Mondeo shapes up

FORD Australia claims the Blue Oval's redesigned Mondeo is too good an opportunity to miss for the growing mid-size car segment – even if it comes at the expense of Falcon sales.

President Tom Gorman told GoAuto at last week's Australian International Motor Show in Sydney that the new-generation Mondeo, revealed at September's Paris motor show for the first time, was on Ford's hot list for Australia, where it also has the potential to cannibalise Falcon sales.

"We think Mondeo is a great product and we've seen the changing market dynamics here … The issue with us bringing the new car in is to strike the right balance between substitution of Falcon and driving incremental business," he said.

Mr Gorman told GoAuto last month he believed Falcon sales were being eroded by medium sedans like Mazda6, Liberty, Accord and Camry. Now it seems Ford would prefer to "share its lunch" among its own family.

"We're trying to grow our business incrementally – not just substitute one for the other – but as you’ve seen with the shift from sixes to fours, other people are taking advantage of that and we're not really participating.

"I think there's enough evidence now with the growth in the four-cylinder market that that's an area in which we're really not maximising our position – and Mondeo may in fact play that role for us." Mr Gorman said the increasing popularity of diesel in Australia is what makes Mondeo an even more logical import choice for Australia.

"Mondeo is one of the things we are looking at very, very closely and it's another product that also offers diesel technology already built in. So I would say Mondeo is one of the things that has moved from the back-burner to the front-burner as we've watched the dynamics of the Australian market-place change."

Mr Gorman said Australian car-buying trends had changed dramatically since Mondeo was last sold here in 2000 after just four years on sale.

"We obviously had Mondeo in Australia before and we think it's a very exciting product. If you look at what's happening with fours versus sixes … we're giving Mondeo a lot more consideration than we would have, frankly, two years ago." Along with the new Mondeo, diesel will also power Australia's Focus – but a diesel Fiesta is unlikely.

"We sell about 650 Fiestas a month but Focus is around 2000. It's quite a difference that gives us the opportunity to extend that brand," Mr Gorman said.

As previously reported, Ford Oz is also looking at a diesel Territory, but now it appears LPG is also on the cards for Australia's most popular SUV.

"We now have almost double the LPG (vehicle) production capacity we had previously at 120 cars per day and the mix continues to grow. LPG will play an important role for us but Territory's a bit different because it wasn't designed with LPG in mind," he said.

"But, like diesel, we're also thinking about LPG and how we can do something with a factory fit or working with a supplier more closely. But we're not in a position to announce anything.

"More than 25 per cent of the medium-SUV segment is diesel, so we're missing that and would very much like to participate in it. But for us it's a case of finding the right engine and putting the right business case together. As soon as we have that figured out we'll let you know."