Has Ford Simply got it Wrong?

[PG2]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

The general public is far better informed about depreciation than they once were.
People know that instead of shelling out big bucks for a brand new car, they should hunt around for one that's a year or two old with a good service history...something that's current enough to be the current model shape and spec, but on which the first owner has taken the whack of depreciation.

When we were hunting for a four wheel drive early this year to trade the G6E on, we looked at new ones, but were staggered by some of the prices. So we started looking second hand, and eventually found a mid-2011 Triton GLX-R dual cab with canopy, tray liner, tow bar, bullbar, and in a nice metallic dark grey. Amazingly it only had 18,000km on the clock too. It was priced at $36,990...the original owner had paid about $52,000 for it a year and half earlier. We got the balance of the five year warrantee, so in effect, we have a "new" car.
Plenty of other four wheel drives were the same...a year or maybe two old, and up to half the price a new one would cost.

Seeing as how we were only offered a maximum of $19,000 for our well-equipped G6E that had leather guts and sat nav and premium stereo, and we paid $50,000 for it two years earlier, you can see how the sums work out.

Why buy brand new? Let the first sucker take the depreciation...and it's not like new cars these days are in any way "worn out" after only a year or two use. Check the log book, make sure you get the balance of the warrantee, and away you go.

I agree with this - I did it myself with a Falcon purchase several months ago. Saved myself $10,000 and still have 20 months new car warranty.

So this scenario of buying a used car instead of buying a new car is not just Ford specific? It is across the whole market with all brands? That would mean that all brands have this problem but are still increasing their market share.

[Gadgetman]

Originally Posted by PG2

Yes I am.

It's not a matter of 'telling' someone what to buy. It's a matter of marketing the vehicle to 'educate' people so that they can make an informed decision in regards to buying a vehicle.

How about something like an ad that states "Come and have a look at the new Ecoboost Falcon - it is as economical as any 4cyl on the market."

I hear what you're saying and totally understand the passion being shown for the car which it deserves however can I ask you this?
Would you, if you were Ford, push a vehicle hard ( and you really would have to with falcon) when the demand for it is continously decreasing or would you dedicated your marketing budget to vehicles in growing segments such as small/medium suvs and light commericals. I for 1 actually think that Ford Aus are on the right tram here. There is no point flogging a dead horse. Take Mercedes for example. In the last year, I have seen C-class ads, M-class ads A- Class ads and even SL convertible ads but guess what, no E-class ads. Have a guess why?

If the large sedan was a living thing, it would be very ill. I have always thought that Toyota were the best marketers in Australia along with Mazda. And if they cant flog an Aurion, then Ford and Holden havent a chance with their large car.

[mik]

Falcon is a top car, as it's brother large car also a top car the commodore ( yes I said it) has also been on a downward slide in sales over the years,.......... funny little mention of that in this thread.
We might also mention the gov aquisition of cheap imports on mass in recent years, I would be hoping and expecting with recent claims of change in policy by gov departments we may well see our local big cars get a major boost, as for the reasons for the decline in our bigger car sales I suspect 90 percent of the problem is cost, with ths uncertainty in the economy and in government and increase cost of living people are spending less where they can , and lets face it, most people can make do with a smaller car and will if the purse strings are tight.
Will things change to a different direction, its anybodys guess , I would be expecting a better year for big cars next year.

[PG2]

Originally Posted by Gadgetman

I hear what you're saying and totally understand the passion being shown for the car which it deserves however can I ask you this?
Would you, if you were Ford, push a vehicle hard ( and you really would have to with falcon) when the demand for it is continously decreasing or would you dedicated your marketing budget to vehicles in growing segments such as small/medium suvs and light commericals. I for 1 actually think that Ford Aus are on the right tram here. There is no point flogging a dead horse. Take Mercedes for example. In the last year, I have seen C-class ads, M-class ads A- Class ads and even SL convertible ads but guess what, no E-class ads. Have a guess why?

If the large sedan was a living thing, it would be very ill. I have always thought that Toyota were the best marketers in Australia along with Mazda. And if they cant flog an Aurion, then Ford and Holden havent a chance with their large car.

Yeah, you're right if Falcon was a horse you would have shot it by now.

However Ford need to make a decision about the Falcon. If they already have made that decision they need to take action on it. If they want to keep the Falcon in it's current guise then market it accordingly to dispel some of the myths that the general public carry. If they do not want to keep it move on to something else and bring the 'Ford' product forward.

I really do believe that all of this talk about the demise of the Falcon (and while we are at it, Commodore) is detrimental to the whole Ford (and Holden) brand. Not only it is affecting sales but it also affects how people perceive the quality of manufacturing of motor vehicles in our country.

[Joe5619]

It would have been interesting to see the difference if Ford had put Diesel in Falcon at the same time they did Territory. Too late now, let’s all just hope they have some big & grant plan for 2017 & all this waiting is worth the "no comment" line

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

The general public is far better informed about depreciation than they once were.
People know that instead of shelling out big bucks for a brand new car, they should hunt around for one that's a year or two old with a good service history...something that's current enough to be the current model shape and spec, but on which the first owner has taken the whack of depreciation.

When we were hunting for a four wheel drive early this year to trade the G6E on, we looked at new ones, but were staggered by some of the prices. So we started looking second hand, and eventually found a mid-2011 Triton GLX-R dual cab with canopy, tray liner, tow bar, bullbar, and in a nice metallic dark grey. Amazingly it only had 18,000km on the clock too. It was priced at $36,990...the original owner had paid about $52,000 for it a year and half earlier. We got the balance of the five year warrantee, so in effect, we have a "new" car.
Plenty of other four wheel drives were the same...a year or maybe two old, and up to half the price a new one would cost.

Seeing as how we were only offered a maximum of $19,000 for our well-equipped G6E that had leather guts and sat nav and premium stereo, and we paid $50,000 for it two years earlier, you can see how the sums work out.

Why buy brand new? Let the first sucker take the depreciation...and it's not like new cars these days are in any way "worn out" after only a year or two use. Check the log book, make sure you get the balance of the warrantee, and away you go.

And yet Australian's are buying new cars in record numbers!!

[Cobramad]

Originally Posted by Gadgetman

Yeah, and how do you suppose they do that? No company can or will tell their customers what they need to buy. Are you serious???

Its call effective advertising!!
You see it and hear it, so it must be true..
Its worked since Jesus was in sandals..

[RAPID_BA]

Other car makers have cut our lunch..

The falcon today is offering better value than ever. Go back 15 years and a EF futura would cost $35k, now you almost get a FG XR6.

But other car makers have flooded our shores with cars that "do the job" for the average business or family. Car makers with plenty of credibility, Mazda, Toyota, Mitsubishi producing good cars at low prices that "do the job"

Why spend the extra to get the Ford Product?? Like telling the consumer at Woolworths they need to buy 2 tubs of Ice Cream when they know they only need one.

The emergence of SUVs and wagons are just a far more practical option with families, especially since the mandatory use of car seats etc.

One of the main offenders is the Ford owners, how many on here drive a E series or an AU and have "another car" for the wife or family.. Why isnt that other car a falcon?

[Cobramad]

Originally Posted by RAPID_BA

Other car makers have cut our lunch..

One of the main offenders is the Ford owners, how many on here drive a E series or an AU and have "another car" for the wife or family.. Why isnt that other car a falcon?

Both of ours are Ford, Territory and a BF wagon. Anyone with a few kids will appreciate the space and relaxed drive (barring screaming kids) that few, if any, other sedans can offer.
Hence the popularity of SUV's and dual cab 4x4's.
And the demise of the mighty Falcon wagon..

[Cobramad]

Local car buyers have never had it better, in terms of value for money AND choice.
Sadly, most are buying smaller and what they percieve as more fuel efficent vehicles.

[Gadgetman]

Originally Posted by Cobramad

Its call effective advertising!!
You see it and hear it, so it must be true..
Its worked since Jesus was in sandals..

You're right advertising that works is known as effective marketing.
But what do you call marketing that doesnt work?
WASTE OF RESOURCES!!!! When was the last time you saw a HIlux ad?
Answer is over a year ago because people know what the car is and want to buy one. Everyone in australia knows what a Falcon is. Guess they just dont want it as much now do they?

[Cobramad]

Anyone who wants a Hilux over the latest Ranger has simply been duped!
Sorry for shifting off-topic.

[Polyal]

Sadly I guess its called progress? There still is a place for a large sedan in my mind, no doubt about it. Otherwise surely the likes of BMW, Merc, Chrysler etc would have slowed down aswell.

Personaly, I dont really have any solid plans to buy anything new in the next couple of years, and even then I wouldnt buy new new Id get a demo or alike. Anyway, with 3 little ones we are fine in Falcon (the TE) and people are surprised with the stuff I can fit in the car.

But truth is once they start getting bigger and playing sports, we get a dog, they want there little quad to come to a park etc then a Falcon isnt going to cut it. If I had a choice between a Falcon wagon and a Tez then the Tez will win everytime. Also wanting 7 seats makes the choice easier again.

The landscape is so different now, 10-15 years ago I only ever remember other peoples dads having Calias or Fairmont Ghia's as company cars; look around now, its quite rare to see an aussie car as a company car.

So I think some policies could fix things up a bit, but Ford needs to get its act together with the Falcon and really work out if they want to stay in the segment. If they do then I cant see any other out long term without joining into some kind of GRWD platform. Just like a 5 series or E class merc etc.

How ironic that the Tez that probably has saved FoA is based off a car that is dying a prolonged death. I can only hope something is done soon enough and some direction from the US is shown.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by EB92

Lets assume there are a regular 1000 Ford Forum contributors (and that's a
very generous figure) that each buy a new Falcon, one each, even each year
for the next three years. I don't think that will alter the big picture for the
Falcon in the slightest.

Really?

Apart from the extra 1000 units sold which would not be povvo models there would also be 1000 new Falcons getting about with 1000 drivers who hopefully would be talking up their new Falcon, taking people for trips and maybe evenl letting them drive their Falcon and maybe, just maybe some of them will buy one as well or at least tell someone else they know just how great Falcon is.

I, personally, am an unpaid ambassador at large for Ford and mention their products when ever anyone talks about buying a car. A couple of days ago I even nearly had someone convinced to replace their Prius with an ECOLpi G6E instead of a new prius except the wife was afraid of using the gas pump.

So how about you all get out there and support Ford in the public arena rather than just moan and groan and complain on the internet.

[2011G6E]

"Why isn't that other car a Falcon"...?

Money. There you go, simple as that. Running and insurance costs on another large car if you already have a large car are just stupid. I don't know about your state, but here in Queensland a six cylinder car costs around $820. If you buy a second car and it's a six, then there's another eight hundred-plus bucks a year. Of course the second car is going to be a four cylinder. It's around $650 to register a four cylinder in Queensland. An eight is over a grand apparently.
Then you have the purchase price...for a second car, why are you going to spend another forty grand plus on another Falcon, when for half that (and for much lower running costs) you can have a four cylinder?


They should have actually pushed hard with the advertising for the Ecoboost Falcon...I still maintain, especially in states like Queensland where there's a big difference in rego costs, that they should have parked a small four cylinder...say a Corolla...beside a Falcon, and said "Both these cars are four cylinders, both these cars cost the same to register, but one is a large Australian built family sedan using worlds-best engine technology to return amazing fuel economy for a car of this size", or something. Make a big song and dance about the fuel economy and compare it to the "small" car, let people know how much size they are getting for their buck.

Of course, unfortunately "advertising" and "Falcon" are two words that are rarely seen together...

[PG2]

Flappist, I agree in regards to getting out there and telling everyone who will listen how good the Falcon is and not just have a whinge on the internet.

I do tell everyone how good the Falcon is. As a matter of fact, I tell everyone how good the Ford brand is. I was even lucky enough to be paid to do so for well over ten years. I know the Falcon product very well and I am able to give a very educated opinion on the strengths of the Falcon. I even go as far as offering anyone to a drive of my car or at least take them for a drive to show them.

However, there is two problems to this. First one is there appears to be less and less of us (the unpaid ambassadors) to promote the Ford brand. People are not going to go out and buy a Subaru and then tell everyone how good the Ford is.

Secondly, there is still a lot of people out there that do promote the Falcon but they simply do not have the information to promote it successfully. Just saying that the Falcon is great is not good enough. People have to back it up with reasons why it is so good and not that it is simply more powerful. When people do talk about it they need to say why it would be good for the person that they are talking to. For example, not much point telling someone how fast it is down the quarter mile when it is intended to be used as a family vehicle. Maybe say something like it has the power on hand to overtake trucks on busy highways so to minimise the amount of time that you are on the wrong side of the road - because as studies have found most fatalities are caused by head on crashes. The example is a little vague, I know, but I hope I am making myself understandable.

[EVLKNEVL]

To answer the question "Has Ford simply got it wrong" a few things have to be weighed up:

Can anyone here paint a picture of the decline in private Falcon sales (relative to the diminishing market share) as opposed to the decline in fleet sales (also relative to their market share)? This is an important distinction because the importance of certain aspects of the car vary substantially between private and fleet customers; things like safety, standard/optional equipment, warranty terms, resale, service costs & intervals, economy, space/practicality, desirability, brand allegiance etc etc are important to all new car customers but in starkly different proportions. It's also important to assess how much of those 2 separate sales declines are a function of a diminishing market share (rapid influx of foreign competition, Ford Australia not at fault) and how much are due to Ford offering a substandard product or one that is not relevant/poorly marketed to intended customers (Ford Australia must accept blame).

That begs another question. Ford Australia's decisions fall under two (generalised) categories. Those which are forced, be it by unforeseen shifts in the market, by pressure from governments or media, by direction from Ford US, by changes to things like emissions or safety standards, etc etc; and those decisions which Ford Australia are free to undertake and must claim credit for. "Has Ford simply got it wrong?" ... "Has Ford Australia been in a position to change the direction of its future, and if so, has it ignored genuine and substantial opportunities?"

I don't have the answer to the OP's question, I'm just looking at how one would go about answering it accurately.

[malazn mafia]

Weren't the most popular Falcons of all time the XF and the EF/EL series? No idea what made XF the top seller, but the EF/EL shape still looks fantastic near on 20 years later. Maybe Ford made the 'perfect' box car in the 1980s with the XF, and Ford did the best example of the curvy 90s theme with the EF/EL, according to the majority. Maybe sales are about hitting the right spot with styling that suits the current generation of buyers? Line up an EF/EL next to a contemporary sedan of that era, and the EF/EL stood out. But line an FG next to the current crop of Large Sedans - it is heavily outstyled by the more expensive marques such as Jaguar, BMW and unfortunately even the cheaper marques: hyundai's and kia's. Modern styling now seems to focus on eliminating flat panels altogether and adding creases and funky angles to the bodywork. AU/BA and more so FG all had too much flatness to their bodywork, which is reminiscent of magnas, commodores and camries from years past.

[Franco Cozzo]

I've been going to Peter Mac hospital in Melbourne visiting my mum the last few days, and I've gone past City Ford a few times right in Melbourne, they've got in big letters across the show room windows:

NEW XR6 FALCON $29,990 DRIVE AWAY!

Theres a heap of them in their show room as well, so there is stock there waiting to go.

The problem isn't really with the car, its just that buyer tastes have most likely changed.

Marin Burella or what ever his name was had the chance to build the Focus here in 2008 but they turned it down.

If you head down to Essendon Fields (inside Essendon Airport), there are:

Great Wall
Ford
Hyundai
Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge
Volkswagen
Honda
Mazda
Toyota

New dealerships all within walking distance of each other, as in across the road from each other, it probably doesn't help that if a salesman gives you a hard time at Ford, or that you can walk for 30 seconds and look at so many manufacturers new vehicles and cross shop them all, not on size/class but on your budget range.

Unfortunately it easily shows the down sides of each car.

The reason I ended up with a new TDCI Focus in 2011, wasn't particularily that I liked the car, I had $32,000 to spend that day, so I went down after work on a Friday afternoon, and hit up all the dealerships.

It come down to:

Focus TDCI
Hyundai i30 CRDI
Holden Cruze CDX (diesel)
Nissan Navara (the old dodgy lookin one)

All new cars.

Hyundai, Nissan and Holden all lost me because of how they treated me at the dealership, I went to Ford and was welcomed with open arms, pretty much chased me when I stepped foot on the property.

I also liked the Mazda 3 MZR-CD but they didn't have a sale on at the time, so I didn't bother going into Mazda to ask about it.

Earlier on I priced up a new Falcon ute, toward the end of 2010 I found one at Sunbury Ford in manual, but I was waiting around the yard for a good 45 minutes before someone reluctantly come out (probably to shoo me off), and then they wanted $32,000 for a base model Falcon ute, I said $27,500 and I'd take it then and there but they wouldn't have a bar of it.

A sponsor on the forum offered me the same spec with 6sp ZF auto for less drive away, but I wanted manual, they couldn't price me up until the new year went by.

I was going to buy another new car around March next year, but my GMC Sierra came up at too good a price, so I bought that instead.

I don't really shop in one particular category of car, I set a budget and anything that I like that falls into that range is fair game for me.

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Marin Burella or what ever his name was had the chance to build the Focus here in 2008 but they turned it down.

I think you will find its alot more complicated than that, and what drugs are people on thinking anything the Focus size would be built here when its done for much less within our region...really think about it.

If you where Alan Mullaly which country would you pick to make the Focus in? Thailand or here, our domestic Focus sales are not enough to warrant the investment. Whats worse is the margins get skinner the smaller you go.

[mik]

I reckon your on the money Damo, a lot of the population buy according to their disposable income, and convenience..
It might only be 5k, but an extra 5 k added plus interest, if your limited in budget the cheap option will nearly always win.

[GREGL]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

Weren't the most popular Falcons of all time the XF and the EF/EL series? No idea what made XF the top seller, but the EF/EL shape still looks fantastic near on 20 years later. Maybe Ford made the 'perfect' box car in the 1980s with the XF, and Ford did the best example of the curvy 90s theme with the EF/EL, according to the majority. Maybe sales are about hitting the right spot with styling that suits the current generation of buyers? Line up an EF/EL next to a contemporary sedan of that era, and the EF/EL stood out. But line an FG next to the current crop of Large Sedans - it is heavily outstyled by the more expensive marques such as Jaguar, BMW and unfortunately even the cheaper marques: hyundai's and kia's. Modern styling now seems to focus on eliminating flat panels altogether and adding creases and funky angles to the bodywork. AU/BA and more so FG all had too much flatness to their bodywork, which is reminiscent of magnas, commodores and camries from years past.

Mate IN those days most if not all small cars were SMALL . Anyone over 6" knew they were in a buzzbox . My mum has a 93 626 and it would have less room than a current yaris apart from boot space and overall size. Todays so called small cars are nearly as wide and only a tad shorter than the first commodores . That is why they sold so well (falcon) !

[FNQracing]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

Maybe sales are about hitting the right spot with styling that suits the current generation of buyers?..... But line an FG next to the current crop of Large Sedans - it is heavily outstyled by the more expensive marques such as Jaguar, BMW and unfortunately even the cheaper marques: hyundai's and kia's. Modern styling now seems to focus on eliminating flat panels altogether and adding creases and funky angles to the bodywork.

I think this has a lot to do with it.

Take Territory - looks like an old Escape from the early 00's. Cheap **** Korean SUV's look way better.

Falcon looks nice enough, but just plain boring in an era where funky styling is in, and Old Man looks are so 1990's.

Trouble is, Falc and Terry do not sell in large enough numbers to update the styling every 5 minutes. The imports can. Double whammy.

[jpd80]

Last month, Ford had XR6T sedan and Ute on sale for incredibly low prices,
I'll be interested to see if that did anything art all for Falcon sales...

[getjpi]

Originally Posted by EVLKNEVL

"Has Ford Australia been in a position to change the direction of its future, and if so, has it ignored genuine and substantial opportunities?"

Not having a TDI Territory from day one, they would have sold like hotcakes in the UK, especially considering the exchange rate advantage back in 2003/03.

Then ignoring what was being sold in the local market and wasting scarce development money to build and certify the Territory Turbo, It's likely it didn't even sell enough cover it's development costs.

How many Territory sales were lost to Hyundai, Kia and others between 2006 and 2011, when the market was clearly demanding a diesel SUV and all the high end SUV competition in the space (MB,BMW) were selling a lot more oil burners than petrol into the local market since 2002.

Utter stupidity, lack of foresight

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Last month, Ford had XR6T sedan and Ute on sale for incredibly low prices,

First I've heard of it. These incredibly low prices are pointless if no one knows about them.

[TS50AU]

My take on it is that they want Falcon to fail. So that they can bring imports in from US etc. It's all about profit margins, and with our high dollar who wants to make a car here for a small market when they can be mass produced cheaply elsewhere and imported without investment in manufacturing and reliance on union controlled expensive Australian labour?
To boot, I'm told by reliable sources that all the talent which in the past made Ford Australia's design & manufacture a world benchmark for high quality small scale production, have now been shipped out to factories in Canada, Mexico, Thailand, Korea, Germany etc. so there is nobody left here to design the next model - even if we want it - and that design would be well under way by now if it was going to happen.
If the Falcon is perceived to fail because of a lack of sales, then there will be no emotional backlash from the public when they can it, and they can roll in their Fusions and Tauruses unabated.

Having said all that, we (Australian public) share much of the blame for the manufacturers going down this path.
Small business owners who start doing well for themselves nearly always upgrade to a eurosnob (Audi, BM, Merc) or a big Japanese 4WD. What ever happened to Patriotism? If we supported Ford and Holden and bought their locally made cars, the volume would justify investment in new products and tooling and result in cheaper product. We all win...

I'll step down from the soap box now

[Morry]

Mid size TDI SUVs,mid/small size TDI/petrol cars are ruling the market now. A mate of mine that has worked on the Holden production line for the last 13 years said that 3 out of 5 cars coming down the line are Holden cruze's.

[GREGL]

Funky styling needs to be updated every 5 minutes . Things like MX5's are proof that if you get it right to start with the people will come . Now if they replaced the falcon with a aussie built mustang , factory RHD at comparable prices to the existing falcon range ????? Forget the family every man and his dog would want one .

Turbo 6 and V8 ,Even a P plate legal xr6 equivalent. They might even have a waiting list !!!!!!

[olds]

Originally Posted by flappist

Really?

Apart from the extra 1000 units sold which would not be povvo models there would also be 1000 new Falcons getting about with 1000 drivers who hopefully would be talking up their new Falcon, taking people for trips and maybe evenl letting them drive their Falcon and maybe, just maybe some of them will buy one as well or at least tell someone else they know just how great Falcon is.

I, personally, am an unpaid ambassador at large for Ford and mention their products when ever anyone talks about buying a car. A couple of days ago I even nearly had someone convinced to replace their Prius with an ECOLpi G6E instead of a new prius except the wife was afraid of using the gas pump.

So how about you all get out there and support Ford in the public arena rather than just moan and groan and complain on the internet.

I am a regular forum contributor . I also have purchased 3 brand new fords in the last three years ( private buyer not company car ). I also moan and groan on this forum and have been chastised for it. I also tell anyone who asks my honest opinion about my experience with the ford product as you can see if you review my posts . I advise people not to buy the current Ford product from these experiences . I have contacted Ford CRC with my grievances and its a waste of time , as many regulars on this forum will attest to. Its common knowledge the sole dealer in my area doesn't care for their customers . I think word of mouth is what is killing this product , If they don't look after their current customers they wont generate any new ones .

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by FNQracing

Falcon looks nice enough, but just plain boring in an era where funky styling is in, and Old Man looks are so 1990's.

THANK you; this is in part what I have been trying to get at.
The AU was ahead of its time and probably not market-tested properly. Despite being a brilliant car it was panned for its looks, so Ford responded with the “Boring As.” Then for some reason despite it being almost completely new, decided to make the FG look like a face-lifted BF.
Seen the ads for the Fiesta? Doesn’t tell you anything but presents a funky image. The last Focus ad I can remember was the one touting its Rally pedigree. I STILL remember the “eats sports cars for breakfast” ads but had to think hard to remember the “I can visit all my Facebook friends on one tank of diesel.” (Which I assume is because she is really boring and has no friends.)

Maybe there IS a case to be made for recovering some lost Falcon buyers by convincing them that they can have the Falcon they always loved with the economy of the boring Camry they were being forced to consider. But I still think that trying to compete head-on is a mistake. They are happy to market the Fiesta and Focus as being Funky & Fun, why not the Falcon?

A case in point: My wife has loved Falcons ever since it saved our lives, for a long time she refused to drive anything else. She has also liked the Terri, understanding that it was much the same. However we now have only the 2 youngest teenagers at home, and she considers that “Boring Family Cars” are behind her.

As for the types of people that drive Camys?
Over his live my Dad owned an eclectic array of cars. For the last 10 years of his life, he battled Lymphoma. During that time he was one of the 3 people known to have bought a Ford Corsair, he traded that in on a Hilux dual cab 4x2 because it was the last new car in Australia to have a carbie, and he kept that for many years. When the doctors finally gave up, and gave Dad only a few months to live, he put all his affairs in order, organised his own funeral, and bought a Camry.