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Ford Australia believes the increasingly volatile price of petrol, plus economic factors such as interest rates have changed Australian’s desire for large cars.

The 350 jobs would result in a production slow down of about 20 to 25 per cent. Essentially this means instead of 52 Falcons and Territorys produced per hour, that number will be reduced to 40 units. The Blue Oval will now produce only 285 cars per day, as oppose to the current 365.

The Territory has seen a noticeable slow down with only 1028 of the SUVs sold last month, compared to 1555 in July 2007. Meanwhile Ford sold 3448 new FG Falcons last month, an increase of only 262 cars over the same month last year.

“We expect the total industry to soften for the second half of this year, It started in July and we anticipate that we’ll see more of these actions across the industry for the rest of this year.” McAlary said.

This is the second announcement of job losses by Ford, following the earlier announcement that 600 jobs would be lost when local six-cylinder engine production ends in 2010.

Ford’s announcement comes amid last week’s Government report into the Australian car manufacturing industry, which called for a reduction in import tariffs from 10 per cent to 5 per cent by 2010, as well as a move towards more environmentally friendly cars.

The report also suggested the federal government should bring forward its $500 million green car fund to start in 2009.

The good news however, is that Ford will hire at least an additional 300 staff when the company starts local production of the Ford Focus in 2011. Production is expected to increase by roughly 40,000/pa from 2011.

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The new technology will allow real-time traffic updates delivered through the navigation system, assisting the driver to avoid traffic congestion and delays.

“As the first car company in Australia to offer Suna Traffic Channel in an integrated vehicle solution, we are extremely pleased to be able to provide such relevant and useable technology to our customers from August production onwards.”

The new system gathers traffic information from a range of sources; including traffic control centres, traffic lights, road sensors and probe vehicles, and then transmitted via an FM broadcast.

It can display information such as how long the delay will be, the cause of the delay and the estimated new arrival time.

Currently, the Suna Traffic Channel coverage will only be available in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, with remaining metropolitan areas to be added over the next 24 months.

In addition to the new traffic system, all FG Falcon satellite navigation systems are now equipped with the latest Sensis Whereis Version 15 map data.

Satellite navigation with Suna Traffic Channel is available as an option on all FG Falcon sedans, as well as FG Falcon Ute XR6, XR6 Turbo, XR8 and FPV models, for the recommended retail price of $2,290.

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The ANCAP rating will apply to all petrol-engined models of the Falcon sedan, including the V8, but does not apply to the Utility, which must be tested separately, or E-Gas powered models, which currently do not have Dynamic Stability Control, Ford’s version of ESC, fitted.

Mr Osborne told CarAdvice that one of Ford’s top engineering priorities was to get DSC into the E-Gas Falcon and he expected this would have been achieved by early next year.

The E-Gas Falcon is being increasingly marketed by Ford, not just as a fleet vehicle, but as a cost effective option for families who want to stay in a large car but are concerned about growing fuel costs.

“The petrol FG Falcon sedan range has been judged by ANCAP as being the safety leader amongst locally-manufactured vehicles, cementing Ford’s long standing reputation for safety leadership in Australia,” Mr Osborne said.

“We design our cars to deliver real-world safety benefits for our customers. This result is a resounding third party endorsement of the extensive safety development program undertaken for the all-new FG Falcon.

“Not only is the FG Falcon the safest vehicle ever produced in this country, it is also competitive with the safest sedans in the world.

“These safety test results add further validation to the extensive crash simulation process and physical crash test program conducted by Ford Australia for the FG Falcon, which was the most comprehensive in the company’s history.”

Mr Osborne said the ANCAP result vindicated Ford’s own testing in which more than 38 different vehicle crash modes were investigated during the course of the vehicle’s development, with 426 full vehicle-representative physical crash tests and more than 5000 start-of-the-art simulated crash tests completed.

The Chair of ANCAP, Mr Lauchlan McIntosh was on hand to congratulate Ford and to praise the Falcon which he said “now leads the pack in safety for the large Australian-made family car.”

He said ANCAP now had high expectations that this achievement would encourage other manufacturers to strive to build five-star cars.

When tested soon after release the Holden Commodore scored 27.5 points and got a four star rating, while the Toyota Aurion scored 30 points and also got four stars.

Mr McIntosh said the Falcon scored a very commendable 34.61 points out of a possible 37 points for the ANCAP test, and this was the highest score ever by an Australian made car “by a long margin.”

However it was not all good news for the Falcon with the FG Falcon scoring a relatively average two stars for pedestrian safety out of a possible four.

Mr McIntosh said; “This is an improvement on the previous Falcon, but there is still plenty of room for improving pedestrian protection.”

For the Falcon to be in the running for the five-star rating Ford had to donate an additional crash test vehicle to ANCAP so the challenging Pole Test could be conducted.

Mr Osborne said at the launch of the FG Falcon that a vehicle would be made available for this test, which was a departure from the previous attitude of Australian car manufacturers, which have previously refused to provide the extra vehicle for the Pole Test.

The five-star score by the Falcon is also a strong vindication of Ford’s claims that it did not need to offer curtain airbags as standard in the base XT to achieve the safety rating.

The vehicle tested was fitted with what Ford calls a ‘chest/head’ side airbag and this was sufficient for the car to win the rating.

Previously ANCAP has indicated that cars without a curtain airbag, which protects the upper areas of both front and rear passengers, had little chance of achieving a five-star rating.

Mr McIntosh said the Ford had set a new standard and it may mean that in future ANCAP would have to look at an additional rating, beyond five-stars, for vehicles with curtain airbags.

Ford Australia Vice President of Product Development Trevor Worthington said a world-class body structure and comprehensive suite of active and passive safety features had given the Falcon the opportunity to score a five-star safety rating.

He said the company’s long held reputation for designing vehicles to deliver innovative real-world safety benefits ensured that the safety development program for the new Falcon has remained a step ahead of growing consumer awareness of the importance of vehicle safety.

Mr Osborne told CarAdvice that Ford would be promoting the five-star rating of the Falcon by displaying an ANCAP sticker on all vehicles, and this would be added to other five-star vehicles in the Ford fleet, including Focus and Mondeo.

He said safety would be the point-of-difference that Ford would offer the Australian buying public.

He added that while the large-car segment of the market was struggling Ford was seeing growing sales for its entrant in the market and he expected even stronger success in the future, on the back of the Falcon’s excellent safety rating.

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Either way, the year-to-date figures are still optimistic, being 2.6 per cent above last year’s record highs. Whether or not 2008 will top 2007’s all-time record is still to be seen.

“Higher fuel prices, interest rates and the wider economic uncertainty have resulted in a slowing of people heading to showrooms,” FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar said.

The 2.7 per cent fall could partially be attributed to the proposed luxury car tax hike, which has led to a 33 per cent decrease in the sales of so-called ‘luxury’ in July compared to June.

“The proposed tax hike has had a devastating impact on new car sales, it is clear that the downturn has been exacerbated by the impact of this unfair tax hike, and the industry has significant concerns that orders will continue to be affected in coming months,” Mr McKellar said.

Mr McKellar emphasis that if the situation continues, the Federal government will fail to collect the additional revenue it had projected, plus there is a very possible risk that the tax hike will cost jobs.

“In these circumstances, one would have to question why the government would pursue this tax increase,” he said.

Segment by segment, most suffered a decrease in sales except for light cars (up 1.0%), SUV medium (up 8.1%), SUV large (up 7.4%). and Light Commercial vehicle (up 6.3 per cent) compared to the same month last year.

Once again Toyota set the benchmark for the month, coming in first with a massive 24.4 per cent of the market share, followed by GM Holden with 13.3 per cent and Ford with 11.3 per cent.

The figures shows the Big T has sold 147,961 new vehicles so far this year with Holden having found 78,271 buyers will Ford is coming in a comfortable third with 63,933 sales.

Toyota also made another landmark, being the first manufacturer to sell more than 20,000 vehicles in the month of July.

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The reports indicate that the FG Falcon scored the results in the latest round of ANCAP testing and CarAdvice understands that the Falcon G6E, which recently narrowly won our latest Four Car Comparison Test, was the vehicle to clinch the top safety rating.

It’s major local rivals the Holden VE Commodore and the Toyota Aurion/Camry both scored only four stars when they were tested soon after their release onto the market.

To achieve the full five-star rating a manufacturer must donate a vehicle to ANCAP to undergo the ‘pole test’ and to-date, Holden and Toyota have avoided taking this step.

 Ford indicated from the launch of the FG Falcon that it would donate a car for the test, an indication it was confident of getting the elusive five-star rating.

The pole test is the most difficult to pass and side-curtain airbags are a virtual prerequisite for any car to pass this demanding test.

In addition any car wanting to achieve the five-star rating must have Electronic Stability Control as standard and have seat belt warning lights for every occupant.

 Ford has side-curtain airbags available as an option on some lower spec models and CarAdvice would expect that these will have achieved a four-star rating, while the higher spec models with the extra airbags as standard will get the five star rating.

The five-star ANCAP rating is certain to give Ford a big boost over its rivals, with local consumers paying an increasing amount of attention to safety ratings in recent times.

Click through to read our  Four Car Comparison Test.

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But the XR6T isn’t all about ego stroking and big grins - ah, who am I kidding, of course it is! In fact if driving it doesn’t bring a grin to your face then you’re either unwashed, hugging trees and singing Kumbayah around the commune campfire or about to have the paddles placed on your chest, just before they shout “clear”. Yes, it’s that good. In fact, it’s better than good, it’s bloody brilliant. Easily the best value for money performance sedan on the market.

Just $45,000 will see you behind the wheel of an entry model manual XR6T and when all things are considered, you’re really getting a lot of car for the coin. Not only does the new FG series have to be one of the best looking Falcons yet, it’s also the most refined in terms of power delivery and handling that I’m yet to drive, not a bad feat for a locally built sub $50K car.

Now at first a lot of people shrugged off the FG as not different enough, a quick touch up or just plain boring, but to them I say look harder. The lines are so much cleaner, it’s more aggressive, but it’s not over the top with plastic rubbish hung all over. Simply put it has a muscular appeal that makes grown men drool or grunt like Neanderthals, and how many cars can do that these days?

Inside things are basic, but handsome and well laid out and there’s certainly enough technology to make your mates at the footy club green with envy. It’s comfortable, very generous in proportion and has enough adjustment in the driving position, steering column and pedals that even someone as vertically challenged as myself can feel secure and well supported behind the wheel.

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Source: Car Magazine

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Its appearance is easily identifiable as a member of Ford’s latest Kinetic design philosophy, reminiscent of the recently unveiled Fiesta.

The current generation Ford Ka is not sold in Australia, however with the current climate and trend toward smaller, more fuel efficient cars it is highly likely Ford Australia are investigating possible local sales.

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This isn’t a bad thing, in fact for Ford it’s pretty much a coup d’état with fleet and business buyers now presented with very little choice in matching size, payload, price and running costs anywhere else in the market place.

Not yet updated to the ‘kinetic’ FG shape, this third series Falcon wagon is the final refinement of the BF model and as such has received only minor cosmetic and mechanical improvements over the predecessor which include ESP (available on petrol models only), Flip Key, Satin Alloy Accents on the front grille surround, ‘Warm Charcoal’ carpet, Goodyear Eagle Excellence tyres and Mk III badging.

Available in five-seat XT specification only, the wagon is offered exclusively with a 4.0-litre, six-cylinder engine and four-speed automatic transmission combo, albeit in petrol or dedicated E-Gas (LPG) guise.

Delivering 190kW at 5250rpm and 383Nm from just 2500rpm (156kW/370Nm for E-Gas) the in-line 4.0-litre six certainly has the might to lug its fair share of kit and with an impressive 1254 litre cargo area (to window height - seats up) and a braked towing capacity of up to 2300kg when fitted with a transmission cooler, hauling your gear around couldn’t be easier.

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The team at the Supercar Club offer members a variety of cars to drive throughout the year, ranging from city runabouts like the HUMMER H2, right through to earth shaking supercars like the Ford GT. After paying a once off joining fee and an annual fee, members are entitled to a certain number of days behind the wheel of the exotics of their choice – the number of days varying with each membership level.

Sitting on the Supercar Club’s fleet at any given point are cars such as the Audi R8, Ferrari F430 and F430 Spider, one of only two right-hand drive Ford GTs in the world, Aston Martin V8 Vantage and DB9, Porsche 911 Turbo and GT2, Lotus Exige S and even an Aerial Atom - amongst others.

This unique program runs out of Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast. The Supercar Club has plans to expand to Perth by years end and Adelaide early next year (2009).

Members book their desired vehicles through an online portion of the Supercar Club’s website which gives priority to early birds. Members have the ability to book 30-days in advance and have the ability to use a limited number of wildcards to book cars up to 12-months in advance for special occasions.

Although you may have heard of many exotic car rental companies operating throughout Australia, but the Supercar Club is unique as it owns every car on its fleet. Those exotic car rental companies generally rent out privately owned cars and can’t guarantee availability as the actual owner of the vehicle has the final say.

The Supercar Club recently launched an initiative allowing Australian members to own a share of a truly exclusive hypercar – the Bugatti Veyron. This exclusive experience is still in the development stage and will finally depend on a minimum number of acceptances.

The idea behind the Bugatti deal is to allow Australian members time behind the wheel of the Veyron. Although the car can’t be driven on Australian roads, members will be given the opportunity to access about one month in total behind the wheel overseas. After driving the Bugatti Veyron myself earlier this year, there is simply nothing that compares in terms of the driving experience and pleasure.

Once the car is sold at the end of its use, members receive a return on their investment – certainly not too bad for a person with around $200,000 in expendable income.

After joining the Supercar Club, members are put through a driving course to help them cope with the size and driveability of a supercar. One of the club’s major repair costs comes from scratched wheels – no wrecked cars to speak of yet, touch wood!

Also on the cards are track days at major racing circuits with the club’s cars. These days will give members a unique opportunity to throw some exotic machinery around the race track in an environment where they can exploit the cars full potential. Instead of owning just the one vehicle and taking it to track days, members will be able to drive a whole range of supercars under controlled conditions.

Some manufacturers were initially threatened by the Supercar Club’s presence in Australia, but soon realised it was a benefit rather than a detriment. Members are able to sample a wide variety of cars and will likely purchase the car that really polarises them. After driving machinery like the Audi S5 and several Lamborghinis, it takes a proper drive to cement the decision to purchase such a car.

A cap of five members to one car means that new cars are added frequently to meet member demands. Prospective members will be happy to hear that it’s a democracy at the Supercar Club. Members are given the chance to vote at frequent meetings and share the decision about the next vehicles entering the fleet.

Members are the ones who ultimately choose the car they’re after, opposed to the big wigs and bean counters of the operation.

According to the Supercar Club, New South Wales members are around 39-years old, on average,  and evenly split between business owners and employees. Victoria is somewhat different though with the average age lingering around 47-years old, while about 97 per cent run their own business, indicating entrepreneurial skills are directly related to hot cars … sort of!

Although the general income of members is in the vicinity of $300,000 a year, there is a high school teacher who has recently joined the exclusive club. It’s certainly not a bad way to con students into school work!

Boys, if you have access to your Dad’s black Amex, pop it back in his wallet. The minimum joining age is 30 – although the Supercar Club is willing to make exceptions after prior approval from their insurers.

The most popular cars on the fleet are the Ferrari F430, Ferrari 360, Audi R8 and Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder. Victoria is also hung on Aston Martins, with the V8 Vantage and DB9 Volante striking a chord with southern state members. With the recent addition of a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, this could soon change!

The general feel of the place is that members are key and are treated with the utmost respect. In the Supercar Club it doesn’t matter how much you earn or who you are, or even whether you are part of a chess club. Everyone is on the same level and shares the one passion – fast cars.

To find out more information about the Supercar Club, please visit http://www.supercarclub.com.au. You can also call the club on 1300 798 900. If you are interested in Bugatti Veyron ownership, follow this link.

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