April VFacts.. Falcon !!!!!!

[csv8]

Mazda bumps Holden, roars into second place behind Toyota
Joshua Dowling
May 1, 2012 - 4:02PM
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Preliminary sales figures for April show import-only brand is Number Two.

Mazda’s march to the top of the sales chart continued in April.

Last year, the Mazda3 small car became Australia’s top-selling vehicle, ending the Holden Commodore’s 15-year winning streak.

In March, Mazda as a brand toppled local manufacturer Ford for a spot on the podium behind Toyota and Holden.

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Now Mazda has done what was once considered unimaginable – the Japanese import-only brand has bumped Holden to be the second-biggest selling brand behind Toyota in April.

According to preliminary figures, Mazda eclipsed Holden by fewer than 100 sales in a month that is typically a difficult period for new-car sales given the number of holiday breaks.

Toyota sold approximately 16,000 new cars last month compared to Mazda’s tally of about 7700 and Holden’s of about 7600.

South Korean car maker Hyundai was fourth with about 7000 sales, while Ford continued to struggle, finishing in fifth place for the second month in a row with approximately 6300 sales.

Ford’s April sales figures would not have been affected by the factory shutdowns last Thursday, but they may have an impact this month.

A number of factors contributed to Mazda’s success and Holden’s decline last month.

The Mazda3 small car continues to sell well and remains the country’s top-selling passenger car – and Mazda’s CX-5 has quickly become of the Australia’s most popular SUVs.

Meanwhile, Holden had all but run out of Colorado utility vehicles – there has been a six month “blackout” of production because the factory was affected by the Thailand floods as it was switching to a new model – and Holden hasn’t been able to get enough Korean-made Barina small cars to meet demand.

The official new-car sales figures are due out later this week, but the early data shows Australians continue to stay away from large cars in droves.

Holden sold fewer than 3000 Commodores while Ford sold approximately 1000 Falcons and 1100 Territory SUVs.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Shock horror......

If you don't market something and push it what do you expect. Sadly theres no money left in the till to make it work.

[Archilino]

Looking at it from a positive point of view Ford was only 1400 units from #2. When was the last time that happened?

[buggerlugs]

One of those CX-5's was mine.........brilliant car..........

[blk6t]

Originally Posted by DASH GT

Shock horror......

If you don't market something and push it what do you expect. Sadly theres no money left in the till to make it work.

Spot on!!!

No one knows about the EcoLPI engine, no one knows about the new Ecoboost engine, no one knows anything about the Falcon...except the enthusiasts and the people who follow Ford Aus on Facebook and Twitter etc.

Ford must think that the Falcon is still a household name, but it's NOT!!!

Edit: People still seem surprised when I tell them that my engine is a supercharged 5 Litre, people have no idea what Ford are doing!!!

[Buntz]

Originally Posted by blk6t

Spot on!!!

No one knows about the EcoLPI engine, no one knows about the new Ecoboost engine, no one knows anything about the Falcon...except the enthusiasts and the people who follow Ford Aus on Facebook and Twitter etc.

Ford must think that the Falcon is still a household name, but it's NOT!!!

Edit: People still seem surprised when I tell them that my engine is a supercharged 5 Litre, people have no idea what Ford are doing!!!

That is it precisely

[dimka100]

These numbers can't be good for the Falcon ... I mean the existing model is expected to soldier on for the next 2 years before an update comes, and even then the update is not expected to be anything significant ... so to put it bluntly - how does ford seriously expect the Falcon to survive with the existing sales outlook? I mean at this rate it will be down to the 500s same time next year ...

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by Spammy

Forget the Falcon (it's all over bar the shouting for the Falcon), more interesting / worrrying is the fact Ford are not selling more Mondeo/Focus/Fiesta. They are all decent cars.

What are the other brands doing differently to sell so many of the cars they have in those sectors of the market?

Ford could sell more cars if it had stock... e.g. Focus and Ranger... But it cannot get enough supply. Same goes with Kuga, there's interest but dealers have no stock.

If Ford wants to survive in Australia its going to need more backing from US, especially in respect to stock allocation. Sadly due to the small numbers locally we are last on the order book list, and everytime Ford Aus wants to bring another model here they need to make a business case, typically pricing themselves out of the market... (For example original Focus pricing, and now Kuga pricing compared to CX-5), if they dont do this then Ford US will not back them, typically why we only get a small selection of some models compared to other countries.

[DJR-351]

Originally Posted by dimka100

how does ford seriously expect the Falcon to survive with the existing sales outlook?...

.....they don't (expect it to survive that is)....

[kevino]

Maybe the less Falcons it sells the higher the value per car of the government subsidy and the more profit?
Just a crazy theory...feel free to debunk it.

Its strange they dont advertise Falcon like Toyota advertise Camry...noone outside Ford enthusiasts know about ECOLPI and ECOBOOST ...how do they know if Ford dont tell them?

[duaned]

Must admit the past few days I have seen Ford ads promoting the Mk2 Falcon and the Territory (again) regularly on the channels I have been watching. Looks as if they have decided to spill a little cash to that sector.

[Joe5619]

Good lord I give up!!! Seriously Ford, are your s**ting me big time!! As much I a love my Falcon I can't watch this slow painful death for the next 3-4 years.. Just kill it now & lets us morn now!!

We have FGII, Ford say NOTHING, EcoLpi, Ford say NOTHING, Ecoboost, Ford say NOTHING.. Ford is run by clowns I tell you!!

[nstg8a]

i think people are blind, or have very short memories... theres more to advertising than just an ad on tv...

ive seen big newspaper ads for terri and fg2, plus ecolpi

as for ecoboost... hmm what do you think they just had all those journos hammering the eb's round will do? all the next few mags should have reviews in them, then theres...

[prydey]

so the mazda3 is conquering due to all the ads mazda run, telling everyone about the car huh?? i must be in a black spot as i'm not getting them here. if i am, do you think they are telling me about what sort of engine is in it??

seriously!!

why should ford market there products to people who aren't going to buy it anyway?? i can guarantee you they are working hard at selling their products to those who do buy them, and thats fleets etc. fleets don't buy products based on a tv commercial thats for sure, and to be honest, i don't know one single person who has bought something based on a tv commercial.

also, once again we see these threads started by anti falcon people and anti falcon experts being the main contributors. why have falcon in the title?? surely just 'april v facts' would suffice!!

ford have confirmed falcon until 2016 with 2014 update. for some reason no one believes them but all the so called 'ford faithful' on here have no trouble believing general motors, even though they aren't doing any better!!

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by prydey

also, once again we see these threads started by anti falcon people and anti falcon experts being the main contributors. why have falcon in the title?? surely just 'april v facts' would suffice!!

This...

[mike_nofx]

Problem is, without advertising there is just a lot of (uninformed) word of mouth information going around, with incorrect information.

I have heard from a good few people comments along the lines of "a 4 cylinder falcon, that doesn't sound good" or "remember the 4 cylinder commodore".

Then I also suppose once they hear there is a 4 cylinder falcon they don't realise it's also turbocharged, nor do they realise it's power or consumption figures.

Another one is the myth that modern LPG powered cars lack power or economy compared with petrol powered cars, when the opposite is true.

As mentioned many times "How would people know about all this???" not everyone spends hours trolling Internet forums to find out these facts.

[Nikked]

Thats why it's a EcoBoost falcon...

I agree that Ford have got some challanges in perception.


On a large australian automotive website, and kid you not, i heard these two gems...

"the supercharged FPV's is a aftermarket fitted kit, not factory"

"I6 doesn't exsist, replaced by V6"

[mike_nofx]

Sorry, my mistake.

I should have realised that because they call it "ecoboost" everyone knows its turbo charged, with 179kw and 353nm.

[Joe5619]

Originally Posted by prydey

why should ford market there products to people who aren't going to buy it anyway?? i can guarantee you they are working hard at selling their products to those who do buy them, and thats fleets etc. fleets don't buy products based on a tv commercial thats for sure, and to be honest, i don't know one single person who has bought something based on a tv commercial.

This is where you & Ford CEO Mr Graziano differ in opinions!!

A bit from the this article

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...2579EA00001C19

Mr Graziano defended the Falcon’s sales, saying it was partially a result of the company having shifted its focus from fleets to private buyers.

“What we’ve tried to do is be very proactive in where we are targeting our volumes to come from, so we’ve exited some of the channels that really don’t provide the long-term brand-building capability,” he said.

“That’s partially what’s brought us that decline.

“With the technologies that we have we’re looking to improve our private share – which was actually up last year – and we’re looking to build this year.”


If your business plan is to increase private buyers, you need to tell your marketing team so their advertising matches up!!

[prydey]

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

Sorry, my mistake.

I should have realised that because they call it "ecoboost" everyone knows its turbo charged, with 179kw and 353nm.

why do they need to know?? why do they even need to know the cylinder count etc??

joe5619 - is that why they released a 4cyl car with less then 200gm co2?? pretty sure thats to become eligible to many govt and fleet depatments who have that criteria. he doesn't say they have stopped selling to fleets either. he just says they are trying to improve their private buyers and have exited SOME channels.

Nevertheless, Mr Graziano said that much of the early volume on EcoBoost would come from the business sector, since many fleets have requirements around displacement and emissions levels – something that Holden has capitalised on with its locally built four-cylinder Cruze.

“We’re hopeful that this will get us back onto some (fleet) buyer’s lists, or onto some lists that we presently can’t get onto,” he said.

[mike_nofx]

I didn't mention cylinder count, but that's the one fact everyone WILL eventually find out.

But knowing its a Falcon that has 4 cylinders is pointless without knowing what those 4 cylinders are capable of, as 2 litres pushing one of the biggest and heaviest sedans around doesn't sound very impressive.

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

Sorry, my mistake.

I should have realised that because they call it "ecoboost" everyone knows its turbo charged, with 179kw and 353nm.

What are you suggesting


"Introducing the new G6Turbocharged179kw353nm4cylinder"

[prydey]

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

I didn't mention cylinder count, but that's the one fact everyone WILL eventually find out.

But knowing its a Falcon that has 4 cylinders is pointless without knowing what those 4 cylinders are capable of, as 2 litres pushing one of the biggest and heaviest sedans around doesn't sound very impressive.

how big is the engine in a i45 or kia octavia? people don't care. that is, people who actually buy the cars, not the ones who argue in pubs and schoolyards over who's is bigger!!

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

i think people are blind, or have very short memories... theres more to advertising than just an ad on tv...

ive seen big newspaper ads for terri and fg2, plus ecolpi

as for ecoboost... hmm what do you think they just had all those journos hammering the eb's round will do? all the next few mags should have reviews in them, then theres...

image

What a pointless pic to post, because without telling people what Ecoboost is it means nothing. Ecoboost could be an energy drink for all the viewers know. How many people would realise it actually has something to do with Ford and not just a sponsor who's advertising a totally different, unrelated product.

Getting a brand name out there is more than just advertising the name, its about telling people why they should buy it too.

Imagine if someone who introduced a new product just put the brand name in their advertising and nothing else, no one would even know what it is or what it does.

But I guess this is another great marketing move by the company who thinks their cars sell themselves.

[anto]

after visiting my accountant the other day I was adamantly informed that ford are replacing the i6 with a four which was a really bad idea.....

Uninformed ? you bet ! What with all that advertising going detailing the benefits of the 4 and the rest of the range on I couldn't understand how he was so ill informed.

If people dont know about it they wont even consider it, never mind purchase. Quite honestly if I didnt follow this forum I wouldnt know about it either.

[Pepscobra]

I for one would like to see FoA stick up for itself for once.
There's been alot of bad press about Ford and the Falcon lately, but I havent seen any effort from Ford to back the Falcon up... which just fuels the rumours and speculation. Holden on the other hand...

[nstg8a]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

What a pointless pic to post, because without telling people what Ecoboost is it means nothing. Ecoboost could be an energy drink for all the viewers know. How many people would realise it actually has something to do with Ford and not just a sponsor who's advertising a totally different, unrelated product.

Getting a brand name out there is more than just advertising the name, its about telling people why they should buy it too.

Imagine if someone who introduced a new product just put the brand name in their advertising and nothing else, no one would even know what it is or what it does.

But I guess this is another great marketing move by the company who thinks their cars sell themselves.

Well anyone who follows the V8SC's would realise ford makes a habit of advertising their new models on the windscreens... so it might make people think 'hmm, what's ecoboost?' And then do some research...

Not everyone needs to be spoonfeed info on their next purchase, all they need is that first idea.

Some seem to think people buying cars are dimwits who look no further than the last ad that was on TV just before they left home...

[Road_Warrior]

Yeah but...the average buyer doesnt care for or watch the V8 taxi circus. So the "advertising" is kind of pointless.

[nstg8a]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

Yeah but...the average buyer doesnt care for or watch the V8 taxi circus. So the "advertising" is kind of pointless.

So the viewers that's watch the V8s don't buy falcons?

[Smoke Pursuit]

I have not seen anything about the Ecoboost 4 cylinder on TV yet...

They need to promote the product and its fuel economy, rather then trying to sell XR6's for $36,990.

People don't want XR6's anymore, its not 2004.