Ford kills wagon
As expected, the axe has fallen on Falcon wagon"It's time to retire the wagon... We've come to a time to move on…"
With these words, Ford Australia president Marin Burela killed the Falcon wagon today.
Speaking from Broadmeadows via phone conference, Burela outlined how "focus groups" and "customer feedback" on the Mondeo wagon was the final nail in the coffin of the Falcon load lugger.
"The Mondeo wagon is the one we're moving on with," Burela said.
Burela revealed the Falcon wagon would be phased out later this year. June production will be the last call for the wagon. He stated Ford "did not believe it was good business" to re-engineer the wagon for the new decade. This is a clear reference to the need to re-engine the wagon to satisfy new emission regulations which kick into gear on July 1.
He said the company would fulfill its existing orders but would be "putting its weight behind the Mondeo wagon from this time forward". The transition to Mondeo would be "seamless", he said.
He claimed all of Falcon wagon's main fleet customers had seen the Mondeo wagon and are "very keen to move to Mondeo".
In fact, he says the four-cylinder wagon was giving Ford new fleet opportunities.
"Other customers we did not have the ability to sell to are starting to talk to us. The Mondeo is opening doors not previously open to us," he stated.
Burela stated that Ford had been building around 200 wagons per month. He said removing complexity from the Broadmeadows line would help Ford increase its production capacity for ute, sedan and Territory.
"As a result of taking wagon out of the build, it frees up plant to satisfy demand on Falcon sedan, ute and Territory."
He said the company had already increased its line rates over 2009 and is scheduling overtime days to satisfy demand on its other Falcon products.
Burela said the Falcon ute was "very safe" and not affected by the decision, despite the availability of the Thai-built Ranger light commercial.
"The ute is very safe. It's great business, those [ute] customers are very different from 4x2, 4x4 Ranger customers."
Look out for more news regarding Ford's decision here at Carsales Network soon.
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