AUIII Forte gets standard side skirts, plus a matt grey treatment around the headlights to visually reduce their mass. On Forte, other changes include coloured body side protection mouldings and body colour side mirrors that give the car a more integrated look. In 2000, with the AUII, Ford "fixed" the unpopular front end of the base Falcons and did what it could with the unhappy rear end. The bladed grille went, replaced by a more conservative fixture that made the Falcon less distinctive and adopted the raised bonnet of the upmarket models. The rear end was subtly improved, mainly through the use of a deeper bumper, while the side profile benefited from bigger, 16-inch wheels and the lower ride height introduced soon after the AU's original launch. The interior got a more squared-off, less radical dash.