2008 Ford BF Falcon Wagon MkIII
April 14, 2008 by Alborz Fallah
While the new FG Falcon Sedan range is currently taking all the limelight, Ford Australia has decided to bring out a slightly updated Falcon wagon, still based on the BF platform. The new wagon gets a new model name, features and additional safety equipment.
The most important addition will be standard Dynamic Stability Control on the petrol model (LPG variants miss out). There is also ‘Warm Charcoal’ carpet in lieu of Medium Stone and an all-new key fob with integrated flip ignition key.
“The current Falcon wagon remains an ideal tool of trade vehicle for a broad spectrum of fleet and private buyers alike, who appreciate its large load area and excellent payload capacity, the introduction of Dynamic Stability Control, in particular, will see the Falcon wagon continue to fill an important niche in the business sector, coupled with competitive running costs, sharp pricing and the ability to carry large loads.” Ford Australia Vice President Marketing and Sales, Mark Winslow said.
Additionally the new XT Falcon wagon receives ‘Satin Alloy’ accents on the front grille surround, Goodyear Eagle Excellence tyres (same as the ones used on the all-new FG Falcon range) plus a new ‘MkIII’ badge.
The 2008 Falcon wagon will only be available in XT specifications and is powered by either the standard 4.0-litre in-line six-cylinder petrol engine or the optional E-Gas dedicated LPG engine.
Unfortunately Ford is still offering the wagon with its ‘proven’ four-speed automatic transmission and not the five-speed available in the FG.
The new BF Falcon Wagon MkIII will go on sale in May, around the same time as the all-new FG Falcon sedan and Ute line-up arrives at Ford dealers.
Print it: 
Mark Winslow has put the only spin he can on it.
The old girl’s gone for all money, virtually on life support now. The business users it’s aimed at have been looking at the same sorry arse end for 10 years now and I shall be interested to see how many of them will absolutely insist on the one and only thing it has going for it – load capacity – when given the choice of a Sportwagon at the same time.
^^^
PRIMO! by the way. Nyuk nyuk.
Aussie counterpart to the Crown Victoria – still in production for fleet sales.
Ford will have a rival to the Commodore sports wagon very soon, but unfortunately it’s not a Falcon and it’s FWD.
Let me guess Oz., is it the mondeo wagoN?
Golfschwein, do u think the sportswagon has heaps less room than the current VZ wagon or this^^^ BF wagon?
Correct Duck….It’s the Mondeo wagon.
Oz., would u prefer the Sportswagon or Mondeo wagon?
Duck, I’d rather have the Sports Wagon because it’s RWD
Which one?
I would have the SS wagon.
id go for a diesell mondeo wagon if commodore had diesle then calais V sereis
Hi guys. Well, I reckon this; yes, Commy Sportwagon will have less room than both VZ and Falcon. But it’s still a big car, so it won’t be dramatically less. Someone suggested 2500 litres on VZ to 2200 on Sportswagon with seats folded, if my memory is correct.
I’m suggesting it won’t matter. In my 4 years of country sales repping in VL Commodore wagons, themselves quite capacious, I used to say, “Hell, if it don’t fit, it don’t fit!”
Between Territory, Sportwagon and a Turbo Diesel Mondeo wagon, there’s going to be a competitive, up-to-date and enjoyable wagon for everyone, whether they’re private or business.
The commodore sportswagon is $1000 over any sedan variant.
But the Falcon wagon comes with an all new key fob! You can’t go past that.
^Yes u can
^What a great feature………..
HEY, GO A LITTLE EASY ON THIS BFIII WAGON, it comes with a new “mkIII” badge!
^^^you beat me to it OZ ha ha ha ha
honestly,
who gives a toss that there was no update?
im more disappointed that they didnt upgrade the LPG system this time around
the falcon wagon and territory are both around the same starting price and if i wanted a beefy wagon id easily opt for the much better looking and better designed territory.
i dont think its too silly of a move by ford though.
just think……..
the development costs on the wagon would have paid for 10 times over. they already know that 99% of wagons head for fleets, so why invest big dollars in a product that they will only heavily discount and palm off to satisfy fleets?
Golf?
do you really think that Telstra really care that the rear has looked the same for a little while now? they only care that they can get a good deal on them.
Telstra look for lugggage area.
If Holden’s Craptive did half as good as the Ford Territory then Holden would not have bothered with a Sportwagon. When Ford already has a good product on the market why try and create competition for itself with an updated wagon!? Why update things just for the heck of it!
I dont know if there is a business case to support the development of an all new wagon, when the Territory is due for an update at the end of this year…. Besides it took holden over a year to come out with a new wagon, so perhaps Ford wishes to leave the launch of an all new wagon later in 2009 or early 2010? who knows …. (if you do then would love to get some information on that!)
Theres nothing wrong with the Captiva, I hardly see it in the same league as the Territory. The Sportwagon exists because not everyone wants a 4WD.
but not all territorys’ are 4wd… if you are referring to the higher seating position then thats a different issue.
Ab, for more sales! Durh!
Ab, Territory’s are RWD and AWD.
duck, but are the sales of a wagon enough to justify a new model? most of the wagons are bought by fleets and they dont care how the car looks…
I agree with Myke there is nothing wrong with the Captiva!
“If Holden’s Craptive did half as good as the Ford Territory then Holden would not have bothered with a Sportwagon.”
Ah! They would have becasue holden just carries on with the Commodre wagon, but more stylish for buyers.
yes i know duck , but i was responding to Myke’s comments about not wanting to get a 4wd… territory can hardly be classified as a 4wd… more of a soft off road kinda car.
the wagon is also a rwd…
U dont get my point. The sportswagon was not specificaly aimed at the territory.
Well i’v been looking at a falcon wagon for quite a while but have been putting it off for the ‘Warm Charcoal’ carpet. I see the new key fob and ‘Satin alloy’ grille as a bonus and im super relieved that they have stuck with the tested 4 speed. i was soooo worried about the new 5 speed, i mean who knows what it could do. Obviously Ford didnt want to take the risk with this wagon, better to test it on the fg instead. They obviously dont trust it~
Im off to my Ford dealer… i dont want to miss out.
Only Telstra doesn’t care, Andrew M. Only Telstra…
And would you suspect that even they won’t be having a close look at the alternatives? The world’s got to move on.
crouchy,
the 4 speeder would have been to keep the price down.
once they flush their supplies of the remaining 4sp boxes im sure you will see the 5sp creep in.
i would be interested to hear why you would opt for the falcon wagon over the similarly priced territory though
Golf,
oh my word telstra would be looking at the alternatives,
but then they would sum up “gee these wagons are a bloody good deal, lets keep buying them”
holden wont be able to compete with what ford would be able to sell them a wagon for.
with ford not having to cover development costs on a wagon, and holden declaring they dont want to do so many great deals to fleet,
im sure the dollar will prevail.
anyhow,
holden took some 12 months to deliver a new wagon.
lets see in may 2009 if this flak on no upgrade is really necessary
Ford are trying to produce an E-gas Territory to target the “Wagon” market. I say trying, as they are rumored to be having problems with safety testing, ie little things called fires…. An updated Territory, hopefully with same variants as the FG, would be very nice to see. Id have a Territory G6E Turbo over the sportswagon any day of the week! If only…….
Andrew M, if I’d amortised my development costs on a proven product and refused to update it on the basis that my biggest client is still buying it, how much longer would I DESERVE the business?
Andrew M, sorry mate you mustv missed the intended sarcasm in my comment. To be honest without sarcasm my comment would sound like this:
“Crap”
Your right they are using it as a tool to get rid of the 4 speeds but they have to sell the car in the first place. this is not a winner. Territory all the way.
most of the Telstra wagons are e-gas. The e gas option will continue to be the hook for them and of course the cheap fleet price.
as i said golf,
holden took 12 months to sort out a new wagon, perhaps all this critisism wont be justified in 12 months.
i still believe the bigger fleet buyers dont care as much as you feel they do.
honestly do you think a new grill is going to tickle the fleet manager considering he will never see the darn things anyway?
if they can get them 5 grand cheaper than any other fleet deal option, then he will be tickled
You and I should agree to disagree on this one, AndrewM. I’m not prepared to cut Ford nearly as much slack as you are.
The sedans look like a great achievement, but this isn’t.
GOLF,
Iam in agreeance with your comment and can see Andrew M’s side….but reality is Golf’s comment!
the reality is i couldnt care less about the wagon.
hands up here who is genuinely disappointed that the upgrade wont come at the same time as the sedan???
honestly if your hopes for a new wagon released the same time as a sedan have been honestly crushed then speak up…………
im far more dissapointed that an LPG system upgrade hasnt come with this update
I’m a rep and I’m awaiting delivery on a new wagon e-gas. It is a little disappointing that they have not done any major change on the falcon wagon’s looks since the EA wagon. It is due for it. But they should have opted for direct injection LPG set up as the power output is very sad at the moment, and economy suffers under the current setup.
I’m with Andrew M. on this one. The development costs don’t justify a wagon, the E265 Territory more than meets that market (if you look at SUV growth v. full-size wagon growth, you’d be more than convinced), and the Japanese have been selling old-style wagons alongside new sedans for years for fleets and utility buyers (e.g. E80 Corolla, TM Magna). We might just have to adjust our thinking and say we are near the end of the traditional Aussie full-size wagon being a big seller: the wagon is dead, long live the Territory.
Nice try Ford, but the wagon is well and truly out of date when parked alongside the sedan it is supposed to share showroom space with – as for the rear leaf suspension, Holden had coils in 1971 with the HQ wagon range!
I have a question for the people at Ford. Why oh why oh Why do you still insist on using an outdated 20th century, 1980s carby style LPG system that is a backfire waiting to happen, when you have the technology to go Multipoint Liquid Injection and eliminate backfires and give as good, if not better performance than petrol. why why why???. This is the 21st century, the age of technology. And make it avaliable with the Manual transmissions, some of us still like to change gears!
i agree totally with you Rob,
but from what i gather there are legal barriers preventing ford from fitting the patented sequential systems in the ford factory.
luckily i got myself a manual E-gas falcon before they decided to stop making them with gears
Hey Andrew, a manual E-Gas Falcon!?, I had no idea Ford made them in a manual, what model/vehicle type is yours?, sedan, wagon, ute?. You must be one of the very lucky few.!. How do you find the manual e-gas falcons?