The "Ford" and "Falcon" brand

[Luke Plaizier]

It's hard to ignore all the hyperbole that's going on at the moment regarding Ford and the RWD Falcon. But there;s more going on here that's of concern - and that is the Brand value of "Ford" and the "Falcon" have lost considerable value in the last few years.

Some questions and observations:

(1) Why is the Mondeo selling so well in Europe and the Fusion in the US, and Australia can't sell any of them? It's not a different car. It's not up against any different type of competition. That the Focus and the Fiesta don't sell well indicate it's not a transient issue. Ford have a poor image in Australia.

(2) The amount of Brand damage done to the Falcon in the last few weeks can't be measured right now, but you watch the sales plummet. The Brand strength of the Magna went seriously south due to speculation and media harrassment. When the brand is not strong, people don't go near it. Was that why they tried that last ditch brand switch to 380? I can see the logic and appreciate the effort. Perhaps it was just too slow to move. i wonder if this was the logic behind the G6 convention.

So how can they fix this?

(1) Quality: It's a long hard haul to get the Quality fixed, but even longer to get the message out. Has the damage been done? Is it time to rush Lincoln out to Australia to try and tell a quality story? Is it time to make more noise about the popularity of these cars in overseas markets, and pose the question to Australians "If people in Europe buy these cars, where the bloody hell are you Australia?"

(2) Media: For heavens sake, engage the media better. Stop holding them at arms length and making them guess. Feed them more 'We might do this' or 'We could do that', even if it doesn't come to fruition, just so the media don't keep guessing for themselves and coming to the WORST conclusion rather than the best one. The Media have a big part to play in guiding the perspective if Australians and moulding the Brand - as much as they pretend otherwise. A long term commitment to treating the media better would go a long way to repairing the damange done. And make it Corporate Policy, and not just the whim of a CEO.

(3) Why have Ford never released the 'Best' car that they could assemble from the parts they had before the G6ET - which even now misses out on sports suspension and LSD? Why were the BA/BF Fairmont Ghia's and Fairlanes only given the slow engines? Why were the XR's only given the poverty pack interiors? Why are Ford not trying to release something that's the best they can be?.

(4) Get the top man in front of the media more often for real interviews - a man that seems honest and appears to be giving new information and not appear to be concealing information. Geoff Polites did this well. I think Marin does pretty well himself - if not often enough.


Lukeyson

[4.0i_SiX]

Originally Posted by Luke Plaizier

(1) Why is the Mondeo selling so well in Europe and the Fusion in the US, and Australia can't sell any of them? It's not a different car. It's not up against any different type of competition. That the Focus and the Fiesta don't sell well indicate it's not a transient issue. Ford have a poor image in Australia.

People have been hurt by the Mondeo from the 90's, simple as that. If they havent directly, then they know someone who has ( their parents, friend of friends etc ) the BIGGEST mistake Ford made with the mondeo, was releasing here and calling it a mondeo.

Mondeo is another term for, "Garbage car plagued with electrical faults" The new mondeo is a far cry from this

[Mr Hardware]

1. If they had the falcon in their markets too the mondeo wouldn't sell either!
2. Possibly, but i believe the falcon is a lot stronger than the magna. The magna was more often than not a poorly-built car really.

[Brazen]

I still think the Falcon name is very strong. The Taurus and Mondeo were much more damaged names in their home markets, now look at them.

Remember Ford are selling the Mondeo and Falcon side by side, not many other car companies have identically sized and priced cars in the same showroom. Most people looking at a family car at Ford will go with the Falcon, if the Falcon didnt exist the Mondeo would be selling better.

[Franco Cozzo]

I totally agree with the poor brand image, I told a workmate a few years ago that the 6sp auto gearbox he has in his BMW is in the Falcon and he replies with "Oh god, does that mean it'll break soon?"

We were going home from work another time and I pointed out a Ford Territory and the Boss' wife replies "Its just a dirty Ford".

Another time at school I was sitting in a spare talking about cars and one of the girls who came and sat at our table just started having a go at Ford saying how crap they are because they are "unreliable" and that "Every time you see a car with smoke coming out from under its bonnet on the side of the road its a Ford".

It seems everyone hates Ford, especially people who don't know much about cars. Also walking fingers didn't exactly help, I remember being all phyched up for the release of the FG Falcon and I saw that ad...

[Brazen]

I actually always thought that importing the Mondeo was wrong, coming from Belgium it must not make a lot of money for Ford.

All the millions in advertising, dealer training, spare parts, workshops, import costs, ADR compliance costs to bring the Mondeo over to not sell that many. And if you look at this site many Mondeo buyers cross shopped it with the Falcon, or traded in a Falcon. So they spent all this money to get a car which competes with another Ford! It is a great car but it does take sales from the Falcon.

Imagine if they had put this money into the Falcon wagon, perhaps the Falcon would be the country's biggest selling car...

[irlewy86]

They ran a Focus campaign based on its sales domination in Europe. No effect.

I think for a long time Fords MD's have recongnised the decline in non-Falcon markets and have each made attempts to rectify individually with little success. I fear that the biggest hurdle for other segments is the Falcon brand. For every customer that walks through the door because of Falcon, one walks past to avoid it.

Heres my answers

1) Quality is difficult to measure, Toyota made their reputation based on Lux's and Cruisers in the Ag/Mining market. If Ford is serious they should bring back F-Trucks. Rather than selling these vehicles in the traditional sense they should one up Toymota. e.g. sell vehicles with recommended spare lists, liftime operating cost breakdowns, field service and recovery manuals, factory fire suppression kits, underground approved vehicles etc. etc.

2) XP style reliability trials. Give the media something they can sensationalise and then see how quick they change their tune. Re-enforces point 1 at the same time.

3) I think its been stated before that FoA have gone "zero-risk" in their operations.

[Wally]

I can't quatify it, but I think there are two big elephants in the room that are going to be constant blockers to Ford reaching the heights of it's endeavours.

As sacrosanct as they are to some I thing the Blue Oval insignia and the dominant Ford name itself carriy negative legacies and are constant reminders of the godaweful truth our local makes were over priced and second rate come the Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, etc invasion.

[DanielXR8]

There have been lots of attempts and theories on here about why Ford is not gaining any real market share and why one strategy after another seems to have little long term impact.

The things I always note. The dealer network is still there and doing what they have always done for the past thirty years… helping lots of people find a reason to walk away from the brand. Ford needs to decide if it wants to stay in Australia and sell cars (imported or local) and if the answer is yes, it just needs to pay the bastards out and get rid of them. New franchise agreements with real controls on quality of service.

Ford themselves have never made a car that wasn't in tolerance. Many that weren't to customers tolerances, but not the factories. In other words Ford doesn't stand by its products, it doesn't recall cars when it should (Territory, Falcons), pretends nothing is wrong when the media get a hold of quality and build issues and rarely puts the customer first, when clearly a car is just not fit for purpose.

Finally neither the company or the dealers think long term like the Japanese. It’s make a buck today and to hell with what the customer will think tomorrow. So you screwed them over with that Falcon diff or Terri ball joints. How can there be any consequences for the brand for doing that?

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by Luke Plaizier

(3) Why have Ford never released the 'Best' car that they could assemble from the parts they had before the G6ET - which even now misses out on sports suspension and LSD? Why were the BA/BF Fairmont Ghia's and Fairlanes only given the slow engines? Why were the XR's only given the poverty pack interiors? [
Lukeyson

It's a small point related to the overall argument but the G6ET does have sports suspension, it's pretty much the same as the BF XR's were for firmness.

I think people miss the point, Ford isn't about making the Best car it can with the parts available, it's about making the most profit for it's shareholders that it can.

[Chopped]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

..... The magna was more often than not a poorly-built car really.

That's a NO

Magna was/is better built than Falcon or Commodore.
Our work fleet has had all of them and the Magnas have been the most reliable and aged the best (less rattles etc)

Magna had an image problem - Not seen as a "drivers" car and only old men bought them.

The Commodore and Falcon have a "Poorly built" perception with buyers.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by Chopped

That's a NO

Magna was/is better built than Falcon or Commodore.
Our work fleet has had all of them and the Magnas have been the most reliable and aged the best (less rattles etc)

Magna had an image problem - Not seen as a "drivers" car and only old men bought them.

The Commodore and Falcon have a "Poorly built" perception with buyers.

Got in a 97 Magna the other day, 230,000km. No rattles, all features and dash lights perfect, quiet and smooth, apparantly only thing replaced has been the alternator. Like sitting in a new car and its 13 years old! A very well made car.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by DanielXR8

There have been lots of attempts and theories on here about why Ford is not gaining any real market share and why one strategy after another seems to have little long term impact.

The things I always note. The dealer network is still there and doing what they have always done for the past thirty years… helping lots of people find a reason to walk away from the brand. Ford needs to decide if it wants to stay in Australia and sell cars (imported or local) and if the answer is yes, it just needs to pay the bastards out and get rid of them. New franchise agreements with real controls on quality of service.

Ford themselves have never made a car that wasn't in tolerance. Many that weren't to customers tolerances, but not the factories. In other words Ford doesn't stand by its products, it doesn't recall cars when it should (Territory, Falcons), pretends nothing is wrong when the media get a hold of quality and build issues and rarely puts the customer first, when clearly a car is just not fit for purpose.

Finally neither the company or the dealers think long term like the Japanese. It’s make a buck today and to hell with what the customer will think tomorrow. So you screwed them over with that Falcon diff or Terri ball joints. How can there be any consequences for the brand for doing that?

This. Once bitten, twice shy is the case for many former Ford owners who will never consider the brand again due to being poked in the eye.

[Wally]

Comments about the Magna = agreed. If old people buy them, there's a chance they have done their homework thoroughly.

Just looking at them at the wreckers shows a well engineered product.

[cosmo20btt]

Originally Posted by Chopped

That's a NO

Magna was/is better built than Falcon or Commodore.
Our work fleet has had all of them and the Magnas have been the most reliable and aged the best (less rattles etc)

Magna had an image problem - Not seen as a "drivers" car and only old men bought them.

It's Image problem was that they were quite poorly made with smokey chain rattling motors, so when the Name changed to try & set itself apart from Magna by rebadging it 380, it was too late so in the end it was killed off. The difference from the Falcon is that it has got market share on it's side at the moment regardless of it's minor faults it can make a come back if better servicing, spend more R&D before release (which I think they do now), Better advertising will all help.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by DanielXR8

Finally neither the company or the dealers think long term like the Japanese. It’s make a buck today and to hell with what the customer will think tomorrow. So you screwed them over with that Falcon diff or Terri ball joints. How can there be any consequences for the brand for doing that?

Spot on, Im shocked but sadly not suprised that the ball joint issue has not been done as a recall, especially concerning with the safety implications.

I honestly think that buyers dont mind if car makers admit a mistake and do something about it, its when car makers try to pass the buck or dont own up then you lose the customers.

It reminds me of when Lexus first released the LS400 in the US. Probably one of the most important launches in Japanese motoring history. This product was supposed to be the highest quality car in the world and finally a car the Japanese could challenge the Germans with. After years of development the car was released, but embarassingly it was discovered that there was a potential issue with the high mounted stop light. Lexus had to fix it.

So what did they do with this embarassing mistake? Instead of telling owners to bring their car in or wait to the next service, they sent a technician out to the home or office of every Lexus LS400 owner in the US to fix the problem. Whilst there the technician checked over the rest of the car and asked the owners if there were any issues they had. In one case an old lady didnt know how to work the memory settings on the passenger seat, the technician explained and set the ideal position for the seat for the lady. They have bought 3 Lexuses since. This level of service concreted the loyalty of a generation of Lexus owners. Lexus turned a very embarassing glitch into a marketing masterstroke.

If you look after customers they will keep coming back, dosnt matter if your selling $80 airplane tickets or $50,000 Falcons.

[uranium_death]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

1. If they had the falcon in their markets too the mondeo wouldn't sell either!
2. Possibly, but i believe the falcon is a lot stronger than the magna. The magna was more often than not a poorly-built car really.

I too will refute the "Magnas are no good" thing.
Sure, the first model - TM was not great, and it wasn't until the TR whent he brand really became dependable, and TE when it was seriously a good car.

I know many, many people who have owned Magnas after owning other vehicles such as Toyotas, and they have said that for interior comfort as well as general driving, the car gives them exactly what they want.

They want a car that is reliable. They don't want to break speed records or drift.

From that point of view, the Magna was a great car that had terrible styling at the very end, and a very poor run in the media.

[Chopped]

Originally Posted by cosmo20btt

It's Image problem was that they were quite poorly made with smokey chain rattling motors, so when the Name changed to try & set itself apart from Magna by rebadging it 380, it was too late so in the end it was killed off. The difference from the Falcon is that it has got market share on it's side at the moment regardless of it's minor faults it can make a come back if better servicing, spend more R&D before release (which I think they do now), Better advertising will all help.

Your deluded if you think the Mitsubishi engines are "smokey chain rattlers".
(although the timing belt change @ every 100,000k can hit your wallet)
I believe in Kudos where it is due.

Falcon AND Commodore are both struggling in reality - the volumes per month are low. The "Aussie Made" part both helps and HINDERS sales.

"I will only ever buy Aussie Cars, they know how to build them for our conditions"...is changing to... "I don't think I'll buy another Aussie made car, had problems with them before, think I'll go Japanese or European this time, they look so much better built, more features etc" < - sad but true.

[irlewy86]

Originally Posted by Brazen

So what did they do with this embarassing mistake? Instead of telling owners to bring their car in or wait to the next service, they sent a technician out to the home or office of every Lexus LS400 owner in the US to fix the problem. Whilst there the technician checked over the rest of the car and asked the owners if there were any issues they had. In one case an old lady didnt know how to work the memory settings on the passenger seat, the technician explained and set the ideal position for the seat for the lady. They have bought 3 Lexuses since. This level of service concreted the loyalty of a generation of Lexus owners. Lexus turned a very embarassing glitch into a marketing masterstroke.

.

I say PPPPPPFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT to Toyota. The issues I've had with Toyota are by the far the worse I have ever had to deal with.
God forbid when they had a recall on Hiluxs 2 were over 500k from a dealer, when we asked for them to send out the part and service bulletin the dealer made it out we were involved in an industrial espionage ring and would void our warranties and take legal action if we fitted the new bonnent clip ourselves.

Muppets absolute muppets.

[Luke Plaizier]

So to reiterate points:

(1) Quality: I get the feeling that this will be addressed by the 'One Ford' approach. I already see others typing stories about Things Gone Wrong coming down considerably on the FG. It's been a focus of Ford in the US for awhile. It's getting this message out that will be the hard part.

(2) Media: We keep coming back to this. Marketting, regular engagements, providing gossip and headlines, viral marketting. Ford need to get more positive reports in the media. When was the last time a spy shot actually produced bad results for them?

(3) Product and Placement: Why do people like European cars now over Australian cars? Quality, Features, Perception. My comments regarding Ford not producing the best car they can produce from the parts they make is relevant. In the past they seem to have focussed on the cheap models and then dazzled them up to make the higher models. There was talk that Polites tried to get the BA built the other way round - by making the higher spec cars the best they could be and then having that filter down to the lower models. I don't think that really happened in any meaningful way until the FG - by which time the LWB had suffered. Making the LWB look like a longer XT did not help one bit. Given the success of the G6ET, what would a more visually differentiated Fairlane with the I6T have done? More than the G220?

(4) Lead from the top: Such a big load to put on one man isn't it. If not the top man, then perhaps if there were someone else high up in the chain of command with enough charisma and presence to be in the media regularly. Ford needs a FACE.


Lukeyson

[cosmo20btt]

Originally Posted by Chopped

Your deluded if you think the Mitsubishi engines are "smokey chain rattlers".
(although the timing belt change @ every 100,000k can hit your wallet)
I believe in Kudos where it is due.

Falcon AND Commodore are both struggling in reality - the volumes per month are low. The "Aussie Made" part both helps and HINDERS sales.

"I will only ever buy Aussie Cars, they know how to build them for our conditions"...is changing to... "I don't think I'll buy another Aussie made car, had problems with them before, think I'll go Japanese or European this time, they look so much better built, more features etc" < - sad but true.

I suppose deluded is stepping over the mountain of cracked engine blocks out the back of the dealership that you work for at the time. Every experience is different for every one I know & I know Mitsubishi tried hard to warrant the huge problem they created for themselves, the damage from these problems were too hard to overcome for Mitsubishi & they stopped production in Aust.

They fixed the cracking problem by recasting thicker blocks which is seven years too late.

[saber]

I think it also comes back to the country of origin for which the product/car is made.

When people think Japanese/German built products, eg whipper snippers, tools, cars ect ect, they instantly associated “quality” to that product, simply because it has been made from said country.
On the other hand, perception is Chinese made products are cheap, nasty, poor quality ect ect.

For example, myself and a female friend were watching TV, and a Great Wall ad came on.
Female friend, even though she has never driven the Great Wall car advertised, instantly dismissed the car as poor quality, cheap rubbish.
The same practice is found on these forums (and many others) as well.
This same perception is somewhat associated with Ford Australia.

[Luke Plaizier]

Originally Posted by cosmo20btt

I suppose deluded is stepping over the mountain of cracked engine blocks out the back of the dealership that you work for at the time. Every experience is different for every one I know & I know Mitsubishi tried hard to warrant the huge problem they created for themselves, the damage from these problems were too hard to overcome for Mitsubishi & they stopped production in Aust.

They fixed the cracking problem by recasting thicker blocks which is seven years too late.

I'm not so sure about engine blocks, but the Valve Guides on the Astron 2.0 and 2.6 were atrocious. By wearing early, they sucked extra oil into the cylinder head while idling, and then as they took off from the lights would blow big clouds of blue smoke everywhere. There's not a sigma, magna or l300 I have ever seen that did not fall foul of this during their later years. THAT is why I formed the long term opinion that I would never buy a Mitsubishi, and it is a long term Quality issue that most likey does not exist any more but still haunts me.

The point here is that Brand damage is quick to form and exceedingly hard to repair. And the last few weeks have had immeasurably damaged the Falcon brand, while the Ford brand has been in longer yet slower decline due to perceived Quality and Customer Service issues. I think Ford needs to work on repairing the perception. Then, maybe once quality and fuel consumption concerns are addressed - which both appear to be on the horizon - the next place I'd work on is the media.


Lukeyson

[prydey]

Originally Posted by saber

I think it also comes back to the country of origin for which the product/car is made.

When people think Japanese/German built products, eg whipper snippers, tools, cars ect ect, they instantly associated “quality” to that product, simply because it has been made from said country.
On the other hand, perception is Chinese made products are cheap, nasty, poor quality ect ect.

For example, myself and a female friend were watching TV, and a Great Wall ad came on.
Female friend, even though she has never driven the Great Wall car advertised, instantly dismissed the car as poor quality, cheap rubbish.
The same practice is found on these forums (and many others) as well.
This same perception is somewhat associated with Ford Australia.

spot on. i'll go one step further and say a lot of forum members are the worst at rubbishing the ford product, even when they have no personal experience. if a problem gets mentioned on the forum, suddenly everyone carries on as though the whole range is riddled with it.

go out and compare apples with apples. what japanese car offers the more features than the aussie equivalent? its perception, and old style thinking.

my experiences with ford - ea, eb, ef, el, ba, bf2 and fg have all been extremely positive, as has my experience with dealers.

just because you read it on fordforums doesn't mean it is rife throughout the industry. as many members as there are on here, it is still a fairly small cross section of the actual market.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Luke Plaizier

It's hard to ignore all the hyperbole that's going on at the moment regarding Ford and the RWD Falcon. But there;s more going on here that's of concern - and that is the Brand value of "Ford" and the "Falcon" have lost considerable value in the last few years.

Some questions and observations:

(1) Why is the Mondeo selling so well in Europe and the Fusion in the US, and Australia can't sell any of them? It's not a different car. It's not up against any different type of competition. That the Focus and the Fiesta don't sell well indicate it's not a transient issue. Ford have a poor image in Australia.

(2) The amount of Brand damage done to the Falcon in the last few weeks can't be measured right now, but you watch the sales plummet. The Brand strength of the Magna went seriously south due to speculation and media harrassment. When the brand is not strong, people don't go near it. Was that why they tried that last ditch brand switch to 380? I can see the logic and appreciate the effort. Perhaps it was just too slow to move. i wonder if this was the logic behind the G6 convention.

So how can they fix this?

(1) Quality: It's a long hard haul to get the Quality fixed, but even longer to get the message out. Has the damage been done? Is it time to rush Lincoln out to Australia to try and tell a quality story? Is it time to make more noise about the popularity of these cars in overseas markets, and pose the question to Australians "If people in Europe buy these cars, where the bloody hell are you Australia?"

(2) Media: For heavens sake, engage the media better. Stop holding them at arms length and making them guess. Feed them more 'We might do this' or 'We could do that', even if it doesn't come to fruition, just so the media don't keep guessing for themselves and coming to the WORST conclusion rather than the best one. The Media have a big part to play in guiding the perspective if Australians and moulding the Brand - as much as they pretend otherwise. A long term commitment to treating the media better would go a long way to repairing the damange done. And make it Corporate Policy, and not just the whim of a CEO.

(3) Why have Ford never released the 'Best' car that they could assemble from the parts they had before the G6ET - which even now misses out on sports suspension and LSD? Why were the BA/BF Fairmont Ghia's and Fairlanes only given the slow engines? Why were the XR's only given the poverty pack interiors? Why are Ford not trying to release something that's the best they can be?.

(4) Get the top man in front of the media more often for real interviews - a man that seems honest and appears to be giving new information and not appear to be concealing information. Geoff Polites did this well. I think Marin does pretty well himself - if not often enough.


Lukeyson

Falcon brand is gaining credability. The FG has resonated well with the public. Fleet sales is where they are lacking but this is because the discounts to fleets are smaller and more are moving towards 4cyl cars.

But:

(1) Mondeo is in the medium car segment, this segment hasn't grown or shrunk So its dont expect anything big to happen.

(2) The media has been reporting bad stuff for ford from day 1, it doesn't seem to change people's views as most people don't really research cars before they buy them. It will be Ford's after sales service that will bring repeat customers.

(3) They did it was the GTHO Phase 3, they lost money on it. The G6ET is putting down better numbers then the XR6T, and besides the buyers of G6ET's don't care about qtr times or track times they want a powerful car with all the creature comforts. As for the slow engine, the extra R&D dollars spent to give 10 extra killa wasps is pointless. The higher end models come with the ZF as standard which will deliver better times (if you even care) and better refinement.

(4) Marin has been in the media more then Gorman ever was. He has talked up the brand and shown real leadership (unlike Gorman) this little glitch at the moment will pass.

[cosmo20btt]

Originally Posted by prydey

spot on. i'll go one step further and say a lot of forum members are the worst at rubbishing the ford product, even when they have no personal experience. if a problem gets mentioned on the forum, suddenly everyone carries on as though the whole range is riddled with it.

go out and compare apples with apples. what japanese car offers the more features than the aussie equivalent? its perception, and old style thinking.

my experiences with ford - ea, eb, ef, el, ba, bf2 and fg have all been extremely positive, as has my experience with dealers.

just because you read it on fordforums doesn't mean it is rife throughout the industry. as many members as there are on here, it is still a fairly small cross section of the actual market.

I agree, I dont get on other Forums & put down there cars. I come here to associate with other blue blooded drivers, and try and help this product that I believe in. I make no apology for my experiences.

[Chopped]

I think the problem is that buyers ARE comparing apples and choosing something other than a Falcon or Commodore.

People are buying Mazdas, VWs, Hyundais etc

I reckon the Aussie cars are easily the best value for what you get, but give them 5 years and see which brands are still holding up rattle free.

No point being a fan if it means you can't see the obvious.

[cosmo20btt]

Originally Posted by Chopped

I think the problem is that buyers ARE comparing apples and choosing something other than a Falcon or Commodore.

People are buying Mazdas, VWs, Hyundais etc

I reckon the Aussie cars are easily the best value for what you get, but give them 5 years and see which brands are still holding up rattle free.

No point being a fan if it means you can't see the obvious.

I'm a fan because of the car I drive, and there are other good cars, but having driven many types & brands of cars I have found that the Falcon is probably the most rattle free of all of them. As I said Ford need more R&D to help sales, then in years to come it will be considered the better buy, it takes time for peoples ideas to change about what there next car will be.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by Chopped

I think the problem is that buyers ARE comparing apples and choosing something other than a Falcon or Commodore.

from my experience, talking to other people, both car enthusiasts and non, a lot of people judge aussie cars on false perception. many still see them as gas guzzlers : and think that cars like honda accord and toyota aurion are streets ahead in economy when in fact the reality is quite different.

people don't realise the aussie cars are world class. build quality may not quite be up to other country standards but when you consider the cost to manufacture (expensive in australia) we do ok.

[G6E Turbo 2]

Originally Posted by prydey

spot on. i'll go one step further and say a lot of forum members are the worst at rubbishing the ford product, even when they have no personal experience. if a problem gets mentioned on the forum, suddenly everyone carries on as though the whole range is riddled with it.

go out and compare apples with apples. what japanese car offers the more features than the aussie equivalent? its perception, and old style thinking.

my experiences with ford - ea, eb, ef, el, ba, bf2 and fg have all been extremely positive, as has my experience with dealers.

just because you read it on fordforums doesn't mean it is rife throughout the industry. as many members as there are on here, it is still a fairly small cross section of the actual market.

The thing is with quality and reliability is often regular servicing
I drove , As a sales Rep the following cars over 15 years driving between 80K to 110K in each of them.
1 x EA = Oil leaks but went fine
2 x EB = Great cars , 2 flat batteries
1 x ED = Very good car
1 x AU = Awful shape , Dropped Harmonic balancer, Still a good car
1 x BA = Great car
1 x BA II XR6 = Great car
1 x BA II XR6 T = Private car = Unreal car
1 x G6ET = Private car = Im in love !!!!!

Now that's not bad, 3 break downs in 15 years with all those Klms driven