Ford pushes FG against SUVs

However, Ford hasn't made any promises that the FG model would continue to be built in Australia.

The unveiling of the FG in Melbourne came as doubts over the viability of local car-making reaches a crescendo, following the closure of Mitsubishi's Tonsley Park plant earlier this month.

Ford Australia president Bill Osborne was bullish about the car's prospects and said the FG Falcon would recapture market leadership from the Holden Commodore by reasserting its place in family life.

“Our intention is to grow sales and take our rightful place at the top of the segment,” Mr Osborne said at the launch.

“The primary thing driving our strategy is to target a broader range of customers, to move beyond the fleet buyer and performance buyer into more of a family-type customer. It's a stretching of the brand to appeal to more lifestyle.”

The biggest change to Ford's signature model in a decade focuses on improving safety, economy and comfort in a reorganised range but with many of the familiar model names — such as Fairmont — ditched.

They are replaced by a new G Series line-up, which targets the middle ground between fleet fodder at one end of the range and the V8 performance buyer at the other end.

All FG models are slightly bigger than before, with more powerful engines, new transmissions and a completely reworked cabin. In an unusual move, the ute and performance line-ups were revealed simultaneously with the mainstream sedans. The wagon continues in a revised version of its current shape.

Mr Osborne said that, as Ford reorganised globally to make better use of its engineering resources, it was an open question whether the Falcon would continue to be built here.

“No one in the industry is able to guarantee the future,” he said. “Right now, there is no plan for the foreseeable future for Falcon to go away.”

Regardless of whether the Falcon stayed, Ford was committed to Australian car-making. Last year, Ford announced its Broadmeadows factory would begin building the Focus small car from 2011.

“Whether or not this is the last Falcon is not really the appropriate question,” Mr Osborne said. “Our operations here are competitive and that's the benchmark for whether any manufacturing operation is viable.”

The FG is the result of two years' effort at Ford's Broadmeadows plant in Melbourne and unspecified millions of dollars, but it arrives as Australia's love affair with large four-doors has gone into deep freeze as buyers opt for SUVs or smaller cars.

Last year was the worst in the Falcon's 47-year history as sales plummeted 20 per cent with fewer than 34,000 buyers.

The FG looks certain to be the last large sedan engineered uniquely for Australia as Ford reorganises globally to make better use of its widespread resources. Mr Osborne said Australia was likely to have a say in the result “simply because our expertise is quite strong.”

The new Falcon goes on sale in April with prices to be announced nearer the date.