End of the road for Fairlane

In a classic "first the bad news, then the good news" scenario Ford today announced that there would be no more long-wheelbase Fairlane or LTD models beyond the current series.

The good news is that the Falcon wagon and ute models, which have traditionally been based on the long-wheelbase platform since 1972, will continue into the new Orion series due for launch early in the second quarter of next year.

According to Ford Australia President, Mr Tom Gorman, the business case no longer adds up with only 50 retail sales a month with sporadic fleet sales bolstering the numbers at inconsistent intervals.

Although Ford invented the segment in 1967, the combined sales of both Holden's and Ford's local long-wheelbase models are a long way short of what Ford used to achieve on its own.

There is probably no more graphic example of what the removal of tariffs has done to the Australian market and local manufacturing. In the Fairlane's most successful days during the 1960s and 1970s, imported prestige cars were out of reach when they were carrying more than 57 per cent duty and later faced quota restrictions which left the Fairlane virtually with the market to itself.

Gorman notes that today's Upper Large Car segment is growing with the arrival of world class luxury cars coming off a much higher volume base than what the Fairlane can achieve in Australia. Some can also come here duty-free under new free trade agreements.

Fielding a new Fairlane without major differentiation from Ford's standard wheelbase models and without the same world class technology, features and finish as its global rivals, is no longer an option according to Gorman: "The investment is too high to make it a great product."

After Ford's extensive studies of the costs required to lift the Fairlane to meet today's market expectations, Gorman conceded that Holden's spend of $180-200 million to bring the WM Statesman/Caprice to market was a minimum figure that made no sense without an extensive export program.

Although Gorman noted that most of Holden's WM production leaves the country, he reflected that under today's high Aussie dollar and declining local volumes it would not be easy to make a business case for a new Fairlane even with exports.

The key to the first Australian Fairlane was the clever grafting of local Falcon parts from the rear doors forward to the 1966-67 US Fairlane boot section and rear guards on a longer wheelbase that matched the US car. Holden's first and unsuccessful response was the Brougham which was no more than a 1968 HK Premier with an extended boot. Until Holden extended the wheelbase of its HQ platform to deliver the Statesman in 1971, the Fairlane seemed unstoppable.

Following the withdrawal of the US Fairlane for 1968, Ford Australia was forced to go it alone and develop the Fairlane as a stand-alone Australian model derived from the local Falcon after 1972. This represented a major shift in its costings when it was no longer an expedient spin-off from defunct US tooling.

The first recent sign that the local Fairlane was in trouble was the delayed 2003 arrival of a BA Fairlane, since rejected by private buyers as being too little differentiated from the Falcon on which it was based.

It also suffered from the usual Australian Fairlane shortcoming shared with previous Statesman models of a short rear door which has traditionally been disguised by a blank ahead of the rear wheel arches and extra glass or metal in the C-pillar.

General rear access problems introduced with the AU series exacerbated this shortcoming.

Last year's arrival of the WM Statesman/Caprice with the first extended rear doors on a recent Australian long-wheelbase model with a corresponding boost in rear access effectively forced Ford to either match the extra tooling costs of this feature or drop the model.

The need to tool up for a unique set of extended rear doors and roof pressing to match the WM series was probably the final nail in the Fairlane coffin.

Gorman acknowledged that there wasn't any export programs on the horizon to keep Fairlane alive although he did admit that if new Ford US model plans required a Fairlane from Ford Australia, the model could be easily revived. He also noted that Ford Australia could no longer be driven by nostalgia while keeping the Territory alive and competitive when it generates five-times the sales in a market segment that is still growing.

As to the future of Ford's local model range, Gorman stated that as the company was forced to shift its model range to meet new buyer trends, some models will have to be discontinued. He noted that as the Fairlane left the market, the Mondeo was making a return. He also hinted that the standard wheelbase Falcon range which currently spans a $30-70,000 price range, will need to be positioned a little differently if it is going to meet expectations at the upper levels.

As mentioned in last week's CN Confidential, the exclusive positioning of the Fairmont Ghia with several Fairlane touches was in fact the start of a process that sees the Falcon range become more of a prestige model with next year's arrival of the Orion.

Depending on buyer reaction, Gorman indicated that Ford was looking at ways of rewarding Fairlane buyer loyalty with a series of limited editions which under any other circumstances would have marked a year of 40th birthday celebrations.

The Fairlane badge debuted in the US in 1955 to replace the prestige Crestline badge. After local Ford Customlines gained several Fairlane exterior details in 1957, the name was introduced locally with the US 1959 model. This model continued locally until 1961 using 1959 Canadian body details for a mid-life upgrade.

The locally-assembled compact US Fairlane arrived in 1962 with Ford's first small block V8, later called the Windsor. Australia followed 1963 and 1964 facelifts but missed the unpopular 1965 US model. Instead, a locally assembled Galaxie with a choice of small and big block V8 engines filled the gap until the shock arrival of an all-Australian Fairlane in 1967.

This consisted of a four headlight front originally intended for the XR Fairmont with Falcon front guards and doors combined with US rear sheetmetal and a longer wheelbase. From 1969 until 1972, the local Fairlane adopted the stacked headlight look of the US 1966 model but presented this new look in modified Falcon panels at the front while retaining the 1966 US panels at the rear with local wraparound tail lights.

From early 1972, the Fairlane was totally unique to Australia and owed nothing to any US model except the wheelbase measurement. In 1973, a local LTD with an even longer wheelbase replaced the locally assembled US Galaxie and LTD models. It was the only extra long wheelbase model produced by an Australian manufacturer to ever match a full size US model even though it was based on the 1972 Falcon.

The first decline of these long-wheelbase models occurred on the 1979 arrival of the ZJ Fairlane and LTD when the LTD shared the shorter Fairlane wheelbase and became little more than a Fairlane with a different grille. From that point, the Fairlane/LTD had to survive criticism that it looked too much like a Falcon until Jac Nasser oversaw the development of the AU Fairlane which was probably the most differentiated Fairlane in the model's local history with its unique front styling, different roofline, rear panels and standard IRS. Despite its more exclusive appearance, it suffered by its association with the AU Falcon series and formidable competition from Holden's new export WH Statesman series. 

By 2003, it was clear that the AU's failure had exacted the greatest cost on the BA Fairlane when valuable resources had to be allocated to resurrecting the BA Falcon and developing the Territory. Sales never recovered for a model that no longer offered any significant advantages over a standard wheelbase Fairmont Ghia. The final ignominy occurred when most of its luxury details were applied to the BF II Fairmont Ghia in 2006, at which point the Fairlane's demise became inevitable.

To comment on this article click here