That didn't take long. After Monday's article in the Detroit News reporting that Ford's U.S. operations were going to be developing its own RWD platform here in the States, the FoMoCo crew from Down Under refutes that story saying, "It's too early to speculate on that." With the dollar not holding up like it used to, the idea that Stateside Ford engineers would develop their own left-hand drive, RWD architecture seems sound, especially considering that the Falcon's underpinnings can't support switching the controls from starboard to port. If Ford's U.S. team can manage to provide both, then there's going to be a serious glut of manufacturing and engineering jobs in Australia if and when it happens.
[Source: CarPoint via TTAC]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
TriShield @ Mar 26th 2008 6:31PM
The Falcon can be made in left-hand drive if Ford US wants to put the investment in it. They were going to do so up until last year so the new Falcon went ahead with right-hand drive only.
If Ford AU doesn't recieve the investment it's a big blow. They need an export program to support their operation like Holden already enjoys.
I'd frankly rather buy a turbocharged Falcon XR6T compared to that horrible concept Ford US put out pictured above.
User @ Mar 27th 2008 1:28AM
"I'd frankly rather buy a turbocharged Falcon XR6T compared to that horrible concept Ford US put out pictured above."
That's what I hear all the time. Ford's overseas vehicles are beautiful. Why can't they understand that that's what we want here in America? I do not understand how a company could be so blind.
User @ Mar 27th 2008 1:28AM
"I'd frankly rather buy a turbocharged Falcon XR6T compared to that horrible concept Ford US put out pictured above."
That's what I hear all the time. Ford's overseas vehicles are beautiful. Why can't they understand that that's what we want here in America? I do not understand how a company could be so blind.
Dave @ Mar 27th 2008 1:25PM
"The Falcon can be made in left-hand drive if Ford US wants to put the investment in it."
You took the words right out of my mouth.
Speedzzter @ Mar 26th 2008 6:38PM
It's odd that GM's Holden has produced two RWD models for export (Pontiac GTO and Pontiac G8) while Ford's Glass House gang has been fooling around trying to figure out whether and where to do anything new with RWD.
Does anyone else see an obvious problem with such poor planning? http://speedzzter.blogspot.com/2006/09/mulallys-lexus-and-debate-on-bill-ford.html
By the time Ford figures out what to do, the crushing burden of the 35 M.P.G. CAFE regs will probably make the decision moot.
High performance is not limited to a temporary, unobtainable supercar (GT) or a cramped pony car. For example Cadillac and Chrysler offer several low 14 and 13 second (in the quarter mile) RWD sedans.
Other than a couple of expensive imports, FoMoCo builds ZERO. In trucks and SUVs, Ford has no high performance presence. And FoMoCo’s shift to Mazda and Volvo platforms, its failure to develop DEW98 or import the Australian Falcon or to even pump up the power in the Panthers means that FoMoCo will be unable to rapidly respond to the resurgence in RWD anytime soon.
Red Star @ Mar 26th 2008 7:08PM
Why is performance so much important? How many performance vehicles does Toyota have? NONE. And they are doing better than any other manufacturer in the world.
The Other Bob @ Mar 26th 2008 10:19PM
Red Star- The American companies already tried to "out Toyota" Toyota. That did not work. They are succesful when they return to their roots, as Chrysler used to do and GM is now doing.
Mike Ishi @ Mar 27th 2008 1:44AM
The Other Bob - (Please note that this is just my opinion.)
The American companies did an awful job at trying to beat Toyota. They didn't offer reliable, easy to love, family oriented vehicles. They didn't find a vaguely defined niche like Honda and offer reliable, easy to love, and fun vehicles over purely powerful vehicles like the pony cars of the American companies.
The American companies should have learned to plan ahead of time from their experiences in the 70's. It looks like GM is doing that, but with the CEO's ridiculous anti-global warming comments, it's clear that they're not completely emerged in feeling (and believing) what the consumers feel.
Notice what Toyota and Honda share. They are both easy to love, highly reliable and fairly efficient. Toyota's specialty is in the family oriented market segment (the reason why we don't see Toyota offering a Civic Si competitor) and Honda's specialty is the fun loving/young adult market segment (the reason why they don't offer a Corolla clone.)
The American companies have to offer universality over testosterone. It changes the entire feel of the company and the company's products. It makes the company more universal. For the most part, niches aren't useful unless they're vague. And I know a lot of people will pull up the "oh yeah, but in the late 60's the pony car niche did excellent!" Well, times are completely different now and focusing too much on a "pony car" niche (that truly isn't as big as domestic fans wish it was) is an excellent way of walking closer and closer toward bankruptcy. The American companies should still offer a pony car, but leave the whole "pure performance" thing in that car and not let it trickle out into the company's other products. And here we learn the lesson of diversifying.
As a financial analyst, I have absolutely no idea how they cannot understand what they've been doing wrong for so long.
Speedzzter @ Mar 27th 2008 1:00PM
1. As any Lexus dealer will be overjoyed to tell you, Lexus (a marketing division of Toyota) offers more RWD vehicles with in excess of 280 horsepower than does the now-Jaguar-less Ford Motor Company. Moreover, Toyota has heavily marketed the performance of the DOHC V8 version of the Tundra pickup truck. So it's wholly inaccurate to claim that Toyota offers no performance vehicles.
2. Toyota is also outspending Ford on world motorsports competition, strongly suggesting that Toyota recognizes the importance of at least the perception of "performance" to a significant number of vehicle buyers.
3. Every Scion (a marketing division of Toyota) catalog from the inception of the marque has featured page-after-page of tuner information and Toyota Racing Development (TRD) parts in an effort to position the Scion brand as a credible youth market alternative to Honda, Subaru and Mitsubishi.
Thus, it's a vast oversimplification to suggest that because Toyota's mainstream sedans (Corolla, Camry, Avalon and Prius) are as bland as warm milk and as fun to drive as a flaccid rental car that Toyota has no interest in "performance." . . .
It's a given that the bean counters always hate niches and, more specifically, performance cars. Such "specials" always offend the bean counter's inherent "lowest cost per unit" mentality.
The surest path to oblivion is for Ford to avoid excellence and concentrate on building passionless, "lukewarm" copies of FWD Toyotas.
For Ford to have any hope at surviving, it must generate excitement about its products. A RWD sedan with potential appeal to Ford's traditionalist V8 gearheads is merely one large step toward this critical goal.
There's a lot more detail on this subject at http://speedzzter.blogspot.com/2008/03/is-high-performance-important-to-ford.html
mk @ Mar 26th 2008 6:51PM
They had better get their house of cards in order.
All the people claiming that Mercury should die won't get the chance to see that before the whole thing folds up.
Can't figure out how to build RWD correctly, can't seem to make their FWD stuff as attractive as Europe's Ford products...
What exactly is Ford doing well right now? (no, I am not counting Mazda or Volvo, which have enough autonomy to decide some things for themselves...)
imoore @ Mar 26th 2008 7:14PM
Right now, Ford is working on improving the next generation F-Series trucks, paying a ton of money for an old Daewoo factory in Eastern Europe, and trying to increaseits investment in Troller in Brazil. In other words, not much.
TriShield @ Mar 26th 2008 7:07PM
They are doing a pretty good job of "right-sizing" their business to actually turn a profit in the US market by shedding brands and non-core assetts. The latest being Jaguar and Land Rover. They are also phasing Mercury out with slow product starvation, it is on purpose make no mistake about that.
Disgruntled Goat @ Mar 27th 2008 9:08AM
GM is succeeding by building good cars and the fact that some of them are rwd is irrelevant. GM can't "out Toyota" Toyota because they can't build a good small sedan. The 08 Malibu is the first and only thing that has come close to touching the Camry but as long as they're still throwing out the dungheap Cavalier/Cobalt they're going to have a heard time competing in the world of Corollas and 35mpg standards.
tic @ Mar 26th 2008 7:14PM
The falcon platform is compatible for LHD. It just simply requires the investment from Ford US. This investment would be much much smaller then the investment required to re-engineer another platform in the US.
Don't forget Ford AUS in already engineering the falcon platform for the duratec V6 (DI & TT) and possibly diesel? for 2010 - and this is also the likely powertrain if Ford US were to also engineer a RWD platform... the platform already has a fairly advanced front suspension and IRS setup that is superior to any RWD ford US offering....
just seems like a bit of a waste to me to re-engineering everything when there are so many goodies already here in AUS which will likely find their way into the Global RWD platform anyway.....
stang_fan @ Mar 26th 2008 7:27PM
It's unfortunate, but Ford U.S. has had (and apparently STILL has) a bad case of NIH....not invented here. I thought this was left behind in the late '80s, but it is rearing it's ugly head again. Come on Ford U.S. you let Japan and Sweden design the small and mid-size cars...is it really that hard to let Ford AU do a (as in 1) RWD platform? Maybe if there had been some sharing before this we would have had a "kick ass" T-Bird and/or Mustang.
Eric Biran @ Mar 26th 2008 9:23PM
Yeah, wasn't Ford the one trying to force the "world car" on everyone with the old Modeo, and to better effect with the first Focus? How is it that they haven't figured this one out yet? Ford Australia has been making RWD 6-8 cylinder cars and utes since before "world car" was even in the Ford lexicon. Shouldn't this have been the place to start?
Since Ford basically has just Mazda and Volvo platforms for cars, plus the Mustang and a few trucks, it could stand to have a RWD vehicle in its stable outside of Australia. I think between Lincoln and Volvo flagships, plus a large Ford like the Interceptor above, and the Mustang of course, there's enough money to not only modify the Falcon for RHD duty, but to actually make it (particularly the next generation) something that is ideal for use everywhere--a true world car.
Eric Biran @ Mar 26th 2008 9:25PM
I, of course, meant "LHD duty."
That One Person @ Mar 26th 2008 10:12PM
The Contour was a disaster.
And it wasn't until Mullaly stepped up that the whole World Car idea was really pushed. Nasser tried it and failed. And Bill Ford didn't really do much. We had a World Car (the Focus) that was perfect (I am not counting the whole recall debacle for the 2000 MY). But Bill sat on his hands and let the car die.
But yeah, not making the Falcon compatible with LHD was a dumb move from the start. And it was obviously another one of Bill Ford's dumb moves.
And even though Ford is making money off of Volvo and now Lincon(?), it would take millions upon millions of dollars to convert the RHD Falcon to LHD and to also develop it for US safety standards. I believe Ford has the money but I just don't think they want to take the gamble. In a way I don't blame them because every Euro car they have brought here tanked. But I do hold a grudge because it seems every time they do bring something here, it ends up being a failure.
If you think about it, a RWD car for the US wouldn't be here until (most likely) 2012. And who knows what gas prices will be like then. And why spend that money on a vehicle that will need even more engineering done to it for it's (possible) second generation to pass those stupid fuel mileage laws? If things are as bad as people are predicting for 2020, one generation of vehicle would net a huge loss for Ford.
I think Ford should focus it's resources on making better FWD vehicles (look at what made Toyota so big).
tio @ Mar 27th 2008 8:02AM
The Contour was a disaster because it had less interior room than the Tempo it replaced not because it was a bad car. The Styling was fine. Americans demand rear seat leg room for adults. For some reason many European designs do not offer much rear leg room.When adapted to the US market the room should be added. If Ford had added three inches of extra rear leg room to the Contour i'm sure it would have been a much bigger seller. The statement that the Falcon could not be made LHD is false. Yes, it would require a new firewall and front frame structure but it could be done. It would not be that hard. If Ford wants to save money then just have the conversion done in the USA. Send the Falcon over and have a design team here make a new front structure. Just don't let the US people screw up the details like they have on all the latest US Ford products.
Uncle Sam @ Mar 27th 2008 8:59AM
I prefer my cars, designed, engineered and produced right here in the good old USA, keep the Australian crap in Australia where it belongs.