I saw that earlier - I couldn't believe that. I wouldn't have thought 18000 would have supported AU manufacture of Falcons.
bellky,
Jan 6, 2:25am
it's sad for me being a ford lover
clark20,
Jan 6, 2:34am
But you should add the Territory to the mix, as it takes the station wagon sales
magicmat,
Jan 6, 3:36am
I have an LS1 powered VX Holden and out of interest I googled how many were actually made. Turns out that Holden whacked out over 200,000 of them which makes this one of their more successful, if not more common models. Think about that for a minute; if each of those VX's cost 30 grand, and some of them such as the Clubsports and SS models cost one hell of a lot more than that, then multiply by 200 thousand. I nearly fell over backwards when I punched those numbers in to my trusty calculator!
And if you have ever had to deal with a Holden dealer for servicing etc it becomes obvious they arent doing too bad there either!
n3d4sp3d,
Jan 6, 3:44am
maybe the aussies aren't as dumb as we thought
gooddealz2,
Jan 6, 3:44am
After reading that article I can only assume more Australians than ever are living in cities and probably not venturing far out of them.The Fords and Holdens surely would have been for those doing long out of city journeys.After being down to Invercargill 3 times this week I can understand why people in Gore etc are noted for having Holdens and Fords as you'd really need that kind of car to be constantly driving to Dunedin/Invercargill.I was in my V8 Holden and it was effortless driving whereas something smaller would probaly be more tiring.
franc123,
Jan 6, 3:55am
Having read both the article and the huge quantity of comments its clear that the majority of people are no longer supportive of Aussie industry and the jobs it creates, and its also clear that many are just snobby urbanites who are dismissive of the local product and its image.I'm not sure how driving a fully imported car is somehow prestigious when everybody is doing it!But some are correct in that there has been misreading of the market by both F&H and a resulting lack of response to changing demand from consumers, and the shrinking of the traditional large car market.
magicmat,
Jan 6, 4:06am
Having owned both Aussie and European cars franc, I can honestly say I am 100% supportive of the Aussie product. The Euro cars are great but their complexity has put me off. Sure, if I could afford a brand spanking Mercedes and drive it to 100k then flick it for the latest model I may be keen. But for basic simplicity and reliability, I adore the Holdens from Aussie. In fact, I like the Fords too its just that I find them a tad. ugly to be honest.
Edit; Actually I like the Commies up to 2002 and after that I am not overly fussed on the change of shape. I find the VE to be a pretty ugly precedent shape wise but they do have a very Aussie vulgarity about them that still appeals! In saying that, I do think the mid 2000's XR6 Turbos are pretty damn nice looking!
edangus,
Jan 6, 4:24am
Easily explained by the lack of Wagons Ford has been releasing.
franc123,
Jan 6, 4:41am
Hey don't get me wrong, I am too, had three Falcons in the last 14 years and my next one will probably be one as well, it doesn't mean that a Commodore will be off the menu in the future either, for what I need from a car the Ford has always had an edge.But the new car market is seeing things differently and thats what directly affects the manufacturers.There's no doubt that the traditional values that you speak of, and they are important, just aren't uppermost in the minds of buyers anymore.When you read that article you can't help feeling that the bias would change if rural buyers had their say about whether replacing the family Holden with a Mazda3 was a good idea.The image that the Aussie RWD cars have it seems has become a double edged sword.
chris_051,
Jan 6, 7:15am
Bet you the Falcon is more profitable per unit sold.
rellerion,
Jan 6, 7:42am
I work for Qld Police, and they go through commys every 15000 to 30000kms easily. They stopped buying fords early 2011 which was sad seeing that ford was often very good to deal with as opposed to the "i know everything" holden reps and agents; who refused to take reponsibilty when a car of theirs was faulty out of QC.
as much as I love my falcon, I gotta say ford is quite stinjee with their technology/extras; i.e: jap imports have power windows as the standard, while you have to get a higher end model falcon/commy with full electrics etc.
and its tru. when QLDers get a mazda 3 they start walking around like their sh*t dont stink.
cocabowla,
Jan 6, 10:40am
when you look at the other sales figures (at least last time i looked ) the captiva was # 1 in suv sales and thats a rebadged daewoo so shows how odd the aussies are really. theres no way the commode is twice the car a falcon is .
interesting rellerion, my brother in law is in qld traffic and said they had always had a mix and there were good & bad points about both with neither being particularly better
elect70,
Jan 6, 3:27pm
Probably findCommiesdiscounted for bulk buyfor govt use &reps .&taxisGM had toget sales or die .
nave12,
Jan 6, 3:28pm
The commodore sales includes its station wagon in that number which is based on the same platform from their factory line,ford while not having a station wagon does'nt include the number of territorys in their sedan sales figures but if you add the territory into the mix(based on the falcons platform) the numbers are'nt that far apart and the doom and gloomers start scratching their heads.Territory 2011(16,456) + (18,000) = 34,456and each vehicle is making a profit.Also the territory was the no.1 selling suv in oz aswell.
rellerion,
Jan 6, 4:26pm
yeah in qld they utilise all sorts of utes, trucks, wagons etc. (and some VERY expensive - which is why theyre laying off some staff) that you would never see in nz. but the main marked sedans are commys, aurions, and (were) falcons. even the aurion is giving the commy a run for its money.
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