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Alan Mulally loves new FG Falcon, wants one in U.S.

Alan Mulally loves new FG Falcon, wants one in U.S.

Viknesh Vijayenthiran February 19th, 2008 Viknesh Vijayenthiran By Viknesh Vijayenthiran Author February 19th, 2008
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December 31st, 1969 Ford Australia took the wraps off its all-new FG Falcon sedan over the weekend, a large RWD sedan with a range of V8, turbocharged and straight-six engines, but sadly what’s possibly one of the most exciting sedans in Ford’s entire lineup will be limited to the Australia and few other local markets. The new Falcon, particularly the sports-luxury G6E Turbo, impressed Ford CEO Alan Mulally so much that he’s having one personally delivered to him in the U.S. Mulally took a test drive of a prototype Falcon late last year and immediately fell in love with the car. After driving the 362hp (270kW) turbocharged G6E, Mulally told engineers the car was as good as the Lexus he had previously owned, reports GoAuto. “It must be very easy to get tickets in this car,” he told onlookers, adding that there was “nothing like this in our company.” Unfortunately, Ford’s future RWD program won’t be based on the Aussie engineered Falcon platform. Ford wants to revive its RWD heritage but it plans to engineer and design its new models in the U.S. “The vehicles that we’re looking at will be designed where they’re engineered, and those global RWD platform vehicles will be engineered here in the U.S, as far as I know,” Ford group vice president of design J Mays revealed last month. Ford is developing new RWD models for both the Ford and Lincoln brands but the new platforms will be developed by a new global engineering team with a focus on the U.S. market. New CAFE regulations will also have a major impact on the new designs and this is said to be one of the key factors for ruling out the Aussie built car. Pictured above is the high-performance FPV prepped Falcon GT, a muscle sedan powered by a BOSS V8 engine and tipped to develop more than 400hp (298kW).Ford Falcon 2008
Alan Mulally loves new FG Falcon, wants one in U.S.

Alan Mulally loves new FG Falcon, wants one in U.S.

Enlarge Photo

Ford Australia took the wraps off its all-new FG Falcon sedan over the weekend, a large RWD sedan with a range of V8, turbocharged and straight-six engines, but sadly what’s possibly one of the most exciting sedans in Ford’s entire lineup will be limited to the Australia and few other local markets. The new Falcon, particularly the sports-luxury G6E Turbo, impressed Ford CEO Alan Mulally so much that he’s having one personally delivered to him in the U.S.

Mulally took a test drive of a prototype Falcon late last year and immediately fell in love with the car. After driving the 362hp (270kW) turbocharged G6E, Mulally told engineers the car was as good as the Lexus he had previously owned, reports GoAuto. “It must be very easy to get tickets in this car,” he told onlookers, adding that there was “nothing like this in our company.”

Unfortunately, Ford’s future RWD program won’t be based on the Aussie engineered Falcon platform. Ford wants to revive its RWD heritage but it plans to engineer and design its new models in the U.S. “The vehicles that we’re looking at will be designed where they’re engineered, and those global RWD platform vehicles will be engineered here in the U.S, as far as I know,” Ford group vice president of design J Mays revealed last month.

Ford is developing new RWD models for both the Ford and Lincoln brands but the new platforms will be developed by a new global engineering team with a focus on the U.S. market. New CAFE regulations will also have a major impact on the new designs and this is said to be one of the key factors for ruling out the Aussie built car.

Pictured above is the high-performance FPV prepped Falcon GT, a muscle sedan powered by a BOSS V8 engine and tipped to develop more than 400hp (298kW).
Ford Falcon 2008
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Posted in: Ford, News


Comments (4 total)

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  1. By mark #1, Posted: 2/20/2008

    I understand why the USA wants to build its own cars but why wast so much money building a new platform if the falcons already there. Why not just tool up an american ford car factory to build a US made falcon and save all the money and still have a great car.

  2. By Chad #2, Posted: 3/20/2008

    I dont blame the poor suck for wanting a Falcon, its far better then anything from Ford US. It is a waste that Ford US wont use the best platform in the Ford world, including Jaguar etc. Instead they will waste millions developing a platform that will catch up to the current Falcon. Its a pity that the Falcon is still lumped with the pathetic US designed V8, where our Aussie designed straight six blows into the weeds rather easily. Come on Ford US, design a decent V8 for a change instead of wasting money on reinventing the wheel for every country.

  3. By Geoff Hogan #3, Posted: 4/14/2008

    Ford seems to be obsessed with their competitors Toyota and Honda. They seem to want to find another Taurus type vehicle that is mediocre in design and will appeal to everybody, so that they can build and sell millions. They don't realize that there are alot of things about Toyota and Honda that are not outstanding, such as their styling, interiors, and very hard seats. Mostly what people buy them for is their reliability and quality level. Ford is capable of bulding very interesting cars such as the Mondeo in Europe, and this new Falcon in Australia. But they don't believe that the American public will buy them. Plus, Ford always prices its most interesting cars at a level that drives the public away. Ford should remember that their most successful new car ever, the Mustang, had everything. It was very good looking, had room for 4, was fast, and priced very low.

  4. By John Blanco #4, Posted: 9/11/2008

    I am Australian and though the great Ford Falcon originated in the US
    of A from what I have studied, America stopped building the Falcon
    sometime in the '70s (Why?). Perhaps Ford America went wrong here. It
    appears to me that since Ford Australia continued to build the Falcon
    from then on with the same platform as the original, the Falcon would
    appear to be only 'Australian' in concept today. The car is now so good
    it has become the best RWD platform in the world. Ford Australia will
    shut down its engine plant in 2010 and the Falcon will get a new
    American V6. From what I've studied, this new V6 is an awesome
    hi-tech Duratec design, which is highly adaptable to alternative
    fuels. The 'Twin force' (Twin-Turbo) version will blow everything into the
    weeds. I'm looking forward to the new 'global' RWD platform, which
    will make up the Falcon for us here in Australia and to be launched
    in about 2012/13 I understand. Many things have to be considered when designing a new car now, so good luck Ford America and FordAustralia. I once saw a black coloured Ford USA concept called the Contour withsomething called 'T-drive' - it had a straight 6 or 8 cylinder engine in it (east-west mounted), could be front or rear drive and was the most incredible shape I'd ever seen- something called ‘cab-forward’. So perhaps the straight six will return one day.
    John

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