Falcon decision still years away

Ford still isn't saying what the future of the Falcon is -- but we now have a slightly better idea of why the carmaker hasn't been giving much away, despite a barrage of questions from the media.

The answer? Because the decision on what the next generation Falcon will be has not been made internally yet.

At the Geneva motor show overnight, Ford's head of product development, Derrick Kuzak fielded more questions about the viability of continuing local production.

When asked if it would be cheaper and easier to build a replacement for the Falcon and Territory overseas and import the vehicles, Kuzak told the Carsales Network: "Sourcing decisions are dependent on not just the product but also exchange rates, serving a whole region, what products we already have planned for different plants. And that's why it's very early to be talking about sourcing decisions. We haven't even made the platform decision yet, let alone be talking about the source of the vehicles."

When asked, again, whether the Falcon would be front-drive, rear-drive, or all-wheel-drive, Kuzak said, patiently: "Every time I talk to [the Australian media] you want to talk about front-drive and rear-drive and I keep telling you the same thing. We've gotten really, really good at front-drive and all-wheel-drive cars, and their design proportions and how they drive... There still is room for rear-drive cars. Mustang is a perfect example, but we haven't finalised that decision yet."

Kuzak continued: "Given the timing [and that] we're faster now than we've ever been [developing a car from a clean sheet to showroom-ready] we're not in a hurry to make a decision. We just did the Falcon and it's a very successful product. We just did the Taurus and it's a very successful product. We don't have to make that decision yet, so we're going through the analysis, we're seeing what the markets do. And as soon as we make that decision you'll be the first I'll tell."

When asked about the future of local manufacturing for Ford, he said: "We still have a manufacturing base in Australia and that's the way it will stay in the near future."

The key words there were "near future".

Kuzak said Australia would always have a place in the Ford world but, judging by his next comments, Ford Australia could one day be reduced to being only an engineering centre rather than a manufacturing plant.
 
"Ford Australia is fundamentally a major piece of One Ford. Australia is a big portion of Ford," Kuzak said.

"As I think you're probably aware our global compact pick-up is being led by the Australian team.

"The Australian team provides the core engineering foundation for all of our Asia Pacific team and all of our Asia Pacific products. So they are today a fundamental piece of the One Ford product development team and it will stay that way."

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