Autoblog

"You guys are obsessed with rear wheel drive," Alan Mulally mused to the Australian press after a browbeating about which pair of wheels might propel the Falcon into the future. Try as they might, the Ford Chief would not be pinned down about the chassis architecture of future Falcons, saying only that the choice would be customer driven, and plugging front and all-wheel drive vehicles as "pretty spectacular."

Mulally is right that Ford's global push to put exceptional small cars in showrooms is what the automaker's focus is and should be. The Falcon has long fallen off its sales peak from the halcyon days of two decades ago, and while Mulally agrees that it's "an absolutely dynamite vehicle," small cars in the future will prop up the more niche-y vehicles like the FG Falcon. Mulally went on to say that Australia will serve as an engineering and product development outpost for Ford, and the big-vehicle prowess in Oz will be useful regardless of layout. As Ford pulls its global platforms together, the Ranger and Focus will come at us from Australia, too.

Click above for high-res gallery of the new FPV Falcon F6

Ford is getting ready for a battle in Australia for the hearts and minds of performance enthusiasts. Its new FPV Falcons will go head to head with what HSV offers from Holden, and today the Blue Oval from Down Under released officials specs for its souped up, gnarly-looking rear-wheel-drive sedans. First we have the F6, which is powered by the familiar turbocharged 4.0L straight-six engine now producing 416 horsepower and 417 pound-feet of torque at just 1,950 rpm. That's a 54-horsepower increase over the prior straight six, and matches up surprisingly well with Ford's other engine offering, the 5.4L Boss V8 producing 422 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque at a loftier 4,750 rpm. The Boss motor can be had in the GT E, GT-P and GT sedans, as well as the Super Pursuit and Pursuit Ute. The exceptional straight-six meanwhile, is only offered in the F6 sedan and ute.

Let's compare what Ford revealed today with the offerings from Holden's HSV. Currently the Clubsport R8 is HSV's most high-performance sedan, and it's powered by an LS3 6.2L V8 producing 425 horsepower and 405 pound-feet of torque. Ford has pretty much matched HSV in the motor department then, and the new Falcon looks like it might weigh less to boot. But HSV dropped a bomb at the Melbourne Motor Show named the HSV W427, which is a version of the Clubsport R8 powered by GM's LS7 V8 producing 496 horses and 472 pound feet of torque. Hopefully Ford Australia has an answer for that up its sleeves, too.

Click below to view FPV's new performance vehicles and check out Ford's official press release after the jump.




[Source: Ford]

The consumer shift away from large gas guzzling vehicles has forced auto manufacturers in Australia, the land of large RWD saloons, to rethink and realign their production plans. Ford's Aussie subsidiary is boasting that it'll be the first automaker Down Under to respond to the movement towards smaller vehicles by starting production of its own small car locally.

In 2011, production of the next-gen Ford Focus hatchback will kick off at Ford's Campbellfield plant in the Australian state of Victoria, where it'll join production of the new Falcon sedan and Territory SUV. The move will create 300 new jobs at the plant but doesn't come soon enough to save 600 workers at Ford's Geelong engine plant who last week found out the plant is closing in 2010.

Ford will build up to 40,000 units per year of the new small hatch, with 15,000 cars earmarked for export to New Zealand and South Africa, with even more countries expected to be announced closer to the beginning of production. Export deals are vital to make a good business case for Australian built cars. Both Toyota and GM Holden also export cars built on the island continent.

[Source: Ford]

High fuel prices have taken another casualty. This time it's the Australian built Ford inline six-cylinder engine, which will be phased out in 2010 to make way for the Blue Oval's new Duratec V6. Up to 600 employees at the Geelong plant in Melbourne, which builds the old six-cylinder, will be losing their jobs, but some staff are expected to be redeployed elsewhere.

Ford cites its new product manufacturing strategy of accessing global economies of scale as the main factor for dropping the engine, but falling demand for Australia's traditional large sedans because of rising fuel prices and impending changes to local emissions standards would also have had a major impact on the decision.

The Aussie division is still on track to complete a new R&D center as part of Ford's $1.8 billion Australian investment program, and significant investment programs in new emissions laboratories and wind tunnel technology will continue.

The new Duratec engine will be sourced from high volume U.S. engine facilities and there's even talk of the addition of new diesel units for the locally built Falcon and Territory models.

[Source: Ford]

Ford's Australian subsidiary pales in comparison to its European and American divisions but the small Aussie outcrop has over the years produced some of the best vehicles within the Blue Oval's global empire, including a unique RWD V8-powered saloon and a midsized SUV. We may soon be able to add a third car to that list, as execs down under are hoping to another model to their production line.

Consumers in Australia, faced with rising fuel prices and increasing congestion in major cities, are turning away from the traditional large family cars in droves and are heading towards smaller and more economical compacts. Unfortunately, Ford has to rely on expensive imports to satisfy that demand, but According to Drive, production of a third model is being considered to fill the gap.

There's no word on what this third model will be but the smart money is on it being one of Ford's European stars, either the Focus or Fiesta models, which could arrive as knocked down kit cars to be assembled locally.

We wonder if a small European compact can save Ford's production in the land of Mad Max and the V8 Interceptors.

[Source: Drive]

Seemingly overnight the Australian market has become the holy grail for a pair of U.S. auto giants. That's because both General Motors and Ford are considering taking advantage of rear-wheel drive platforms that have prospered on the island continent by exporting them to new markets, including the U.S. GM, of course, has plans to bring its RWD Zeta platform to the States and use it to underpin the new Chevy Camaro, Pontiac G8 and a few other cars that have yet to get the final go-ahead. Ford, meanwhile, is a little behind in that its next generation RWD Falcon sedan has yet to debut. CarAdvice.com.au, however, has been furiously snapping prototypes caught testing, and it just published a trunkful of shots showing prototypes of many Falcon models with less disguise than we've previously seen.

Most notable are shots of the FPV Falcons, which truly do look like birds of prey with their sloped noses, Xenon lamps and a braking/tire/wheel combo that should allow them to easily chase down that next meal. Note the hood bulge visible on many of these mules – wonder what's hiding under there. Also shot were more staid models like the Futura, as well as the XR8, which we feel silly calling "staid".

While GM's Zeta cars are figuratively crossing the oceans as we speak, the Fords appear to be still packing their bags. It's too early to say how the Falcon's platform will be used by Ford in the U.S. It will likely be the basis of the next-gen Mustang that arrives around 2011, as well as supply the platform for a new Crown Vic. We're of the mind that the current Crown Vic and its ancient Fox platform will continue for some time, and that Ford will introduce a new RWD large sedan inspired by the Interceptor Concept.

[Source: CarAdvice.com.au]

Click image for hi-res gallery

All the B-car hubbub this weekend centered around the nifty new Mazda2, which we seriously hope to see in the US at some poin tin the future. At Australia's Melbourne International Motor Show, however, Ford showed off its tried-and-true Fiesta in that market's XR performance trim. The Fiesta XR4, looking very swank in it's decidedly Shelby-looking blue-on-white stripe package, is really just a rebadged Euro-market Fiesta ST.

That's no bad thing, as the small hatch (it's slotted below the Focus) pumps out 150 horsepower and 140 lb-ft of torque from its 2.0-liter four cylinder. The only transmission offered on the XR version is a five-speed manual, and we're confident that the car's target audience wouldn't have it any other way. Very snazzy wheels wrapped in Pirelli P Zero rubber combine with great-looking factory bodywork to create an attractive and desirable overall package.

This settles it: we're moving to Australia. It's not enough that they get their killer home-market Ford rear-drivers like the FPV GT, but they get the best stuff Ford of Europe has on offer as well (Fiesta, Focus)? We give up. This weekend, it was announced that Australia's getting the new Mondeo, too. Talk about a glut of riches.

Press release after the jump.

[Source: Ford Australia]

We've spent so much time here at Autoblog yelling about the rank awesomeness of GM's Australian product, we forget that The Blue Oval brand has some pretty rockin' stuff in the land of Oz as well. In fact, it's just as good. We've just been so busy obsessing over Ford's stellar European lineup that the hot Aussie stuff gets shoved to the back burner. This week's Australian Motor Show reminded us just how engaged Ford of Australia is with its local enthusiast customer base, what with its FPV division (think Australian SVT, but with an actual lineup of products). In Sydney, FPV unveiled its Force 6 and Force 8 performance sedans, either of which we would run up to and hug were they offered here (with the wheel on the other side, of course).

Now, those are both based on the Aussie-market Falcon, which is a pretty appealing set of wheels even without the added FVP muscle. Available in a variety of trim levels with V6 I6 or V8 power driving the rear wheels, the Falcon represents exactly the type of car Ford could desperately use right now, seeing as their passenger car lineup is woefully devoid of rear-drivers (save for Mustang and the dated, neglected Crown Vic and Town Car). The latest variant is the new Fairmont Ghia, which places a focus on European styling and dynamics, combined with the aforementioned Australian power and performance. Have a look at the car's new TV spot., and try not to get too jealous.

thanks to reader Daniel Dacey for the tip!

[Source: YouTube]