Ford confirms Falcon for 2015 V8 Supercars

FORD has confirmed the new FG X Falcon will hit the V8 Supercar circuit for next year's season with homologation of the new model already underway, but the Blue Oval says speculation of its plans beyond 2015 is “perplexing”.

Previous reports have suggested the end of Falcon production in 2016 will coincide with Ford's retirement from the V8 Supercar series, but the car-maker says such speculation is unfounded.

Ford was not prepared to offer a suggestion as to what may replace its venerable Falcon on the track if it stays in V8 Supercars and will “cross that bridge when we come to it”, but said predicting its future in the series based on local vehicle production was not accurate.

Speaking at the filming of a Falcon XR8 promotional film, Ford marketing manager David Katic told GoAuto the media had jumped to conclusions and that the company's Supercar negotiations had not differed greatly from previous years.

“We are a little perplexed at the negativity around it,” he said.

“A lot of people are getting hung up on those sorts of things but they're just commercial arrangements that you normally come to. The biggest thing is that we've started working on the new Falcon to go on next year's grid.”“Many of our sponsorships are year-by-year.”

Ford's relationship with DJR Team Penske will also continue with homologation of the new car paid for by the factory and the promise of further assistance throughout the year.

The American transport giant signed a deal last month to partner with Dick Johnson Racing to run Ford Falcons in the 2015 season, but at the time Ford hadn't agreed to any factory support for the new team.

Mr Katic confirmed Ford has provided assistance to the team with additional support likely as the season progresses.

“We will continue to work with them, we're paying for homologation and there will be factory support moving forward, but we are still working through the deal,” he said.

“At the moment, FG X Falcon is going to be racing next year and we will work out our Ford support as we go”.