FG Falcon: Bill Osborne takes Ford's reigns

FORD Australia emulated its arch-rival GM Holden on Sunday morning when it staged an impressive big-budget launch for its first all-new Australian-built sedan in a decade.

But there were some striking differences to the attention-grabbing launch of VE Commodore event 19 months earlier.

It had nothing to do with the girls playing creepy violin rock music before the FG Falcon and ute, and derivatives from the Ford Performance Vehicles stable, all rolled out on cue at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

Holden had a billion-dollar version of Australia’s best-selling car to spruik. It had left-hand drive export deals to divulge.

It had executives from its American headquarters reaffirming it status as the epicentre of large rear-wheel drive cars for the General Motors world. There was even news of a new coupe version on the drawing board.

In his first official engagement Down Under, just 12 days after Mitsubishi announced it was pulling out of Australian car manufacturing, Ford Australia’s new president Bill Osborne was, on the other hand, subjected to intense questioning on the future of the Falcon and its chances of survival after a period of woeful sales, after the VE Commodore failed to resurrect the segment, and after the decision was taken not to engineer the FG for left-hand drive.

The American refused to divulge sales expectations or the level of investment in the eighth-generation Falcon. He laughed when GoAuto asked whether the investment was less than a billion dollars – although it was made clear the FG was the biggest program since the 1998 AU Falcon (ie: $700 million).

Mr Osborne made clear his disappointment that there was no left-hand drive FG. And he admitted to being surprised at how good the car was when he took it for a drive.

Whereas Holden conceded that most model variants of the Commodore would consume more fuel, Ford could emphasise the improvements made in this all-important area. Unlike Holden, which divulged to GoAuto that the VE would not achieve five stars under the Australasian NCAP crash-test regime, Ford – through its new president – is showing much more confidence.

Members of Mr Osborne’s senior management team have told GoAuto that their new president is showing a high degree of confidence in other areas, such as in export prospects.

He told the gathered media he was sure that sales would increase for Falcon under the FG, that the new G Series prestige model line would bring a more sophisticated customer into Ford showrooms, and that his appointment was, in essence, to make sure that the Falcon reclaims its “rightful” place at the top of the segment.

Along with preparing for the manufacture of Focus for local and export consumption, jockeying for position within FoMoCo’s global rear-drive engineering effort and replacing its homegrown straight six with an imported V6 after 50 years of Falcon service in two years, that will be an incredibly tough assignment.

Following is an edited extract of Mr Osborne's address to the nation on Sunday."Although I have only recently arrived to head up the team here at Ford Australia, it didn’t take me very long to pick up on the palpable excitement surrounding this moment.

Already, most of you have experienced the intrigue of the spy photos, the blacked-out buses, the confidentiality, the secrecy and all the fuss, and I’m sure, like the rest of Australia, you’re all dying to cast your eyes on the new Ford Falcon.

Left: Ford Australia’s new president Bill Osborne presenting the new Falcon.

However, today is not just about finally seeing the new Falcon. Today is about moving forward – about Ford meeting a changing market with a broad range of exciting and relevant cars. Today is the next step in the transition of our great company.

Now, to do that we must continue changing the Ford brand – from traditional and muscular to fresh, exciting and right for modern Australia.

You can map this transition back to June 2004, with the launch of the ‘amazing’ Ford Territory.

Now, Territory redefined the SUV segment, but what’s more it redefined Ford. We continued this change when we introduced new vehicles such as Fiesta and Focus.

We followed those launches with exciting sports derivatives of both those vehicles and the addition of the new Ranger, closely followed late last year by the return of the Mondeo.

We now offer a complete range of vehicles that includes Fiesta, Focus, Mondeo, Territory, Escape, Ranger, Falcon, Falcon ute and our workhorse Transit. We now truly offer a vehicle to suit the needs of every modern consumer.

From 2011 we will manufacture more of them right here in Australia when we add production of the globally successful Focus to our line-up of locally-produced vehicles. And our plan keeps rolling with the exciting 2008 Ford showroom. Which brings us to the all-new FG Falcon and Falcon Ute.

Now, Falcon is a name that conjures feelings of pride and tradition – yet it is also a name synonymous with the introduction of trailblazing technology and safety features.

Today we showcase a range of vehicles that proves that the Falcon name can stand for both the past and the present – a range of vehicles that can meet the needs of modern consumers.

So, what is it that modern consumers want? Well, they’ve told us again and again that they want everything – they don’t want to compromise. They want more performance AND improved fuel economy. They want more safety features – both passive and active. They want more user-friendly technology. And they want it all packaged in a vehicle that visually represents both them and what their car can deliver.

Our long list of innovative features extends beyond fuel economy, performance and safety to include the introduction of an exciting new human machine interface system that will provide the driver with information at their fingertips.

The Falcon HMI system will provide easy access to necessary and relevant information and allow the driver to control the environment of the vehicle while still concentrating on driving.

With all these features, the new Falcon is set to blow off the cobwebs and reassert its place in family life. It has the right blend of luxury, road presence, refinement, cleverness, safety and innovation.

Our exciting new line-up is designed to match a Falcon model to every potential Falcon customer. In the past, the choice of models ran along a straight line – from XT through to Futura, Fairmont, Fairmont Ghia and the XR range. In the past, Falcon had only two faces: the sporty XR and the primary XT to Fairmont Ghia look. Today we're changing all that.

Today we are launching three distinct Falcon sedan families - each with their own unique face. We have a new entry-level model. We have an all-new range of luxury sports models. And we have retained our iconic range of performance sports models.

Now, this is the first time in recent history that we’ve showcased our sedan, ute and hero performance models all at the same time. We can’t fit every single model into this enclosed space, but these vehicles represent the best and brightest of our exciting all-new range.

As you can see, these vehicles do live up to the hype. The all-new design visually delivers on the promise of what a Falcon is – a dynamic vehicle that’s perfect for Australian families.

Now, I know you’re all probably keen to get a closer look at these new vehicles and discover for yourselves how this dynamic range is going to reinvigorate the Falcon brand in Australia. Before you do that, however, I’d like to leave you with just a few key points to remember about our all-new Falcon.

We’re introducing the exciting new G Series range. For the first time, Falcon sedans will have three distinctive looks. We’ve improved fuel economy while also enhancing performance.

The new Falcon will be at the forefront of Australian passenger vehicle safety with a full complement of passive and active safety enhancements. We have an exciting new ute range that has a vehicle to suit both the workhorse and recreational ute buyer. And we’re launching our exciting new FPV range at exactly the same time.

And there you have it. A dynamic range of ‘fun’ Falcons matched to every Falcon lifestyle – set to blow away the cobwebs and reassert their place in Australian life. Cars that say ‘family’, ‘adventure’ and ‘driveability’. Cars that joyfully proclaim: ‘Ford is for living’.

‘Falcon is for living.’"

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