TAURUS To (possibly) Replace FALCON !!!!!

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Ford's decision to drop its global rear-wheel drive platform development puts added pressure on the locally made Falcon and increases speculation Australia could get the American Taurus.


The future of the locally built Falcon large car faces fresh uncertainty after Ford said it was abandoning its rear-wheel-drive development program in North America.

Ford Australia was expected to play a key role in the program, with rear-wheel-drive Fords and Lincolns being built on the Falcon’s platform.

The large American cars were due to go on sale in 2013, about two years before the next-generation Falcon is anticipated.

Ford’s product planning chief Derek Kuzak confirmed the decision to axe its rear-wheel-drive plans at the 2009 Detroit motor show debut of the new-generation, front-drive Taurus.

“Because of [government] directives on [stricter] fuel economy, we did have a substantial rear-wheel-drive program under way, but we put that vehicle program on hold and stopped it,” says Kuzak.

“We’re now looking through various alternatives [for Ford large-car platforms] as we look into the future. But we have stopped work on rear-wheel drive.”

Ford has admitted it’s now focusing on fuel efficiency, with American large cars and utes suffering a decline in 2008 when petrol prices almost tripled.

Kuzak acknowledge the reputation of the Falcon’s underpinnings in the Ford Motor Company empire, though suggested it could become a front-wheel-drive car in future.

“We have a very capable rear-wheel-drive platform in Australia; we don’t have to change that tomorrow, so we have time to look through what the alternatives are [for a future platform] … rear-wheel drive, front-wheel drive.

“We haven’t made a decision yet and we don’t have a formal program in place at the moment.”

Kuzak didn’t rule out a next-generation version of the American-built Taurus becoming Ford’s new global large car as part of the company’s new One-Ford strategy – where one Ford product is designed to be sold worldwide rather than completely different vehicles for separate markets.



“At this point, the Taurus is a North American vehicle only,” he says. “We haven’t developed it yet [as a global vehicle] at this point, but it’s part of the alternatives we’re looking at.”

The new Taurus is powered by the 3.5-litre V6 Duratec engine that was set to be installed in the Falcon from 2010 before Ford Australia reversed its decision in late 2008.

Already industry speculation suggests Ford made the decision to stick with the inline six-cylinder it has built in Geelong for five decades because it made more business sense than reingeering the existing Falcon for a new V6. While Ford is confirming it will build Falcons with a version of the existing engine until 2013 it will not confirm the future of locally made Falcons beyond that date.

From 2011 Ford will begin building the Focus small car at its Broadmeadows factory.

Kuzak says he wasn’t surprised Ford Australia changed its mind to instead stick with the ageing inline six-cylinder engine. “It was part of an overall business strategy in Ford Australia,” says Ford’s product boss.

Former Ford Australia boss Tom Gorman, however, said in 2007 that the new V6 would put the local car maker in a stronger position to be involved in its parent company’s global rear-wheel-drive development.

“[The V6] brings us one step closer to better integrating with Ford’s global product development,” said Gorman at the time. “The longer we remain an ‘orphan’ in terms of our technologies in Australia, the less likely we are to fully participate in all the activity that’s under way in rear-wheel drive.”

It’s not clear whether Ford Australia last year announced it would stick with the inline six-cylinder it builds in Geelong after learning the Falcon’s platform would no longer be used globally.