Ford to close Australian plants and kill off the Falcon nameplate

[falcongtho3]

Tough economic times in Australia have led to a decision by ford to close its manufacturing plants in Australia as well as let the Falcon nameplate fade away. Sad times for everyone there...
http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-news/ford-confirms-plant-closures-20130523-2k22c.html

:borg:

[Bill Hamilton]

Wow, that's almost like Ford USA letting the Mustang name go away, ... Sad.

[iudelt89]

Thats unfortunate. Hopefully they bring the Falcon over here. It blows my mind that Ford still doesnt have a single rwd sport sedan. I'm sorry but I have absolutely no interest in a fwd Lincoln. There is nothing sporty about fwd end of story.

Ford needs something to compete with cars like the wrx(although no one really competes directly with this as it stands), bmw 3 series, 5 series, Cadillac ATS, IS350, Chevy SS, etc. I would love a rwd 4 door sedan with a 5.0 and a 6-speed manual (or maybe 5.8 :MADNOEL:). Keep it around $40k well optioned and they will sell like crazy.

[311-420]

Not cool :(

[Mach351]

Mr Graziano said the Falcon name-plate would be "retired" when production of the locally-made car ceased.

If it was cost effective they would be bringing the platform to the U.S. rather than just close the plants. It's really a niche market Ford is not into.
Europe has a ton of fuel efficient cars that run on diesel, but we won't get any of those either (for different reasons).

[03sh8ker]

I'm embarrassed to say I didn't even know the Falcon was still in production, lol!

[Thunderbolt]

Crikey!

[falcongtho3]

I'm embarrassed to say I didn't even know the Falcon was still in production, lol!

Although Ford killed it off after 1970 in the US, the Aussies took it in a whole different direction. Check out the link for FPV, the Australian performance arm of Ford and see some of the supercars they offer today...
http://fpv.com.au/#
:borg:

[4valve 4tw?]

And there goes the 2% chance we'll see a performance Falcon in the US.

Way to go ecoboost leg humping fanboi public. Now we're stuck with the fairly generic Taurus for the foreseeable future...

[iudelt89]

And there goes the 2% chance we'll see a performance Falcon in the US.

Way to go ecoboost leg humping fanboi public. Now we're stuck with the fairly generic Taurus for the foreseeable future...

You mean incredibly generic, heavy, oversized exterior yet small interior, and fwd / 4wd. Can you tell im not impressed by them? :wtf:

[Italstang]

Ford also needed to make and sell 5000 Falcons to be able to race in the Australian V8 super cars series. V8 4 door rear wheel sedan car series..

[liv2roc]

its all about American company's greed. they say they loosing money but CEO's are making millions. I bet they reopen it in China.

[muzman]

I suggest it has something to do with the golbal platform stance and Falcon is the sacrifice. Bathhurst wont be the same without the Holden Vs Ford epic battles. They were talking about closing down Holden at one stage but they have just launched the new VF model. At least the Mustang lives on!

[Fenixfire]

Very sad :( The falcons were badass. Australias government has been doing some stupid things lately and thats why they are in the situation that they are. I feel for the aussies......