Refinement and performance for not that much moolah? Ford Performance Vehicles' MD, Rod Barrett has some good news for you. As the Carsales Network reported earlier, the niche manufacturer is going ahead with limited-volume production of the F6E unveiled at the Melbourne International Motor Show earlier this year.
"We launched this car at the Melbourne Motor Show as a concept vehicle and the expressions of interest in it have been enough to warrant us to go into a production run of the vehicle," said Barrett in conversation with the Carsales Network earlier today.
"They're not huge numbers, but they will cater for a boutique group of executives that wish to drive the F6 in executive form."
Barrett believes that now is a good time to introduce this car. Feedback from the public has been good, but the company's dealer body has also got behind the car.
"The dealer support has been very encouraging for the car at launch. Our production run for August and September is almost complete. Like I said, it's only a small production run this year and we'll just see how it goes," says Barrett, who puts the production batch for this year at "less than 50 [units]".
"It's a car that we've always probably wanted to do... Whether that goes to a hundred cars next year or 150, who knows?"
Barrett puts the current production ratio of V8-powered FPV models to turbo sixes at 65:35 roughly. He doesn't believe the model mix has changed significantly since the introduction of the FG Falcon, but does cite increased interest in the F6 turbo cars. Although the company is setting conservative sales projections for the F6E, the decision to produce it has presumably also been contingent on improving sales for the F6.
"In the future, it wouldn't surprise me if [the mix of drivetrain variants] evened up at a 55:45 sort of thing," says Barrett. I think we're always going to be a V8 company... but there is a new generation of person coming into the fold... that's looking outside a V8."
The F6E, priced at $79,740 (manufacturer's list price, not including on-road costs), will be a permanent addition to the range, not just a limited edition, and will go on sale September 1.
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