President of Ford Australia Tom Gorman has confirmed that Ford is reviewing its support and involvement in Australian V8 Supercars.

“We used to be the ‘Falcon Car Company’ and now we’re not - we’re expanding the franchise,” said Gorman

This news comes hot on the heels of Fords announcement last week that they are axing the Fairlane and LTD nameplates.

Gorman said that Ford will be placing a greater emphasis on its more compact fuel efficient range of car such as Festiva and Focus and the up-coming Mondeo all of which are imported.

Gorman is also concerned that the two make V8 Supercar series is not reaching all of the market which has him constantly questioning Fords extensive commitment to this form of motorsport. The V8 is simply no longer as relevant as it was a year or two ago when fuel was cheaper.

No doubt the recently very ordinary sales performance and bleak outlook for Falcon prior to the arrival of the 2008 Falcon Orion has Gorman looking at where Ford can save some money.

CarUpdate predicts that if fuel prices continue to stay above 1.25c a litre that the Mondeo (pictured above) may well overtake the Falcon in sales over the coming years.

Unless Ford are able to establish an export market for Falcon similar to that enjoyed by Holdens VE Commodore then there would hardly be a business case for another Australian designed Falcon after Orion.

Times they are a changing…