Want a turbo Falcon? Join the queue sucka!

[Road_Warrior]

http://www.carpoint.com.au/news/2009...o-buyers-15808

Ford Australia President Marin Burela told journalists at last month's sales briefing that buyers of the Falcon G6E Turbo were facing a wait until the end of July for delivery. And as of today, the news just got worse.

"G6E Turbo we've sold out, right through almost to the end of September now," Burela said at the July sales briefing today. Asked whether Ford would find a way to increase production in the shorter term, Burela rationalised away the prevailing situation.

"I wouldn't want to [ramp up production]," he said. "What we need to see over the next six months is a stabilisation of the demand -- and once we have that level of stability, we will continue to look at how we fine-tune the different derivatives to ensure we get the right product in the right place at the right time.

"This is a nice problem to have. It is a very different problem from the one I spoke about last October and November. But a lot of what you're seeing here has got nothing to do with the industry. It has everything to do with the way that we've managed our company -- and the way we've communicated, the way we've streamlined, the way we've worked with our dealers, the way we've gone out there and marketed.

"It has been very, very specific, very planned, very targeted -- and the results are coming through. Our plan is working, it's as simple as that. Nothing has happened by accident."

The production planning issue is one associated with component supply generally -- and turbochargers in particular, it seems. According to Burela, there's been a rush on XR model Falcons, which would include a good number of XR6 Turbo models. The sporty Falcons sold barely 500 units in March, but have been picking up market share ever since. Last month, the XR Falcons alone accounted for nearly 2000 units sold.

Ford has been micromanaging its local production for months (more here), but demand for Ford's products is now exceeding supply on numerous fronts.

Territory buyers literally couldn't get enough of the SUV last month, Burela said. Falcon Ute enjoyed the best month for sales since June 2006 and more Falcons were snapped up by private buyers than at any time since November 2005.

"Once again, we didn't have a single ute left in the company to move over the line to our dealers," he said. With insufficient stock to meet demand during June, Ford's market share slipped backwards. For the year to date, the company has expanded its market share against competitors, but June was a setback -- in theory. In practice, the market share shortfall was more than offset by the actual increase in stock being rolled out the door.

"Our month [June] was a great month..." said Burela.

"Our share was down, but the share being down was as a consequence of one, availability, and two, the fact that the industry just accelerated so high. And if you look at where our competition was, versus us, they had so much inventory still left in the system -- whereas we didn't. We moved our inventory and worked very hard at getting our dealer stock down, getting our company stock down -- and we've got a fantastic pipeline now, between us and our dealers.

"The cars are moving through the system, we build them, we move them, we do not park them on the grass."

According to the Ford president, the company was holding between 8000 and 9000 units "on the grass" as recently as seven months ago.

Last month, Burela had expressed mild concern that July would be a slow month for sales after the huge month in June, but production capacity at Broadmeadows is spoken for through July and August, with the company now working out what needs to be given priority for September. This is the company that has been building cars to individual customer order, remember.

"Our order bank for July is very healthy," he said. "In fact, our production is sold out for July, for August -- and we're taking orders for September."

June production was hindered by Ford's need to shift component production from a voluntarily liquidated component supplier to Venture Industries. The company's production line was stood down for a day as a consequence.

"We could not produce another car," Burela said.

"We had originally planned some non-production days in June, that we cancelled. We have no non-production days planned for the rest of the year.

"That's a significant difference between us and our competitors. Our production plan between now and year end is fully loaded.

"We feel... that we've got the right balance between the way we've set the company up, versus demand. We are absolutely building the right cars that people want to buy."

So nearly 2/3rds of Falcons sold in June were XR's? Pretty impressive :

[XR8putts]

Great news, this bloke gets better and better by the day.

Great job Ford Australia, keep it up!

[Silver Ghia]

Can well imagine the XR's being good sellers. Very nice looking car.

And they have targetted the XR6 in a lot of advertising over the last couple of months with pictures of the front and a price that makes it hard to resist. Which reflects in its share of FG's sold.

You also see a lot of FG's on the road these days. So they must be selling well.

[GK]

Originally Posted by Silver Ghia

Can well imagine the XR's being good sellers. Very nice looking car.

Great looking car.

The Mrs loves them and now even loves the G6E, which she initially hated because of the loud front grille. Of course I loved it right off the bat! LOL!

GK

[XR6_661]

Originally Posted by Silver Ghia

Can well imagine the XR's being good sellers. Very nice looking car.

And they have targetted the XR6 in a lot of advertising over the last couple of months with pictures of the front and a price that makes it hard to resist. Which reflects in its share of FG's sold.

You also see a lot of FG's on the road these days. So they must be selling well.

I have only seen a handful of FGs that arent XRs up here in Cairns.

[Donut King]

Hrmm guess I now have a 3 month wait instead of the expected 2... :(

[GK]

Originally Posted by Donut King

Hrmm guess I now have a 3 month wait instead of the expected 2... :(

Look on the bright side. It's still great to be in a position to be ordering a new Ford.

GK

[GT69]

Great news from ford.....

FYI i have a 4 month old FG XR6 turbo ute if someone wants to buy it : you know.....at a price of course.... haha

[XR Martin]

Should help resale also

[Falcon Coupe]

The production planning issue is one associated with component supply generally -- and turbochargers in particular

Using a pair of these on each new TT GT must have caught the supplier by surprise..... :

[b2tf]

Originally Posted by Falcon Coupe

Using a pair of these on each new TT GT must have caught the supplier by surprise..... :

Uh oh.....here we go :hihi:

Good news indeed in a time where unemployment is climbing again. Perhaps this is the right time to point out to all the brand snobs who feel Mercs,BMWs, Audis etc are the only decent cars worth buying - look closer to home, support the local product (which is just as good) and keep someone in a job in the process.

[rusty 351]

ohhhh we can only dream!!!!

[DJM83]

Shame for new buyers but good news for Ford

[imugli]

Awesome news for Ford! Even more awesome (as has been said before) is that it's the higher margin models that are doing the selling.

It's been said by others before but I'm going to say it as well - I love the way Burella gets a dig in at the competition in nearly everything you see his name in.

[PepeLePew]

Good to see the longevity of the company here being taken care of....

Good view forward for owners

[Road_Warrior]

All the more reason why I reckon they need a 'fully loaded' model to sit above the G6ET with unique front and rear styling...win over some of those brand snobs that 'won't stoop so low' as to buy a Falcon...

[b2tf]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

All the more reason why I reckon they need a 'fully loaded' model to sit above the G6ET with unique front and rear styling...win over some of those brand snobs that 'won't stoop so low' as to buy a Falcon...

F6E........

[ea90gl]

Thats good news but isnt it a bit worrying as many might not want to put up with the wait for a new car and just switch brands?

[b2tf]

Originally Posted by ea90gl

Thats good news but isnt it a bit worrying as many might not want to put up with the wait for a new car and just switch brands?

Possible but I remember with the previous model VW Golf GTI people were quite happily waiting 6+ months just to get one. So it does happen.

[Whitey-AMG]

Originally Posted by ea90gl

Thats good news but isnt it a bit worrying as many might not want to put up with the wait for a new car and just switch brands?

If there was no brand bias and you were a 1st time FORD buyer....I'd say yes.......especially those buyers at the end of their lease period that may need something in 1 -2 months.

If you were waiting for your AMG Merc or M spec Beemer or R spec Audi.......fair nuff.......but to have to wait 3+ months for a Falc is ridiculous........

[Redrum]

This is good news, I hope it keeps up, things are looking good in the US too
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.ph...u=tCcnf&ref=nf

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by b2tf

F6E........

Yes, but with a Ford badge and without the goofy looking front bar.

Ideally with completely different front/rear lights and bumpers.

[Gobes32]

I am too young to remember but was the VL Turbo as popular as the current turbo falcon when it was on sale in the late 8o's?

And 20 years from now, will we be laughing at p platers driving G6ET's with 22in wheels on the front and stockies on the back?

[Falc'man]

This news confirms what we were saying a long time ago; Ford have a plan, and it's a bloody good one. The good news is, this is only the tip of the iceburg.

I still think they should drop that ugly XT, or make it look a bit less boring.

[R-Design]

Sounds like the NSW's Police are after their XR's also. An XR6T with FPV Brembo's, nice!

Originally Posted by CarPoint

Ford in trouble with the police?
Ford boss Marin Burela was asked during one of his monthly briefings why it was taking so long for NSW Police to take delivery of their XR6 Turbo pursuit cars.

The standard FG model does not pass their stringent brake test since the new model has more power and smaller rear brakes than the BF XR6 Turbo.

Ford Australia has since come up with a special Brembo brake package from FPV for the NSW Police XR6 Turbo.

Burela retorted: "Well, the police departments of Australia need to standardise what type of police pack they want."

The journalist who asked the question replied: "Hang on a minute... you guys were the ones who put smaller brakes on a faster, more powerful car!"

http://carpoint.com.au/news/2009/cn-...e-pr-war-15810

[GT69]

Originally Posted by Falc'man

This news confirms what we were saying a long time ago; Ford have a plan, and it's a bloody good one. The good news is, this is only the tip of the iceburg.

I still think they should drop that ugly XT, or make it look a bit less boring.

The price difference between XT and XR6 isn't big enough. People spending their own money dont want something they see the local council getting around in. When $5000 extra gets them in to something alot nicer.

Also, being a 'fleet queen' also means theres no value in them. Why would anyone want to spend their own money on a car thats going to be worth nothing in 12 months time when government departments start selling off their cars?

[ED Classic]

Originally Posted by GT69

The price difference between XT and XR6 isn't big enough. People spending their own money dont want something they see the local council getting around in. When $5000 extra gets them in to something alot nicer.

Also, being a 'fleet queen' also means theres no value in them. Why would anyone want to spend their own money on a car thats going to be worth nothing in 12 months time when government departments start selling off their cars?

Ah if its bringing buyers to Ford, And Ford are happy selling at the price then its found its market IMO.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Falc'man

I still think they should drop that ugly XT, or make it look a bit less boring.

The XT has its place as a fleet hack, Ford did the emission and fuel economy changes to get more fleet changes...while not as profitable it does help spread the R&D costs.

The only negative out of all of this is the lack of stock Ford has. The Falcons sales numbers are lower then what they should be. The utes should be much higher and if they had the stock of the Holdens it would have done extreemly well in June. Hopefully these sales keep going and Ford can up-balance in the next few months.

[Falc'man]

Originally Posted by vztrt

The XT has its place as a fleet hack, Ford did the emission and fuel economy changes to get more fleet changes...while not as profitable it does help spread the R&D costs.

Is it not more profitable if they didn't give XT it's own unique front bumper and
rear light design??

My point was more to do with it's very conservative styling which actually
doesn't do the whole range any good.
The sole chrome lip above the grill ruins the car's flow. Either add some more
chrome to balance it out or remove it altogether.
The rims: They failed on the alloy's design and further ruins the car's overall
look.
It's these little things that cost nothing that make a big difference to the
car's general appearance.

It's as if they made it look cheap on purpose.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Falc'man

Is it not more profitable if they didn't give XT it's own unique front bumper and
rear light design??

My point was more to do with it's very conservative styling which actually
doesn't do the whole range any good.
The sole chrome lip above the grill ruins the car's flow. Either add some more
chrome to balance it out or remove it altogether.
The rims: They failed on the alloy's design and further ruins the car's overall
look.
It's these little things that cost nothing that make a big difference to the
car's general appearance.

It's as if they made it look cheap on purpose.

I'm betting the XT will be quietly dropped for the 2011MY and they will push fleets toward the diesel Mondeo and G6's and bog standard XR6's.

Also, having this super-duper waiting list for turbos is all well and good to given an indication of demand, but like hell people in this day and age are going to wait until September to get their hands on one. They'll go elsewhere; only the blue-bloods who know what they are and really want one will wait.