Ford's large cars remain

Ford Australia has committed to continue building large cars alongside the new small car Focus. “I can guarantee you that neither Falcon nor Territory is under any threat,” Ford Australia spokeswoman Sinead McAlary says.

“We believe there is an ongoing business case for both models.”

Speculation grew when Ford Australia president Tom Gorman announced during a press conference, the decision to build Focus in Australia from 2011 giving the company the opportunity to “walk away from” less profitable segments.

“What Tom was talking about was the opportunity for segment managing with production ... the ability to be more flexible in the model mix,” McAlary says.

“What will be possible is to manage the mix of cars being built in a far more active way. It could be changed month to month depending on what the demands are for any other models."

“The terminology may have led to some confusion but there is absolutely no threat to Falcon or Territory at this stage.”

With the announcement that Ford will close its in-line six engine production facility in Geelong by 2010, questions were raised over whether the Falcon and the Territory would be re-engineered to take imported engines.

While conceding Territory sales are sliding, McAlary says the large, locally developed SUV remains a key plank of Ford Australia planning.

“Territory numbers are down but we believe it is still the right car for the segment ... we believe it is the best SUV available,” McAlary says. “We are currently well under way working on the next-generation Territory.”

McAlary would not confirm a 2010 launch for the new-generation Territory, but there would be little point in unveiling a second-generation car before the switch to imported V6s.

However, betting has firmed on an earlier arrival of a diesel powerplant for the Territory with McAlary confirming work has begun.

“I can't give a time frame or confirmation of anything else specific about it (diesel) but it is something we are planning for and working on,” McAlary says.

There has been speculation that an inline five-cylinder turbo diesel sourced from Volvo would suit, or the bi-turbo V6 from the Jaguar family, although that would be expensive.

“There are several areas where we can source the engine but I can't be more specific than that at the moment,” McAlary says.

There are no plans for a compact SUV model to sit beside the Territory nor are there plans to add any more imported SUV models to the line-up.

While Falcon's numbers continue to fall, Ford believes the promise of a new model early next year will revive its fortunes.

“Large car numbers are never going to go back to where they were a couple of years ago,” she says. “But there have been some good indicators in the market and with something in the order of 130,000 large family cars being sold this year we can still make a strong business case for a share of that with Falcon, particularly with the new model.”