Ford confronts Caprice threat

It has taken a little over a month for Ford to announce a response to the Chevrolet Caprice, GM's built-in-Australia sedan that's being promoted to law enforcement agencies all over the US.

Ford has virtually monopolised the market for large, rear-wheel drive sedans of the kind often seen late at night, conducting 'PIT maneuvers' (their spelling, not ours).

The Crown Victoria, a staple of American cops & robbers TV, has been around in its current form since 1992, with just facelifts and minor upgrades here and there to distinguish one model year from the next. It remains built on a full chassis -- like the Toyota LandCruiser -- and features a live rear axle with a Watts link, much like pre-BA Falcons. In recent years, the large Ford has been the subject of recriminations from police fleets following a number of fiery crashes which have been blamed on the cars' leaking fuel tanks.

Ford has previously announced that production of the Crown Victoria would cease around the end of 2011, but until now had offered no successor to the car for police and taxi fleets.

When GM announced last month that it would offer police forces around the US the much more modern Chevrolet Caprice, based on the WM Statesman and built in Holden's Elizabeth plant, rumours began circulating almost immediately that Ford would not let its share in that market slide.

On Friday of last week, Ford in the US issued a press release announcing an "all-new Ford Police Interceptor" to reach the market in 2011. Details are scant, but Ford has taken a swipe at the Chev, describing the new Ford PI as "engineered and built in America" -- something GM certainly can't claim for the Caprice.

That one tagline -- part of a quote from Ford's president of The Americas, Mark Fields -- sounds like the locally-built Falcon engineering team won't be heavily involved in the new PI model, if at all. The Falcon is already out of the question for American police duties, given it's smaller than the Crown Victoria, but that also puts paid to a sedan built on the current Mustang platform.

A source at Ford Australia confirmed with the Carsales Network this morning that the local arm "is not involved with the announcement of the new Police Interceptor" and further cited the US engineering and manufacturing as a rationale that "indicates it is a US-only program".

Pundits in North American believe that the most likely base for the PI will be an all-wheel drive Taurus (pictured), which would provide the stability and roadholding the Crown Victoria currently lacks, with the size the Police need for transporting prisoners and all their equipment.

According to the press release, the new vehicle is "being developed in conjunction with Ford's Police Advisory Board", a small department set up 14 months ago to receive feedback from law enforcement agencies concerning the operation and utility of the Crown Victoria.

Ford anticipates that the new car will enter the market immediately following the Crown Victoria's departure, late in 2011. More details and pictures will be issued by Ford during the first quarter of 2010. This will allow aftermarket equipment manufacturers (for lights, sirens, decals, etc) to develop their products to match the new car.

"Ford's commitment to the law enforcement community produced the Crown Victoria, the benchmark police vehicle," Lt. Brian Moran was quoted as saying in the press release. Moran is the fleet manager, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and a member of Ford's Police Advisory Board.

"This commitment has continued, and Ford has been working closely with the Police Advisory Board on developing the new Police Interceptor.   I am confident that the next-generation Ford police vehicle will meet the future needs of the law enforcement community and will set the new standard."

According to the press release, Ford anticipates selling around 45,000 units of this vehicle per annum. It's likely those numbers won't be profitable, unless the car can be based off an existing design. The Tarus would provide the dimensions required, but also with the safety of all-wheel drive, something that Police users are likely to appreciate in the country's 'snow belt'.

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