Falcon Ecoboost sales breakdown

[Brazen]

When the top buyers are employees, you know the car is in trouble - the same thing happend to Eunos in Japan and some of the lesser popular models in the US or Australia - although having said that, the Holden Adventra had much more fleet and private buyers than employee. What the article fails to talk about is I6 substitution, I have a feeling a lot of sales and every employee sales is in lieu of them picking a I6 - so not gaining Falcon any sales.

It is also worth noting, that decisions was made a few years ago and cannot be blamed on current management - wagon was dropped, local Focus was dropped and diesel Falcon and Falcon ute was not developed when they had the chance, all at roughly the same time.


http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/f...717-2272o.html

Four-cylinder Falcon flops

The four-cylinder engine that was supposed to be the saviour of the Ford Falcon has failed to set sales charts alight – despite being the most fuel-efficient Falcon ever made.

Ford and its employees have bought three times as many four-cylinder Falcons as private buyers in the car’s first three months in showrooms.

The Federal Government – which injected $230 million of taxpayer money to support the development of the four-cylinder Falcon and diesel Territory in 2009 – has bought just two of the “eco” sedans in the past three months.

According to confidential sales figures obtained by Drive, Ford Australia and its employees bought 159 four-cylinder Falcons in April, May and June – compared to 53 to private buyers and 101 fleet buyers for the same period.

Advertisement State Governments accounted for 22 sales while local councils accounted for just 13 deliveries.

A NSW government fleet manager told Drive state government departments couldn’t order the four-cylinder Falcon because it didn’t meet the state’s required environmental performance score for passenger cars.

Overall, the four-cylinder model made up 10 per cent of Falcon sedan sales in its first three months in showrooms, or 355 of 3448 deliveries. The LPG Falcon also accounted for a further 10 per cent of sales.

At the media launch of the vehicle, Ford said it hoped the four-cylinder “EcoBoost” model would eventually account for 25 per cent of the Falcon’s tally.

The slow uptake of the four-cylinder variant indicates that fuel economy may not be the primary reason for buyers leaving the large-sedan market. Falcon sales are at their lowest in the 52-year history of the nameplate and the model is now outside the top-20 sellers.

The four-cylinder EcoBoost model is the most fuel-efficient Falcon ever made – its acceleration is identical to the six-cylinder (0 to 100km/h in 6.9 seconds).

Only towing capacity is diminished (2300kg for the six-cylinder versus 1600kg for the four-cylinder).

A spokesman for Ford Australia, Neil McDonald, told Drive: “It was always going to be a slow burn. It was always a case of getting the vehicles out there to fleet and private buyers and having them experience the car [and spread the word].”

Ford said it only planned to sell 2000 four-cylinder Falcons this year; if sales continue at the current rate they won’t hit this target.

“If you look at the experience with the Ford F-Series pick-up in North America [which made Ecoboost power available alongside its V8s last year], the take-up was initially very low. But now it represents about 40 per cent [of sales].

“[The large-car market] is a very challenging segment, and we have got to keep addressing it,” says McDonald.

Ford says the controversial cane toad advertisement – used to promote the surprising pace of the four-cylinder Falcon by crushing a cane toad – did not backfire, despite complaints from some animal welfare groups.

“On the contrary the cane toad gave us a kick in social media, the ad has had [380,000] views online,” says McDonald. “[The cane toad ad] is something we hadn’t done before. It was meant to be a fun take. It wasn’t a real cane toad.”

Part of the reason for the four-cylinder Falcon’s slow take-up may be that it is not available in the XR6 styling package – only the plain-looking XT, G6 and G6E fleet models are available with four-cylinder power.

“Whether [a four-cylinder] XR is something buyers would consider is something we would have to look at. But at this stage it’s not on the radar.”

Four-cylinder Falcon sales – April to June 2012
Ford company and employee cars: 159
Private buyers: 53
Business and fleets: 101
Local Government: 13
State Government: 22
Federal Government: 2
Not-for-profit organisations: 7

[XWGT]

350 odd sales over two full months with no advertising when falcon sold 1800??? from memory over the same period.

Not too bad a start if they were only targeting 10% of Falcon sales.....

Lets look at it after the first full 12 months of sales and see how close they get to their target of 2,000 before we panic and burn the whole factory down......

[prydey]

there are some people that can't wait to write this stuff about falcon, and then there are those who can't wait to put it up on a forum.

this is a nothing article, but it does feed the trolls.

[tranquilized]

Cant say I'm surprised.

Private buyers dont want the impracticality of a 3-box sedan
SUV sales suggest the shift away from Falcon isn't based on fuel economy
The Falcon badge has a bogan image among many, it has very little aspirational value.
A 4cyl Falcon has even less aspirational value - it was never going to succeed in the private market.

Its still early days though, hopefully for Ford fleet sales will gradually pick up - it seems like the ideal fleet car.

And a Deisel Falcon wouldn't have been any different.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by tranquilized

Cant say I'm surprised.

Private buyers dont want the impracticality of a 3-box sedan
SUV sales suggest the shift away from Falcon isn't based on fuel economy
The Falcon badge has a bogan image among many, it has very little aspirational value.
A 4cyl Falcon has even less aspirational value - it was never going to succeed in the private market.

Its still early days though, hopefully for Ford fleet sales will gradually pick up - it seems like the ideal fleet car.

And a Deisel Falcon wouldn't have been any different.

Diesel would have been a game-changer for Falcon and Falcon ute.

[mcnews]

I think that Falcon as a brand is just so out of favour wit the public at large due to previous bad experiences when the product was much further behind the Japanese brands than they are now, those people went to Jap brands got looked after by good dealers etc. and wouldn't go back to a Falcon in a pink fit. They still associate the word with backwards, crap dealers and using lots of fuel. It just has too much tarnish and bad vibe associated with it in the eyes of the public at large. Sad, but I reckon that is the crux of the problem.

[tranquilized]

It might would have done well in the ute I admit, but it wouldn't have made any difference in the sedan.

Falcons sales woes have nothing to do with the engine - no one cares about whats under the bonnet. Proof of this is the plethora of engines available right now, but still we see sinking sales.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by mcnews

I think that Falcon as a brand is just so out of favour wit the public at large due to previous bad experiences when the product was much further behind the Japanese brands than they are now, those people went to Jap brands got looked after by good dealers etc. and wouldn't go back to a Falcon in a pink fit. They still associate the word with backwards, crap dealers and using lots of fuel. It just has too much tarnish and bad vibe associated with it in the eyes of the public at large. Sad, but I reckon that is the crux of the problem.

That is always the cop-out excuse, pretending that the problem is some pshycological issue that will never be resolved. The fact is, its just not the car people want for the price. Cars like the Kia Sportage used to be a heap of crap and now sells its pants off, Hyundai used to be a laughing stock and now its range is outblitzing the competition.

Never-underestimate the ability of the right product at the right price to get sales results.

[tranquilized]

Originally Posted by Brazen

Never-underestimate the ability of the right product at the right price to get sales results.

You dont say?

[Polyal]

What? A TDi sedan would have been a ripper...it fixes all issues and stupid stigmas with EB4 and LPi.

People trust TDI, its proven, no "exploding tanks", no different filling techniques, no "its only a 4 pot" etc etc. All of the above are ignorant excuses but they are for whatever reason ingrained in the mind of the general consumer.

LPi in particular needed massive marketing to breakdown the barriers..EB4 should be less of a struggle. But its rare these days that products sell themselves, the market place is to large and to competitive.

[DJM83]

So half of the sales were 'internal' surely this wont continue at that rate? If it doesnt, what happens then.

Hopefully its only a slow take up by the public, and will increase. Ill reserve my judgement but at this stage i dunno

[flappist]

So there is a new product and they are pushing it internally to get them out and about.

That is what I would do.

Free advertising and wherever the Ford people are at the time there is a T4 available as a demo.

It is just a critical mass thing, the more there are out the more people will accept it as "normal" and the more they will sell.

Of course I can imagine there will be some members rather upset about this. Every single T4 used as in internal vehicle is one less ecoLPi XR6 that will be available cheap on the second hand market in a year or so.......

[crymoarpls]

Originally Posted by Brazen

That is always the cop-out excuse, pretending that the problem is some pshycological issue that will never be resolved.

one of the things i hate about my falcon is it reminds me of all the grotty taxis i have been in. i know an xr8 has a lot of differences to a taxi-spec falcon, but i keep noticing the similarities.

[entheos]

IMO it's because the public don't know enough about the car...and the Employees see it as a good thing....

Think about how long Toyota have been selling Camry's for...they are a 4cyl sedan...if they can sell well, why can't the Falcon Ecoboost? Mainly cause FoMoCo won't put the money into advertising it and just hope that people are going to stumble over it...or that us salepeople will be able to convert every customer.

How many of you have actually driven one? I have, and had one for a while and have even towed my boat with it (albeit 750kgs only) and it's a perfect car for a family who want the safety and room that a Falcon offers with economy which is great! With the power and torque that it produces, while you're putting around town you can hardly pick the difference..just about every single person who drives one is blown away... If you're wanting to drag every set of lights, or tow a 2T trailer/boat REGULARLY then this is not really the car for you...but if you want a large car, with safety to boot, then this is a really good option...

[MRFGXR6]

Personally I think Ford has as always gone about it the wrong way, they build a car then expect to sell it to the public. Sadly though with out the input of the public this has a relative negative effect. People simply will not buy what they don not like unless the person has no choice in the matter. How many of us out their would like the Ecoboost in the falcon and how many the TDi. I know which Motor I would prefer and its not the Eco.
Unfortunately its the same as the v8, I would of bought one 6 months ago if it was in the regular class of faclon (ie XR8) and not the inflated FPV models ie GS (62 on road was a little rich for a XR8 with a supercharger). I know this little move has hurt the sales of ford. Many ford fans that wanted the XR8 Ute didn't like the GS pricing, so they jumped camp for the more realistic priced SS ute. So once again a bad decision on Ford's part has had its consequences.

[Falcman0o7]

Give it time. The new terry is doing ok and that didn't happen strait away?
Maybe ford should put a Holden badge on it im sure it would ok then even if it drank 10 litres per 10 kms!

[dimka100]

Umm why is this surprising??? NO EcoBoost XR = No Private Buyers!

As for employees buying Falcons, I think that has a lot to do with employee pricing. No sane retail customer these days will pay anywhere near the RRP price of the Falcon, Ford needs to price their cars like Mazda does, i.e. vehicles are priced realistically, everyone pays the same price more or less, hence vehicles maintain a good resale value ratio … I think Ford is dreaming thinking that people will pay 40K for what is essentially a base Falcon (XR6/G6).

[csv8]

FORD must drop G6 and G6E , no one knows what they are. Mention Fairmont and the lights go on !! people know what the XR6 is, but G6??? G6E ??. "I drive a G6E ?? no one knows what you are talking about. People know what the numbers on cars mean with BMW, Benz etc..but Falcon ????? Then advertise !!!! Look at what other car companies spend on advertising, related to sales,eg Hyundai and Kia, sales are thru the roof...

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by Falcman0o7

Give it time. The new terry is doing ok and that didn't happen strait away?
Maybe ford should put a Holden badge on it im sure it would ok then even if it drank 10 litres per 10 kms!

Actually the Territory sold well from pretty much day dot.
That is an indication of the type of vehicles people are buying.
Look at Fords sales and you'll see Focus, Territory and Ranger (when they get the stock) doing well.
It isn't the engine that is the issue in the Falcon it is the fact that sedans are not popular anymore, Commodore also reflecting that.
They're simply not the practical solution for most customers.

[Resurrection]

EcoBoost - too little, too late.

[Flat Top]

i think its a question of research into what people are gonna want in say 2 years time and providing it. Sub suv market a good example-this was predicted but arrived to late with already oudated product. Terry diesel right product should have been on line 2 -3 years ago though??-everyone else eaten their lunch?? Falcon Look and platform is outdated and Australian public dont want it . time to look forward a build something people want?
The Ford Brand in Australia is Strong because its local and has history (good) it will sell if the public has something to buy ?? - theve gotta catch up again? we need them

[kocho]

I didn't even know the Ecoboost was out.

When I went to my local Ford dealer, I didn't ask, but they had none on display so I assumed it wasn't out yet.

[imugli]

Originally Posted by csv8

FORD must drop G6 and G6E , no one knows what they are. Mention Fairmont and the lights go on !! people know what the XR6 is, but G6??? G6E ??. "I drive a G6E ?? no one knows what you are talking about. People know what the numbers on cars mean with BMW, Benz etc..but Falcon ????? Then advertise !!!! Look at what other car companies spend on advertising, related to sales,eg Hyundai and Kia, sales are thru the roof...

The G6 and G6E sell more as a proportion of overall sales than Fairmont and Ghia used to. The raw numbers may be less, but the proportion is higher.

[bingoTE50]

I think the Falcon & Commodore issues are their look. They are evolutionary dated design. The new Hyundai , Kia , some European vehicles just appeal to the mass because of the look .How many joe publics who buy vehicles would be actually aware of the cars capabilities other than - Design , Fuel Economy ,and safety ratings . They are not like us ,car enthusiasts . Yes and the taxi stigma is there . Fairmont , Ghia need to be re-introduced . G6 etc carries nil weight with older buyers.

[GTP-03]

You have got to admit a Territory or any suv for that matter really is a better buy and better value than a sedan for a few k more. I can see why new car buyers are also going for 4 door off road utes, heaps of room for the family, plenty of grunt, deisel economy, plenty of room for goods in the back, huge towing capacity, 4wd capabilities and they look pretty good too!

[RASER]

Originally Posted by Brazen

Diesel would have been a game-changer for Falcon and Falcon ute.

+1000000000000000

Indeed, look at all the SUV's and luxo cars sold that are diesel, FoA are always like 10 years behind the game

The diesel Falcon, esp. in ute would have worked, this EB is about as bright as the 4cycl Commodore was.

And they would have had something that the other 2 large sedans would not have had.

Stupid FoA, just plain and simple stupid

[Road_Warrior]

Well the numbers of private buyers isnt surprising because private buyers don't even know it exists...

[b0son]

Originally Posted by DJM83

So half of the sales were 'internal' surely this wont continue at that rate? If it doesnt, what happens then.

How many dealers have demos? I wonder how many people would consider one if they were given the opportunity to test them back to back against the six....

[RASER]

Originally Posted by b0son

How many dealers have demos? I wonder how many people would consider one if they were given the opportunity to test them back to back against the six....

No point, Falcon has always been a 6, why try switching them with confussion and stuffing the sale, the difference in fuel use in the real world would be very small anyway

Should have been powerplants:

IL6
V8
LPi
TDi

[csv8]

Originally Posted by imugli

The G6 and G6E sell more as a proportion of overall sales than Fairmont and Ghia used to. The raw numbers may be less, but the proportion is higher.

What are the sales figures ??