Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally said the second-biggest U.S. carmaker may reduce its product lineup to as few as 20 models.
“There will be less than 30, on our way to 20 to 25,” Mulally said in response to questions on the future lineup of “nameplates” or models after addressing the Confederation of British Industry in London today. “Fewer brands means you can put more focus into improving the quality of engineering.”
Ford intends to axe the Falcon at the end of 2011. Australia will be getting the Taurus instead.
Dear Ford, you suck.
Why should we in Australia have to put up with the Ford Taurus, when the current Falcon is a better car? Moreover, how does it make any sense to replace a decent car with a worse and more expensive one? Wouldn't it make more sense to replace the Taurus with the Aussie Falcon, since the Falcon already employs world's best practice, is 5-star safety rated and is RWD?
I have been to the USA on several occasions and what I find disappointing, is the fact that American built cars although seemingly "identical" are of a lesser quality than their European counterparts.
Having seen the equivalents on US roads themselves - the Cobalt to the Astra, the Malibu to the Vectra, the Focus vs the European Focus, and the US Camry compared to an Australian or Japanese Camry, in every case the US is siginificantly built to a cheaper standard and it shows.
http://www.fordvehicles.com/cars/taurus/
The Taurus (D258 built on Ford's D3 platform) is currently built in Chicago and retails in the US starting at US$25,170 or AU$26,031. Now that's fine whilst the Australian Dollar buys 90 odd US Cents, but if the little Aussie battler were to fall to levels of 60 cents US which it has done in the past, then suddenly the conversion price blows out to more than AU$40,000. This might make sense for the US Parent company but for Ford Australia, it's commercial suicide.
Fair play to Ford we do already get the Mondeo, but the Taurus which is smaller than the Falcon might not be seen as sufficiently different to it. Toyota have have also played this game in Australia by offering the Avalon and the Camry at the same time and that worked tremendously well for them didn't it?
I suppose that the real reason for my disdain is more to do with the fact that once again, yet another manufacturing concern heads off overseas because of the tribute that must be paid to the Holy God Dollar (Amen). It's not just Ford who loses out, but all of the associated parts suppliers, and other related industries also suffer because of decisions taken in board rooms in lands far away.
In principle I don't see how this is any different to the sentiment thrown at Pig Iron Bob in 1938. Back then waterside workers refused to load scrap iron onto ships bound for Japan, which would later be sent back to us in the form of bombs. Nowadays, BHP, Rio Tinto and other mining companies will be selling mining goods, which after being changed will also come back to us in the form of bombs of a different kind.
Thanks Ford. I've driven a Taurus in the US and to be honest, it's crap. Thanks for telling the Australian public what you think of them. I'm sure they'll repay the favour with their wallets.
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