Ford targets Toyota in new campaign

There is a body of opinion that Ford's promotion of the FG Falcon has been a little like submarine warfare; 'run silent, run deep'.

Now, tired of running aground in the shallows of the local market, Ford has come up with a new advertising campaign for the company's large car -- one that places Toyota's Camry and Corolla squarely in the cross-hairs.

The new print ads, which were published over the weekend, position the LPG-fuelled Falcon G6E against Toyota's Corolla and the Falcon XT against the Toyota Camry, with Ford claiming that its products are cheaper to run than the respective opposition cars -- despite those cars being smaller and producing less output. As you can see from the ad reproduced here, Ford has highlighted that the LPG models now come with stability control too (more here), knocking down the criticism levelled at the company in the past that its alternative-fuel Falcons aren't the five-star-safe machines that the petrol variants are.

During the recent opening of the new ACART R&D facility (more here), Ford President Marin Burela admitted that Ford has not pushed LPG's benefits hard enough.

"We have a strategic advantage with E-Gas; we are clearly a step ahead of our competitors; we have sold somewhere in the order of about 84-85,000 factory-fitted vehicles in Australia to date...

"However, it's one of the best kept secrets in the country... and we are going to change that."

It's a fairly bold move on Ford's part and pre-supposes that just as people have deserted large cars for smaller ones, they might just as easily return to large cars if running costs can be reduced below the level of small cars. We look forward to seeing how this pans out.

Read the latest Carsales Network news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at www.carsales.mobi