FORD'S future as a carmaker in Australia is hanging in the balance with nothing to replace the Falcon when the current model finishes in five years and no guarantees that the plant will get the cash needed to retool.

Speaking on the eve of the Detroit motor show, Ford chief executive Alan Mulally refused to say whether retaining the Australian manufacturing operation, which posted a $274 million loss last year, was part of the company's long-term strategy.

Ford Australia, which ditched plans to build a small car just six months ago, is now examining other options to large cars in an effort to keep its Melbourne factory alive.

Ford Australia chief executive Marin Burela said yesterday: "We're looking at a variety of things at the moment. What we build in Australia will evolve over the next 18 months to two years."

Mr Mulally said developing a new Falcon just for Australia was no longer an option.

"People who make one vehicle for one country -- a different vehicle -- those days are gone because you can't compete with the global companies," Mr Mulally said. He said that regardless of where a car was sold, buyers everywhere were now looking for the same things.

"Around the world now, the things that are driving every purchase decision are quality, fuel efficiency, safety, smart design and the best value," he said.

Mr Mulally, who was brought in to turn Ford around after a long career at Boeing, has divested the company of other brands to focus on his One Ford strategy -- a one-size-fits-all approach that moves the company to global models developed for sale in all markets.

The first fruit of that strategy is the next Focus, which was scheduled to be built in Australia from next year to secure the local outpost's long-term future -- a plan that has since been dumped.

Mr Mulally said there was no chance that decision would be reversed and offered no vision of how Ford Australia would fit into the One Ford plan.

"Australia is a very important market for us and we've worked hard to be competitive," he said. "No matter what, we're going to serve the Australian market."

The current two-year-old Falcon is due to be replaced in 2015 and the nameplate is expected to continue. However, the requirements of the huge US market will be most influential in shaping the eventual model, which is expected to ditch the rear-wheel-drive format in favour of front or all-wheel drive.

Ford is unlikely to make a decision on its global large car for another two years. Ford Australia's Broadmeadows plant would need to be extensively retooled to make the car but Mr Burela refused to say whether Detroit would fund the overhaul.

Ford Australia, the smallest of the local makers, built about 55,000 cars last year with only a handful destined for export.

All-Aussie Falcon could be history, says Ford

From: AAP January 12, 2010 10:24AM

THE all-Australian Ford Falcon could soon be a thing of the past, the world president of the American car-makers has warned.

The Falcon marks 50 years on Australian roads this year, but speaking at the Detroit motor show, Ford boss Alan Mulally said only one large car platform would be built for all world markets under the company's One Ford program.

"The best thing for Ford is to bring our scale and volume (to the market)," Mr Mulally told Fairfax newspapers.

"(Car-makers) who make one vehicle, a different vehicle for one country, I think those days are gone, because you can't compete with the global companies and Ford's going to be a powerhouse globally."

The likely successor for an Australian designed and engineered Falcon is a car based on the American Ford Taurus, which unlike the Falcon is a front-wheel drive car.

The Taurus was imported to Australia in the late 1990s with little success.

Mr Mulally would not say if Ford Australia would play a leading role in developing the large car platform, or whether a local version of the global car would be built in Australia.

Ford Australia president Marin Burela told Fairfax he hoped Australian engineering talent would be used for the project.

A decision on whether the world cup would be front- or rear-wheel-drive was at least a year away, he said.

"The all-new Falcon doesn't have to come into play until the end of 2014, early 2015, and we don't have to make a decision until 2011 on what that vehicle will be, in terms of styling, technologies " he said.

Mr Mulally said Ford Australia may help to develop the rear-wheel-drive Mustang platform.

The Ford Falcon was introduced to Australia in 1960.

The car has been the mainstay of Ford's Australian manufacturing operations.

Ford Australia employs about 4700 people at its Victorian plants, 2300 of whom were factory floor workers and 2400 in areas such as engineering, administration, marketing and product design.

Panels and engines for the Falcon and its Territory wagon variant are produced at Geelong, with assembly housed at Campbellfield, in Melbourne's north.

Falcon was the fifth-highest selling car in Australia in 2009, with 31,023 sales compared with 44,387 sales for the top-selling Holden Commodore.

Flagging sales because of higher fuel prices have hurt the Falcon and the Australian large car sector in recent years.

its just ford US trying to dig itself out of the s**t its put itself in (Pickup trucks FTW - NOT!) if they can our falcon and sell us imported tauruses instead they will keep some of their factories chugging away (while thousands loose their jobs here) considering how well american designed and built cars have always fared here and in europe/UK wouldnt we be better off with the mondeo as our large car.

better idea would be to let us keep making good cars like the falcon (possibly with a slight downsizing) then they can make copies of them in the US to suit there tastes, for example put s**t quality interiors on them, great big s**t looking bumpers grilles etc, detune the suspension ( or easier still just remove the ARB's completely) halve the braking performance and then tune the engine to give no throttle response at all viola, instant american top seller.

if they kill the falcon i guess the territory is dead as well and we will be recieving exploders next?

In the current market if you look the break down of Falcon sales the standard Falcon makes up about 2% i believe the rest is the XR6 and premium range of G series cars mostly G6E and G6E Turbo, all of which are cream cars (higher profit cars). Meaning the Falcon is profitable even at its current level.

All this has been about the Falcon sedan would they consider doin' any of this environmental stuff to the Falcon utes