Falcon finally fades from Ford’s virtual showroom

THE Ford Falcon has fallen from the carmaker’s front page on the internet as sales of the iconic large car slow to an inevitable trickle.

Instead, Falcon fans will have to navigate to the Ford website’s history page to catch up with the last in the line for the sedan and ute range.

Ford built up a stock of Falcon sedans and utes in the lead-up to last October’s manufacturing shut-down, expecting their sales to bridge into 2017 – but just how far in, no one could say. June’s sales figures show that stocks of the Falcon sedan and ute had slowed to a trickle, while a trawl of new-car buying sites suggests that the number of “new” sedans remaining in showrooms could be as low as single figures. Meanwhile, finding a “new” Falcon-badged ute appears fruitless.

Ford Australia would not be drawn on revealing how much stock of the Falcon remained almost nine months after the last batch of cars made their way of the company’s now decommissioned Broadmeadows production line.

In contrast, though, the Ford Territory remains a visible part of Ford Australia’s showroom as it still sells in significant numbers; in June, the large locally made SUV’s 120 sales almost matched those of the EcoSport compact soft-roader. More than 200 are listed, the equivalent of a couple of months of sales at the current rate they’re trickling into buyers’ driveways.

Ford was the first house of cards to fall in Australia’s car manufacturing decline after announcing in 2012 it would end almost six decades of local production in 2017. Holden and Toyota, which will both cease manufacturing in October, followed soon after.

However, both Ford and Holden will retain global design and development centres established here as part of their new-vehicle development programs.

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