http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/ Autoblog Comments for Ford FPV brings more power, handling to the Aussies http://www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/Oct 26th 2006 11:10AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/Oct 26th 2006 11:15AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/Oct 26th 2006 11:26AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/
If this is the case, are Nissan/Toyota/Honda getting around these numbers by having Infinity/Lexus/Acura, and if so, why can't the US makers do the same? Perhaps it's time for FoMoCo to really shake their business model up and make Ford all trucks, Mercury all compacts and sports, and Lincoln all family and full size/luxury.

Just a thought, flame away if you feel like it...]]>Oct 26th 2006 11:42AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/Oct 26th 2006 11:53AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/Oct 26th 2006 12:03PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/Oct 26th 2006 12:08PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/
I hate you Ford.]]>Oct 26th 2006 12:21PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/Oct 26th 2006 12:21PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/
Ford (U.S.) made the smart choice by keeping these gas-guzzlers out of the US market. They won't sell enough in the US market.]]>Oct 26th 2006 12:28PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/
You can't just directly convert MSRPs at the exchange rate to know how much it would cost in the US. This vehicle would not cost $55,000 any more than a top level Focus would cost almost $25,000 in the US. That's how much it would be if you just used the exchange rate, but you would be hard pressed to find any Focus sedan over here for more than $20k.

There's no reason that they couldn't bring those vehicles over here and price them competitively (under $45k) with vehicles such as the Chrysler 300C SRT-8. Remember, this is a specialy, low-volume, high performance variant of one of their large sedans. Even if they didn't sell a ton of them, it would get people excited about their products again.]]>Oct 26th 2006 1:21PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/Oct 26th 2006 1:27PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/
someone should fire those that decided not to bring their best product in the homeland (US)]]>Oct 26th 2006 1:28PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/
Sure. Why not?

It would be a bargain for that kind of performance.]]>Oct 26th 2006 1:45PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/CAFE ring a bell Ford?
]]>Oct 26th 2006 1:47PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/Oct 26th 2006 2:02PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/Oct 26th 2006 2:56PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/Oct 26th 2006 5:02PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/
Ford North American Operations needs a car (or two) that offers a strong performance image that will drive showroom traffic and not have to be sold with massive rebates. The only car they have in their entire line that meets this criteria is the Mustang. They clearly do not have the money or the motivation to develop such a niche vehicle. So why not work with Australia Operations to develop the Falcon and share some of the cost?

Ford Australia seems to need to expand their production numbers and that means export markets. Since much of what appeals to Aussie drivers would likely appeal to Americans, why not work with North America Ops to develop the Falcon with the goal being to increase their export numbers and grow production?

I'm just amazed that no one at the senior management level in Dearborn thought, "we need to expand our car line but we don't have a lot of money to develop something new.... is there anything we can import?" And in Oz someone should have said, "we need to increase production and amortize our development costs from the new Falcon. Is there anyplace we can export this car to?"

Ford mgmt in Dearborn is so focused on shareholder value and mired in their own bureaucracy that they've lost the vision and the drive to think even a millimeter outside the box. I don't know the thought process in Australia but you'd think the everyone on the new product development teams would have been working on making all their new vehicles export-ready from Day #1. If everyone had their heads outta their butts, all the other issues (emissions, crash testing, etc) could have been engineered into the cars.

Too late now. Ford loses again, not that any of the decision makers are cogent enough to do anything about it. ]]>Oct 26th 2006 6:01PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/ford-fpv-brings-more-power-handling-to-the-aussies/Oct 26th 2006 9:39PM