Ford remains committed to the production and sale of the Aussie-built Falcon despite sales falling below 20,000 for the first time in modern history in 2011.

However, senior Ford executives continue to hint that Falcon will be absorbed into a global large car strategy this decade.

Asked if the Falcon was sustainable at its current sales rate, Ford's president Asia Pacific and Africa Joe Hinrichs said: "At the current investment cycle that we are in the answer to that is yes."
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He then added: "But not forever and we will have more to say on that over time."

It is expected that in 2016 or 2017 the Falcon and its Territory SUV spin-off will merge with the US Taurus/Explorer, swapping from rear to front drive and ending more than 50 years of bespoke development and potentially ending Ford's local manufacturing operations.

Ford is expected to merge all its medium/large cars onto a single platform as part of its One Ford strategy that involves designing and building global cars, rather than vehicles for specific markets.

A significant step in that process will happen at the Detroit motor show next week when the next-generation mid-size Ford Fusion and luxury Lincoln MKZ are unveiled.

Hinrichs was speaking to Drive at a function in New Delhi, India, launching Ford's new compact SUV, the EcoSport, which is based on the tiny Fiesta city car and comes to Australia in 2013.

Hinrichs - who described himself as an "optimist" - said he believed Falcon sales should stabilise in 2012 and perhaps even rebound a little with the arrival of the EcoBoost four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine that brings fuel savings over the six-cylinder that for decades has been the basis of the Falcon. It arrives in March, two months after the FG Series 2 update.

"We continue to invest in Falcon and it is obviously an important part of our portfolio," he said.

"Is it as important as it was five years ago? No. But it is still important to us. And we haven't lost sight of that, and Australia is a very important market to us."

Hinrichs cited several reasons for the Falcon's sales decline: Buyer departure from the segment and less fleet sales than expected (many fleets are abandoning large cars in favour or small cars or SUVs, which often have better resale values than Falcons and Commodores) were two of the most obvious.

Another was the lack of a dedicated LPG variant over the course of the year. Hinrichs admitted that Ford "made a conscious decision not to participate in some parts of that segment in the last calendar year".

He said Falcon's decline had played a key role in dragging Ford's overall market share lower in Australia year-on-year.

"So the most important thing we need to do is shore up that Falcon/Territory sales rate and continue to grow the incremental products that we have and are investing in; the new Focus for example."

Hinrichs predicted that Territory offered more sales growth potential than Falcon, reflecting the buyer swing to SUVs. However, he also foreshadowed its eventual demise as an independent product.

"We have just made major investments in Territory for a reason and we have intentions of that being part of the portfolio for significant years to come," he said. "I think eventually it won't sustain itself but that's not in the near term. "

At the same function, Ford's global CEO Alan Mulally said Falcon's declining sales were evidence of why Ford was on the right course adopting a single global platform for large cars.

"Global platforms, global scale, you can see why this strategy is so compelling and so competitive worldwide."

However, Mulally would not comment on the future of Falcon, Territory or manufacturing in Australia directly. The closest he came was to reiterate Ford's large car plans.

"We are going to have a Taurus-sized vehicle. Right now it is on a different platform to the Falcon, but we are going to have a large sedan going forward."

source: smh.com.au

they want the falcon gone already, but want to encourage public confidence in the model whilst waiting for its replacement

Large FWD cars just don't sit well with me. The yanks tried it in the 70s and all it led to was a bunch if obscure cars no one really rushed out to buy. If falcon shares a platform with the mustang then it will remain rwd. And I was never a fan of the territory in the first place.

I think the move to front wheel drive is a bad one.
Having said that, I don't want a Taurus. I want a Falcon.

But who truly knows what the future will bring. I hope there will be another Falcon after the FG, but I am also not that optimistic. Fingers crossed.

I seen this posted in another thread. Might have something to do with the falcon being phased out.

On a more serious note, it will be sad to see the falcon come to an end. But I think most people on this forum will be uniffected buy this change. The worst part is there will no longer be new parts for us to retro fit into our older Falcons. Australian motorsport will not be the same either.

It's going to be a sad day when we find out the Aussie Falcon is finished for good. I know it will be! Times have changed, but maybe they'll keep the "Falcon" name but rebadge a Taurus for Oz? Eeww! lol Sounds like their plan hey...

Look at the Mazda 3 out-sell the Commodore... I'm not sure why people are going for the 3... It's awful to look at, finished poorly, the road noise in the cabin is terrible... If you want a 3 sized car buy a Cruze (Australian-built: Support the workers) or Focus... Though let's see how the 4cyl Turbo Falcon goes... I might get one... I'm sure it'll be different to my 'ol V8 NL Fairlane but hey... It'd be the daily drive unlike my NL (costs a bomb to run )

I love the falcon =/
And I will never own a front wheel drive car, or a city slicker suv if I can avoid it.
So help me god, I will buy a commodore before I drive an FWD falcon.

no need to turn gay :p

Hey Guys,

Remember the crumydore will be phased out just like the falcon because they cant keep up with EURO emissions standards unless they go turbo ( ecoboost is the future for fords ). They may be able to swig some more sales if they market the XR6 turbo better and more, but inevitably its all going to turn pear shaped for large aussie built cars because we dont have the money to keep up with the Europeans.

Its sad to see and i hate to think that i have to start saving parts to keep my baby alive long after fords aftermarket parts cease to exist. As they say " times are a changing ", I just hope in 15-20 years my car might be worth more that it is now due to supply and demand, but only time will tell.

R.I.P Falcon you had a great run but now its time to say goodbye.

Cheers Joel

LOL!!.. .
atleast you arent kickin up a fuss mate.

I was wondering if anyone would pick up on that one.

Reading "one Ford" reminds me of a certain Austrian-born German leader.
He once created a slogan similar that read: "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer"
Which translates to "One people, one government, one leader."

Hmmm...