduce wagon. Do a limited run of 100 "GT-W". A GT in a wagon. To launch it. Keep at GT price. No telephone numbers.

-Crack down on quality. Match it close to the Europeans.

-Offer a 5 year general, 10year powertrain 400,000 km warranty across the board. From Falcon to the cheapest in the range.

And just for shits & giggles, put a 1mil bonus towards FPR/SBR/DJR for a Bathurst & V8SC championship win. This is a bonus for the employees. Not team funding. To be doubled for the next year if they can do it twice. & Three times if they can three-peat for one or the other. That should fix FPR's pit bungles.....



-

[DanielXR8]

Bring back RTV

Farewell the XT

XR6 50th trim and features becomes $4000 option on all XR6’s for private buyers, so they can get a car that’s different to the new rental spec standard XR6.

XR6 Turbo 50th trim becomes standard for all Turbo equipped XR6's.

XR6 gets its own optional stripe package. Personally don’t like them on these cars, but enough people put stripes on them aftermarket to say there is a market for them. Thing is to make sure the stripe package is different enough that it won’t be mistaken for an FPV, but still looks sporty.

G6E 50th becomes standard spec.

G6E Turbo becomes a $3500 option over G6E.

FPV GS trim and kit taken from XR50th spec. Price goes down to $56000. Lets get some volume sales happening and price to get XR8 buyers who baulk at current package and lack of value.

FPV GT gains leather and and rear reversing camera standard. Price goes down to $61000.

GT-E and GT-P loose six piston Brembos and get GT’s brakes as standard, but gain sat nav as standard. They become $5000 options on top of GT. They are not premium cars and their current prices should reflect that reality. Basically these are options for those looking for something a bit different in their GT.

All Falcons and Territory’s get higher grade leather that doesn’t look like worn taxi vinyl after five thousand kays.

Seat bolstering is improved on all Falcons and Territorys to be more durable and carpet is also upgraded to be more durable and pleasant to look at.

Fixed price dealer servicing ala Toyote introduced for Falcon and Territory.

Customers trading in an existing Falcon Sedan, Ute or Territory for the newer model, are given a “Premium pack” for their vehicles if the car is ordered ex factory, as a loyalty bonus free of charge. Might be something like accessory pack or upgraded trims items. For example Territory TS owner or XR6 buyer might score premium audio free because they traded in an Terri or XR or better wheels, or some other item not typically available as standard on that particular model and trim as a thank you. They also get a small badge on the glovebox signifying they are a “Premium Customer” or whatever they call it and a signed certificate and letter from Ford Australia’s President thanking them for their support of the brand, along with a colour photo of their car going down the line at Ford.

Lets make this buying experience a personal one. Something a bit special and not an everyday experience.

Goal is to help make these people into evangelists for the brand who feel they are appreciated for their patronage of the brand and will spread the word. It might not add much real value to the car at trade in time, but it will do a world of good to how the customer feels about Ford and the brand.

Ford in reality might throw a few hundred dollars into the car, but the return will be huge in goodwill and free word of mouth.

Sign up more motor mechanics and independent workshops in country and rural locations as Ford service centers, so there is more choice for Ford customers and to break down the monopoly's of poorly run Ford dealers. Ford new sales and service should not automatically be granted to one and the same dealer principal. In fact I question wether the dealer network as we know it today is even needed. I won't be overly critical of the dealers, but suffice to say I believe they are basically an obsolete hangover from the pre internet days. There are better ways to meet customer expectations these days and give them the experience they want.

Sell Ford product direct from the factory to customers. Offer loyalty discounts for them if repeat customers. Cars can be collected from dealers, specialty "collection centers" in larger populated areas or from service agents for rural and remote sales of Fords. If this means the death of many dealers, then so be it.

Have something similar to the Mazda Road Show. Take all Ford and FPV products around major capital cities and regional areas and invite anyone to drop by and test drive Ford products. No hard sell, no requirement to buy then and there. No salesman asking you about your tradein or when you might be interested in buying. Just invited to drive and sample the cars. This formula works really well for Mazda.

Increase payments and time to do warranty repairs, so dealers and service agents can actually do a good job and get paid by Ford for doing it. A poor job that has to be done two or three times over is not a cost saving. Its a big part of loosing your customer base.

Finally recall the dam cars when they need it. If there is a problem, recall the cars and fix it right. Don't wait until Jack down the street and Mary at work tells you about how they had the exact same problem as you and got it fixed in what was basically a silent recall by Ford. Or worse yet, you read about the problem in the motoring section of the paper or on tv.

This is not saving money, it is costing sales and resale for existing customers big time and eroding the brand image. Take a "fix it first and fix it right" approach to engineering or build faults in Falcon and Territory. Neither car can afford the hit anymore to their reputations. More then a few lost sales and cars piling up unsold now, are due to the poor customer experience that has seen many walk from the brand. The lost equity to Ford is in thousands of customers never to return.

Finally employ marketing and engineers to troll sites like this, visit customers and dealers and build a dialog with people who own the product to collect feedback on their experiences and act on it. Once they have acted on it, use these same people to get the word out that it was done!


Dan

[TC200six]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

Q.So your the CEO: what would you change with Falcon?

First thing I'd do is contact the moderators of www.fordforums.com.au and have this thread title corrected to "you're".

When will people learn the difference?

When I first read the thread title for the first time this morning, I thought I was on Facebook, LOL.

[P5Graeme]

Management need to be told to come down out of their ivory tower, grab a clipboard and head out to the main streets of our towns and cities and ask the customer what THEY actually want in a car. Then go away and make such a car and employ a decent marketing team that will actively promote it. Could it be that simple.

[Iggypoppin']

Just going to stray off topic a little bit.....
I have noticed at work that the blokes with the holdens never seem to carry much stuff....their "work" cars are not seeing much work...but the falcons are often towing a trailer, stuff loaded into alloy bars the length of the ute, you know, it's USED for what the bloke bought it for. I find it interesting that plenty of tradies own Holden utes, bought them for work, and don't work with them much.
The IRS in the Holden might be good for power down etc but in terms of doing a hard days work, well...I think one car maker has proven their worth in this area.

[burnz]

Originally Posted by stev3n

Seems many people want to see IRS utes - why?
The whole purpose of a ute is to carry a load, There is no better system than a live axle to carry a load or for towing, things that utes do regularly. I reckon if you want a irs ute to prance around the city call holden, if you want a ute to work the current falcon set up is fine.
The things i'd change on the ute
-lsd from the base model up
-better approach angle
-standard tow bar and wiring

since the dawn of time the modern motor vehicle has had front springs with a heavy iron sitting on them,
this iron called an engine will sit on those springs for 20+ years, but somehow cant carry a part time load "why"??

you know the holden ute has a higher load rateing than the ford..

[93EB_SXR6]

- Bring back the wagon (make a two door shorter wheel base *based on sedan wheel base* wagon - it will bring a bit of nostalgia and remind people of the old panel vans) *do not make the wagon look anything like the old ford panel vans = ugly*

- Bring back the V8 as an option across the board

- Option of 5spd or 6spd manual, standard auto - T bar (4spd), column auto (4spd), advanced auto (5 or 6spd), flappy paddle auto gearboxes (5, 6 or 7spd.) - I don't know what the current falcons are running for auto boxes, so obviously use whatever is being used now but super-refine it.

- Obviously bring back the six seaters, column shift auto or manual (nothing wrong with a column shift manual)

- Bring back the outback pack (or whatever it was called) - raised suspension/adjustable suspension, LSD, tall diff ratio (or more gears), twin fuel tanks, optional bull bar/nudge bar, reinforced chassis, possibly 4WD, etc

- Have three different stages of suspension from factory (high, medium, low) Alternatively offer the option of height adjustable suspension

- Offer 4wd in utes, wagons and the outback version of the sedan

- Offer either a supercharger or turbo pack for the v8 *optional extra*

- Offer REAL premium sound i.e. 2x 10 inch subs, splits, the whole shabang

- Make a coupe version (base it off the XB coupes in term of style), call it whatever you want.

- Restyle the utes, get rid of the ridiculous bulges around the wheel arch area

- Marketing, marketing, marketing.
Get rid of the ranga kid on the Territory ad.

- And lastly, all the fancy gadgets that come in jap/euro/usa cars these days.

[The Snout]

Give Falcon and Territory the ****. Fully adopt OneFord in Australia sourcing all models from the overseas options. With the manufacturing burden removed, fully concentrate on cleaning up dealer service to customers. Ditch the pointless V8 Supercar support.

[prydey]

all the people saying 'bring back wagon, v8, rtv, etc etc' obviously haven't learned anything from ford's history and would end up sending the company down the gurgler quicker than what some think it is already going.

these types of cars are no longer made because they weren't viable. no one was buying enough of them to make it worth while.

ford are a business. if cars don't make money, there is no point building them. if the falcon doesn't increase in sales, many believe it too will meet its death.

i think ford should concentrate on pleasing the customers it has got for a while, and then try and entice new customers. no point trying to entice new people in the front door when you left the back door open.

[max_torq]

I'd like to see the RWD sedan with both 3 door hatch, and 5 door Wagon, variants. Price the hatch under the sedan where the ute is. Maybe that will absorb the cheap sports demographic. The hatch should weigh less it could become the basis of the GT, or with efficient engines outperform other sedans for economy.