Ford Falcon sales turnaround starts here

Ford hopes to reverse the Falcon’s dramatic sales slide with the arrival of an all-new LPG system that delivers more performance than the standard petrol model and lower running costs than a small hatchback.

Ford Australia stopped building LPG Falcons in September last year because of new emissions regulations and has been without the option for most of this year after stock-piled vehicles sold out.

The car maker says LPG variants account for 25 per cent of all Falcon sedan and 45 per cent of all Falcon ute deliveries, which partly explains why Falcon sales are down 30 per cent so far this year and are at a 50-year low.

“It’s going to give us a shot in the arm that’s for sure,” said Beth Donovan, Ford Australia vice president, marketing, sales and service.

“We know there are customers waiting on the sidelines and they’re going to come back. We’re looking forward to a better second half of the year [for Falcon].”

The new hi-tech LPG system – which injects LPG into the engine in liquid form rather than as a vapour – produces the same power as a petrol Falcon running on high performance fuel, but delivers better acceleration because it has more power at lower revs.

Ford has cut fuel consumption by 16 per cent – from 14.9L/100km to 12.5L/100km – although most cars on the media test drive on the outskirts of Melbourne averaged between 13 and 15L/100km on mostly winding country roads and some freeway driving.

Ford estimates that the $2500 price premium for the new LPG system – available on sedan and ute models – will be paid back within six months. Once the Federal Government’s $2000 grant to private buyers is taken into account, customers only need to recover a $500 gap in fuel savings.

By Ford’s calculations, this makes the new LPG Falcon as cheap to run as a Ford Fiesta hatchback.

Business fleet operators, however, could take up to three years to break even on the price premium paid for the LPG model because they are not eligible for the Federal Government’s $2000 rebate.

Ford’s running cost comparison used an LPG price of 66 cents per litre as a guide, however the Federal Government has said it will gradually increase the excise on LPG, which will push up the price of the fuel and therefore diminish LPG’s running costs advantage.

LPG has 30 per cent less energy density than petrol so you need to burn more of it to travel the same distance. The fuel economy rating for the petrol Falcon is 9.9L/100km compared to the LPG Falcon’s rating of 12.5L/100km.

Ford Australia says it has no plans to lobby the Federal Government to reconsider raising the excise on LPG but expects that if the price of LPG increases, so too might the price of petrol.

“We’ve got no way of knowing what the government will do in the future,” said Donovan. “Who knows what will happen to [LPG] prices.”

Ford Australia spokesman Justin Lacy said: “If the excise does move – and that may or may not happen – unleaded prices may go up as well, so there could be a parity movement.”

Ford’s new LPG system – which the car maker calls EcoLPI – injects LPG into the engine while it is still in liquid form.

This reduces the risk of contamination or deterioration of the fuel and also boosts power because of the sudden cooling effect when the LPG converts from liquid to vapour inside the injection system.

The new system also improves economy because LPG can be injected in miniscule amounts as required.

Ford says the liquid injection eliminates stalled or rough starts in extreme cold or hot conditions because it has developed a technique which primes the LPG ready for use.

The system automatically switches on and checks the pressure in the LPG lines as soon as the car is unlocked or the driver’s door is opened.

In the worse-case scenario, there may be a delay of up to 6 seconds before the engine starts – a warning on the dash shows the reason for the delay – until the LPG reaches the correct pressure and temperature.

In most instances, however, it starts without delay just like a petrol car.

The new LPG Falcon will be available from August.

Check back again later for a launch review.

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