The Dark Horse is Ford Falcon

[csv8]

Sedan sales start to lift

* By Neil McDonald
* Herald Sun
* 10 June 2010



The Holden Commodore remains the undisputed king of family sedans but the dark horse is the Ford Falcon. Ford has sold 13,349 Falcons this year, an increase of 20.5 per cent compared to last year.

The large car segment is showing signs of a modest sales rally this year as buyers return to the market. Big six sales are up 10 per cent and even the medium segment is up 14 per cent compared to last year. Although the lion's share of sales still revolve around light and small cars and off-roaders, the signs are encouraging for local carmakers Holden, Ford and Toyota.


This compares to 18,428 Commodores and a sales lift of 9.4 per cent compared to last year. Analyst Tony Robinson, of Innovation Group Australia, believes the large car segment could continue to see some growth.

"I don't think we'll be seeing it slip into single digits," he says. Robinson says fleets still underpin large car sales and as more come back into the market, the prospects look good.

Like small cars, the compact, medium, large and luxury off-roader segments are showing growth spurts. Almost 95,000 off-roaders have been sold this year, 24,000 more than last year.

Subaru's Forester is the country's most popular "compact" off-roader with 5709 sales. Subaru Australia spokesman, David Rowley, says the Forester had hit a sweet spot with buyers. "It goes far beyond the traditional family car," he said. "It also appeals to a wide audience, from young families to retirees."

With 7488 sales, Toyota's Prado leads the medium race while the LandCruiser has 3715 sales and is ahead in the large SUV segment. Audi's Q5 is the luxury off-road star, beating BMW's X5 by just eight cars.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries VFACTS sales figures show that 89,218 cars, off-roaders and commercial vehicles were sold last month, up 13,777 vehicles over the same month last year.

Some car executives are confident 2010 will be a strong year. Toyota's senior executive director sales and marketing, David Buttner, expects sales to hit the magic million. "However, the potential impact of economic conditions, movements in interest rates and the impending Federal and Victorian elections remains unclear," he says.

[Falcman0o7]

great stuff.

[FG XR]

Good to hear!

[jpd80]

I suspect that 5,000 unit difference between Ford and Holden is mostly made op by Omegas, Ford sells hardly any base XTs these days.
Maybe ZF equipped XT will secure a few more private and government fleet sales...

[geckoGT]

Holdens figure will be propped up considerably by fleet sales, something that Ford have virtually no interest in for Falcon.

Ford have said that they do not want fleet sales as there is no profit in them, they also don't particularly care if Commodore outsells Falcon in raw figures that include fleet sales.

Their intention is to command more of the private buyer market and particularly the upper levels of luxury models which provides them with a better bottom line.

To me, this is a great thing as the presence of fleet cars does nothing for the private new car buyer, in fact all it does do is reduce the resale value of our car when we sell it.

I am quite happy to drive around in my better built, better designed, better appointed and better performing underdog.

[fordv8!]

great to see

[Smoke Pursuit]

Fords sales are propped up by Demo registrations, an unbelivable FIGURE of them for last month and the month before!!

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by bfiipursuit

Fords sales are propped up by Demo registrations, an unbelivable FIGURE of them for last month and the month before!!

Agreed, one dealer I frequent every single new Falcon in the lot is a registered demo, every one! XTs, XR6s, G6Es, Insane.

Falcon is the better car though, so even if it dosnt outsell the Commodore we know which one is the real winner.

[Joe5619]

Originally Posted by bfiipursuit

Fords sales are propped up by Demo registrations, an unbelivable FIGURE of them for last month and the month before!!

Whilst I agree to some degree with what you are saying, don't forget Falcon has been up 20% plus all year & not just the last 2 months. In fact the last to months has seen the Falcon move from mid 20% up to 20% up year on year. So the months with Demo deals have actually been the worst performing months for Falcon compared with last year

[greenguzzler]

Where do you find the fleet sales figures compared to private sales figures?The Falcon could be very close to Commodore if fleet sales were taken out of the equation.

[barra240t]

It will be a lot to do with V8 sales. V8 Holden vs V8 Ford sales are a MASSIVE difference.

[MickyB]

Originally Posted by barra240t

It will be a lot to do with V8 sales. V8 Holden vs V8 Ford sales are a MASSIVE difference.

Hopefully that will change in a few months...

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by MickyB

Hopefully that will change in a few months...

Maybe sometime next year bout i doubt it..

Holden still have the 45 kay SS 53 kay SSV, Calais V V8 etc etc all under 60 kay..

Im waiting to see the new Holden, my grab one as my company car next year, calais V V8 which i can buy for my mrs after a few years.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by barra240t

It will be a lot to do with V8 sales. V8 Holden vs V8 Ford sales are a MASSIVE difference.

On a recent post on a forum in the US, it was stated that 40% of Commodore sedan sales are V8 (dont know how credible). Il have to search to see where I saw it.

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by Brazen

On a recent post on a forum in the US, it was stated that 40% of Commodore sedan sales are V8 (dont know how credible). Il have to search to see where I saw it.

No. it was the Utes.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by jpd80

I suspect that 5,000 unit difference between Ford and Holden is mostly made op by Omegas, Ford sells hardly any base XTs these days.
Maybe ZF equipped XT will secure a few more private and government fleet sales...

Remember that the sales include Wagons. Holden sell alot more of the commo hatches compared the the Falcon fleet hack wagon.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by vztrt

Remember that the sales include Wagons. Holden sell alot more of the commo hatches compared the the Falcon fleet hack wagon.

i would say 80% of wagon buyers would have bought a sedan if the wagon wasn't available. it hasn't really boosted the commo's overall sales.

Originally Posted by bfiipursuit

Fords sales are propped up by Demo registrations, an unbelivable FIGURE of them for last month and the month before!!

and other manufacturers don't??

[1TUFFUTE]

Originally Posted by geckoGT

Holdens figure will be propped up considerably by fleet sales, something that Ford have virtually no interest in for Falcon.

Ford have said that they do not want fleet sales as there is no profit in them, they also don't particularly care if Commodore outsells Falcon in raw figures that include fleet sales.

Their intention is to command more of the private buyer market and particularly the upper levels of luxury models which provides them with a better bottom line.

To me, this is a great thing as the presence of fleet cars does nothing for the private new car buyer, in fact all it does do is reduce the resale value of our car when we sell it.

I am quite happy to drive around in my better built, better designed, better appointed and better performing underdog.

well said...DITTO

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by csv8

Sedan sales start to lift

* By Neil McDonald
* Herald Sun
* 10 June 2010

The Holden Commodore remains the undisputed king of family sedans but the dark horse is the Ford Falcon. Ford has sold 13,349 Falcons this year, an increase of 20.5 per cent compared to last year.


Although the lion's share of sales still revolve around light and small cars and off-roaders, the signs are encouraging for local carmakers Holden, Ford and Toyota.

This compares to 18,428 Commodores and a sales lift of 9.4 per cent compared to last year. Analyst Tony Robinson, of Innovation Group Australia, believes the large car segment could continue to see some growth.

"I don't think we'll be seeing it slip into single digits," he says. Robinson says fleets still underpin large car sales and as more come back into the market, the prospects look good.

A good article only really let down by the presumption that all Commodores and Falcons are sedans. If that were true, it would also be true that the Commodore is the 'undisputed king'.

It isn't as VE Commodore has been outsold sedan to sedan by the FG the last 2 months from 5 months this year and possibly 4/5 times in the last 9 months. This should become more regular once BF3 Falcon wagon is dropped and production space is made available.

It was nice to see that the 'dark horse' made mention as it shows that ground is being made. The gap to Commodore nameplate is reducing, but is still too large. Particularly given the superiority of Falcon from entry level upwards.

Eco-boost i4T, LiLPG & Coyote engined Falcons will be a handy offence against the next Commodore. Interesting times ahead.

[TUF_302]

Its always fun being the underdog!, lets hope we continue the rise up!

[prydey]

Originally Posted by phillyc

A good article only really let down by the presumption that all Commodores and Falcons are sedans. If that were true, it would also be true that the Commodore is the 'undisputed king'.

It isn't as VE Commodore has been outsold sedan to sedan by the FG the last 2 months from 5 months this year and possibly 4/5 times in the last 9 months. This should become more regular once BF3 Falcon wagon is dropped and production space is made available.

sorry, but i don't subscribe to that way of thinking and i'm not even sure why ford mention it either. commodore sales are commodore sales, whether they be sedan or wagon. truth be told, if the wagon wasn't on offer, the sedan sales would still be very similar to what the total sales are now.

[dannyhilton]

I'd still like to see the breakdown of fleet and private sales for the Falcon, as I'm sure a fair chunk would still go to fleets. Ford are still selling to fleets, and you'll find police departments have favored the Falcon again too. Private sales are strong, and even better private sales are for high series models, so it's a double win there. But to imply Holden is a fleet whore is somewhat flawed, because Ford too reply on fleet sales. Not to Holdens extent though. And like others have said, registered demos are all over the place.

But putting my comments behind me, this is great news for Ford. Being called the 'dark horse' shows we have a great product just hidden behind the publicity whore that is the Commodore! Fingers crossed Ford can eventually increase production with the removal of the wagon and secure even more private sales, and some more fleets too.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by dannyhilton

I'd still like to see the breakdown of fleet and private sales for the Falcon, as I'm sure a fair chunk would still go to fleets. Ford are still selling to fleets, and you'll find police departments have favored the Falcon again too. Private sales are strong, and even better private sales are for high series models, so it's a double win there. But to imply Holden is a fleet whore is somewhat flawed, because Ford too reply on fleet sales. Not to Holdens extent though. And like others have said, registered demos are all over the place.

i'm yet to see a FG falcon at the govt auctions here in adelaide. still a few wagons go through and there were plenty of b series sedans but no FG's that i've seen yet. i keep a fairly close eye on it. this tells me that the govt aren't buying falcons in adelaide. couldn't tell you why though.

[My poor XF]

Originally Posted by prydey

i'm yet to see a FG falcon at the govt auctions here in adelaide. still a few wagons go through and there were plenty of b series sedans but no FG's that i've seen yet. i keep a fairly close eye on it. this tells me that the govt aren't buying falcons in adelaide. couldn't tell you why though.

I believe Mr Rann made sure that the fleet purchases went to Holden so as too boost local manufacturing.

[GTP-03]

Just looking at the SA Government car website because i was looking for a car for my dad.
There are a handfull of Mitsubishi 380s and a few more Falcons, but there is more than double amount of Commodores for sale, must solely be because they are manufactured in Adelaide.

My father actually ended up going last week and he reckons they sold a mint Mitsy 380 with 45k on the clock for 9 grand! Thats a bargain!

[prydey]

i think you'll find all the falcons are either utes or wagons. before fg, there were plenty of falcon sedans available every week. i went along every week for a couple of months before i bought mine a couple of years ago and although still outnumbered by holden, there was still plenty of falcon sedans. now i am ready to upgrade and have been keeping half an eye on it again and am yet to see a fg sedan come up. no doubt there has been one or two, but definitely far fewer than years gone by.

[SteveJH]

Originally Posted by GTP-03

My father actually ended up going last week and he reckons they sold a mint Mitsy 380 with 45k on the clock for 9 grand! Thats a bargain!

I'm guessing because its an orphen model?