Falcon XT sales dwindle

Ford's locally-manufactured large car appears to be moving further upmarket with every passing month. The company has found itself with a really fast-selling hit on its hands with the flagship G6E Turbo, but, at the other end of the spectrum the entry-level XT is hardly moving at all.

In fact, Ford President Marin Burela informed the press today that if you actually want to purchase a Falcon XT, you have to sit and wait as Ford builds it for you -- just as you would if you wanted the aspirational G6E Turbo.

"Falcon is selling very much at the high end," Burela stated.

"G6E Turbo continues to outperform. We're taking orders now that are January-build and February-build cars. If you look at the XR6, it has found its place and the demand on it is very high. The G Series, through the special value pack that we introduced, just to get people really moving, has identified a whole new customer for us -- people that previously weren't there."

Burela had previously gone on record saying that Falcon XT only accounted for about five per cent of all Falcon sales -- with the G Series and XR models divvying up the bulk of sales between them.

"The XT now tends to be a very small part of our business and we tend to build XTs only on the basis of orders that have been placed," he said today. "We do not build them to go out there and fill production requirements."

Since the XT is falling out of favour, while Holden's Commodore Omega still appears to be raking in strong fleet sales, does this mean an end for the base Falcon?

"I think it continues to have a wonderful future," Burela replied, "but what it is, it's just showing to us that our customers have found the sweet spot in the different derivatives that meet their actual requirements.

"What we've done [is that] we've transformed the company from being predominantly focused on building and selling entry-level cars, to a company that now is building cars based on demand. The demand profile for our vehicles has moved significantly, in terms of mix -- to the high end and mid series. The entry-level vehicles tend to represent a lower percentage of our volume, but a very important percentage of our volume, because it forms the foundation on which we build everything else."

We asked whether Ford would possibly pick up more sales in the budget end of the large-car market once the EcoBoost four-cylinder engine comes on line. Burela doesn't see the direct-injected and turbocharged four as a replacement for the inline six, in any level of trim.

"We see the four-cylinder EcoBoost as an incremental business opportunity for us. It will give us the opportunity to open doors, where currently, we as Ford do not participate.

"To us, this [the EcoBoost] was a great move, this was a fuel economy move, this was a sustainability move -- it was not to take out one of our other derivatives."

But if the EcoBoost Falcon is as capable as Burela suggested during the briefing, expect the Falcon XT to rise again... supported by updrafts of former small and mid-size car fleets.

Whether Ford actually wants to return downmarket in this market segment is yet to be established, of course.

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