Ford Australia have cancelled plans to manufacture and export left hand drive 2008 Falcon ‘Orion’s’ in favour of the smaller Focus which will also be built locally in 2011.

The Australian Government very publicly invested $AU100 million into the new Falcon left-hand-drive-program in early 2006, to assist Ford Australia in cracking the US and Middle Eastern markets. Ford Australia president Tom Gorman had this to say at the Mondeo media launch last week:

They are partners in our investment strategy - both the federal and state governments. What they have seen is the number of (Focus) exports will be equal to or greater than the number of left-hand-drive Falcon exports would have been. It fills our capacity and strengthens our ability to be competitive domestically.

The next Falcon is due around 2012 and Gorman confirmed that Ford will utilize a global platform for that particular model, however Ford Australia’s involvement in the project is yet to be decided.

Darcy