A merger of Mustang muscle and Falcon Finesse?

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You're probably sick and tired of reading about the Ford Falcon. If so, turn away immediately, because fresh from sticking it to another media outlet for irresponsible speculation (more here), now we're going to give it a shot. Be advised, this is not news from Ford, think of it as fiction, set in the future.

Here are pieces of a jigsaw puzzle:

What do you get if you put all that together? Here's a hint: We know that Ford is aiming for flexible production at Broadmeadows and the company is already well advanced re-jigging the line to produce not only a large rear-wheel drive car and a large rear- and four-wheel drive SUV, but also a small front-wheel drive car.

Now, compare the following wheelbase measurements:

Ford Mustang -- 2718
Ford Falcon FG -- 2838
Dodge Challenger-- 2946
Ford Taurus X-- 2868
Ford Territory-- 2842

So let's think of the Falcon and the Mustang built on the same platform, even down to the same wheelbase measurement. And let's call this the 'Pegasus' platform -- a merger of horse and bird.

Even if the Mustang grew in length to the Falcon's wheelbase measurement (arguably providing the Mustang with improved rear-seat accommodation), it would still be shorter than today's Dodge Challenger.

Now, how about building the Territory and the Taurus X (an American market SUV) on the same Pegasus platform? Add some rear overhang to the Territory to retain seven-seat capability and you have more luggage space to suit the American market also. The Taurus X (formerly the Freestyle) and the Territory are such similar concepts, it's almost like they are the ultimate example of product duplication that led to One Ford in the first place.

If Ford streamlined development of the next generations of Taurus X and Territory on the same platform, the body-in-white and most panels could all be the same and the two SUVs could be distinguished by minor styling details to suit their respective markets.

All of this would be in consonance with One Ford and would permit an array of drivetrain alternatives. Want your blinged-out Territory with 22-inch wheels and sports suspension? Tick the Mustang suspension option box.

How about an economical car with style and driveability? Tick the Territory's diesel V6 and ZF eight-speeder (?) option boxes for your Mustang.

Finally, a WRX-killer with some practicality? There's the Mustang's EcoBoost V6 and the Territory/Taurus X's all-wheel drive system for your four-door Falcon.

If the Pegasus platform were around 2800mm, the Falcon and Territory's spaciousness inside would be reduced, unless the platform was designed for V-configuration engines. That would mean the end of the Geelong engine plant -- or would it?

Ford has been engaged in upgrading the plant to produce the inline six to meet the Euro IV emissions standard, and we know from Ford's Russell Christophers that the new ACART testing facility could be upgraded to test for Euro V compliance, so surely money spent in the engine plant could be amortised over a longer period if it were producing ONE modern engine out of a number on offer for cars built on the Pegasus platform -- and beyond 2014. That facility would be engaged on building one specific engine with scope for global sales.

How would this all fit into the current paradigm? With some care, that's how.

Ford Australia is very much a company in transition. The Territory started the ball rolling. From 2004, the SUV signalled that Ford Australia was no longer committed to building just the Falcon, a car which traditionally sold in large numbers to fleets and in fewer numbers to private buyers.

Ford Australia's Marin Burela is dedicated to the task of winning back recently-lost fleet buyers for Falcon, heavily promoting the Falcon XT's below-10.0L/100km fuel economy with the ZF six-speed automatic transmission. But is that the right way to go in the longer term?

It's clear that company cars are increasingly 'user-chooser' cars that are subject to novated leasing -- meaning the driver chooses his/her company car, not the fleet manager. If you want to sell cars to 'fleets' where user-choosers predominate, the cars need to be appealing beyond fleet-spec. User-choosers prefer XR6 Turbos over XTs...

Where company cars continue to be purchased under the watchful purview of a fleet manager, they're tending to be more economical cars -- and smaller. So the Focus could and should be Ford's fleet sales conquistador, not the Falcon.

Since sales of the XT are now down around 30 per cent of total FG Falcon sales, with the remaining 60 or 70 per cent composed of lucrative XR and G6 models, why not just pull the plug on the Falcon as a fleet queen? After all, it's the private buyers that want the car to remain a rear-driver; the fleet buyers mostly couldn't give a tinker's cuss. If they're looking for a spacious 'large' car and don't care about which end drives, offer them a deal on Mondeo.

If you're building the Falcon on the same production line as Territory and Focus (and Kuga and Mustang?) maintaining production levels becomes less of an issue.

So how do all the jigsaw puzzle pieces fit?

A RHD Mustang being built on the same production line as Falcon and Territory could retail in Australia at a much lower price than the previous generation Mustang Ford Australia sold here with mixed fortunes some years back (It could also be offered to other RHD markets such as Japan, South Africa and the UK).

Universal floorpans could be stamped in the US in a dedicated plant and shipped to Australia to run down the production line at Broadmeadows, with 'top hat' body panels stamped here and fitted to the platform. Mustang body panels could be shipped here in CKD (Completely Knocked Down form) for assembly on the line. Perhaps Ford Australia could stamp body panels for Territory and Taurus X, shipping them to the States for the US-market SUV.

Ford Australia would thus work within the constraints of One Ford. That's the first piece of the puzzle.

Ford keeps the engine plant open beyond 2014, building an engine (presumably a V6, but anything's on the table) and that engine can be exported to the US to power Mustang or Taurus X. That's the second piece...

Focus (and the flexible production line) futureproofs Ford Australia's local production, with the company able to adjust production capacity and car-line balance to suit whichever is the more/less popular selling car at the time. Pieces #3 and 4.

Falcon and Mustang become semi-prestige products in rear or all-wheel drive variants, leaving Mondeo and/or Focus to soak up fleet sales. That addresses pieces #5 and 6.

Kuzak and Farley are aware that the Mustang coupe, even more than the Falcon, stands or falls by being rear-wheel drive. Nothing else will do. Ford has to remain in the rear-wheel drive market in one way or another. Was Farley's focus on Focus a cover story and a red herring? Was his Mustang and Falcon analogy a clue that these two cars share similar demographics and need to be united rather than divided? Pieces  #7, 8 and 9.

Building the Territory to customer order and being able to deliver the vehicle within a short timeframe is one of the advantages of flexible local production. What's happening with the Territory at the moment is a symptom of the economic financial crunch that has hit the local automotive industry, but it's also a model for a future business case -- conflicting with Henry Ford's original ideal though it does. Pieces #10 and 11.

We foresee the possibility that Ford might continue building the FG Falcon for fleet sales after 2014 -- until such time as stock of the inline six dries up following the Geelong plant's closure (if that's in the plan). Even if the Geelong plant doesn't close, the engine stocks could be built up for the overlap of FG Falcon and the new model. There's a precedent of sorts for this. Ford had enough of the old 4.1-litre OHV engines on hand to continue manufacturing the XF Falcon light commercials well after the passenger-car derivatives had moved to the 3.9-litre OHC engines.

What about marketing? If the new platform is designed from the start for LHD as well as RHD, you can have LHD Falcons with EcoBoost engines sold into non-traditional markets in Asia and Europe. A more sophisticated Mustang (with the option of all-wheel drive too) could be a low-cost M3 rival. These cars, through diversification, could end up being whatever Ford wants them to be.

Everything points in a certain direction -- but it's all fiction remember...

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