Looky, looky. Spies from KGP have caught a rear-wheel drive Ford from Australia at Ford's engineering centers in Detroit. In fact, the car appears to be in the process of being unboxed after its long trip from Oz. What does it mean that this car, presumably a rear-wheel drive Falcon prototype, has landed on our shores? Well, let's start speculating.
Clearly Ford is the last of the domestic automakers to take advantage of rear-wheel drive's resurgence. Nevertheless, Ford may be planning (we hope) to augment the wildly popular Mustang with a rear-wheel drive sedan. Such a strategy could follow the same path that General Motors has blazed by having Holden, its Australian brand, develop the rear-wheel-drive Zeta platform for export to various international markets including the U.S. We'll see GM's Zeta platform underpin the new Camaro and Pontiac G8 for sure, and possibly other big RWD sedans like the next-gen Impala. Likewise, Ford could be developing Australia's Falcon with international export in mind, meaning left-hand-drive will be a consideration from the get-go, as well as U.S. safety and emissions standards. That RWD platform could then be the basis for the next-gen Mustang, due a year or two after the decade's end, and a large sedan, either a replacement for the Crown Vic (unlikely) or an all-new sedan, possibly inspired by the hot Interceptor Concept from the 2007 Detroit Auto Show.
By the way, that entire last paragraph was wishful thinking, as we have no actual evidence Ford is currently developing the next-gen Falcon in this way. Prototypes from other markets show up on U.S. roads all the time, and it really doesn't mean anything in and of itself until an official word comes from Ford. Still, speculating about a production version of the Interceptor is more fun than being told it will never be built at all, so speculate we will.
[Source: LLN]
Clearly Ford is the last of the domestic automakers to take advantage of rear-wheel drive's resurgence. Nevertheless, Ford may be planning (we hope) to augment the wildly popular Mustang with a rear-wheel drive sedan. Such a strategy could follow the same path that General Motors has blazed by having Holden, its Australian brand, develop the rear-wheel-drive Zeta platform for export to various international markets including the U.S. We'll see GM's Zeta platform underpin the new Camaro and Pontiac G8 for sure, and possibly other big RWD sedans like the next-gen Impala. Likewise, Ford could be developing Australia's Falcon with international export in mind, meaning left-hand-drive will be a consideration from the get-go, as well as U.S. safety and emissions standards. That RWD platform could then be the basis for the next-gen Mustang, due a year or two after the decade's end, and a large sedan, either a replacement for the Crown Vic (unlikely) or an all-new sedan, possibly inspired by the hot Interceptor Concept from the 2007 Detroit Auto Show.
By the way, that entire last paragraph was wishful thinking, as we have no actual evidence Ford is currently developing the next-gen Falcon in this way. Prototypes from other markets show up on U.S. roads all the time, and it really doesn't mean anything in and of itself until an official word comes from Ford. Still, speculating about a production version of the Interceptor is more fun than being told it will never be built at all, so speculate we will.
[Source: LLN]
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