rob_o
23-02-05, 09:39 PM
Taken from GoAuto e-news
Ford Australia boss shrugs off Holden’s hopes to rival the all-conquering Territory
By MARTON PETTENDY
THOSE who expected Ford to be quaking in its
corporate boots following the launch of Holden’s
Adventra V6 to rival the Blue Oval’s segmentleading
Territory will be disappointed.
“I’m not fi ring people because of the fact they
are going to have a V6,” said Ford Australia
president Tom Gorman in response to the launch
of Holden’s fi rst serious medium SUV entrant,
which goes on sale in April.
“I would say that it’s a very different vehicle
from the Territory. The consumer
may decide it’s a vehicle that
fi ts their needs. (But) I don’t
think so – to me, the Territory
offers a lot for the consumer
and is great value for the money,
and the consumers recognise that. It has a whole
set of product attributes that are quite different.”
Mr Gorman said Territory’s stellar 2004 sales
record was vindication for the $500 million it
invested to develop Territory, which he claimed
had helped increase the company’s market share
while Holden’s fell.
“We chose to invest our resources by committing
fi nances into a product called Territory, which has
been extremely successful,” he said.
“They’ve chosen to invest their resources
elsewhere, selling some small specialty vehicles.
They have clearly made an investment in
commercial vehicles, and they’ve launched
Adventra. Our market share has gone up in the
past two years, Holden’s has gone backwards in
the last two years.”
Mr Gorman said he was not surprised Holden
had issued a conservative sales forecast of just
4500 Adventras in 2005 – 80 per cent of which
are expected to be V6 models. The company sold
just 2500 VYII Adventra V8s in 2004, well short
of its 4800 sales estimate despite a $4000 price
drop just months after launch.
“If I were them, I’d under-promise
and over-deliver,” he said. “One
of the differences (is) you now
know what the competitor looks
like.
“Before, when they were forecasting,
they had no idea what Territory was and they
probably didn’t believe what we were saying.
And now the market has voted pretty positively
in favour of Territory so you’d have to get a sense
of ‘now the vehicle’s out there, we know what
we’re up against’.
“Today, based on what they have, I think they
sold 84 last month. I don’t think it’s a big issue at
the moment. They might hit the market in a sweet
spot, they might present themselves better, they
might incentivise the deals in a big way – who
knows? We’ll react to a certain degree, but I’m
not fi ring people because of the fact they are
going to have a V6.
“They’ve got a different business model.
They’ve really expanded their exports and maybe
that’s what they’re focused on. And maybe that’s
how they measure themselves. But we’ve got a
formidable competitor and they’re not doing this
for practice.”
While Mr Gorman admitted Territory has had
“clear sailing” in the medium SUV segment over
the past six months, he said competition would
heat up in 2005, especially from former segment
leader Toyota. Holden is also expected launch an
all-new medium SUV here in 2006.
“They’re going to come after us: some with
products, some with aggressive pricing and some
with marketing,” he said.
“I think Toyota has a history of being a very
aggressive marketer here in Australia.”
To counter this in the longer term, a number
of Territory derivatives are known to be in the
pipeline, but Mr Gorman refused to be drawn on
which will appear fi rst and when.
“We have other Territory developments we’re
working on at the moment,” said Mr Gorman,
who confi rmed off-road, diesel and performance
versions were the most asked-about future
Territory models.
Ford Australia boss shrugs off Holden’s hopes to rival the all-conquering Territory
By MARTON PETTENDY
THOSE who expected Ford to be quaking in its
corporate boots following the launch of Holden’s
Adventra V6 to rival the Blue Oval’s segmentleading
Territory will be disappointed.
“I’m not fi ring people because of the fact they
are going to have a V6,” said Ford Australia
president Tom Gorman in response to the launch
of Holden’s fi rst serious medium SUV entrant,
which goes on sale in April.
“I would say that it’s a very different vehicle
from the Territory. The consumer
may decide it’s a vehicle that
fi ts their needs. (But) I don’t
think so – to me, the Territory
offers a lot for the consumer
and is great value for the money,
and the consumers recognise that. It has a whole
set of product attributes that are quite different.”
Mr Gorman said Territory’s stellar 2004 sales
record was vindication for the $500 million it
invested to develop Territory, which he claimed
had helped increase the company’s market share
while Holden’s fell.
“We chose to invest our resources by committing
fi nances into a product called Territory, which has
been extremely successful,” he said.
“They’ve chosen to invest their resources
elsewhere, selling some small specialty vehicles.
They have clearly made an investment in
commercial vehicles, and they’ve launched
Adventra. Our market share has gone up in the
past two years, Holden’s has gone backwards in
the last two years.”
Mr Gorman said he was not surprised Holden
had issued a conservative sales forecast of just
4500 Adventras in 2005 – 80 per cent of which
are expected to be V6 models. The company sold
just 2500 VYII Adventra V8s in 2004, well short
of its 4800 sales estimate despite a $4000 price
drop just months after launch.
“If I were them, I’d under-promise
and over-deliver,” he said. “One
of the differences (is) you now
know what the competitor looks
like.
“Before, when they were forecasting,
they had no idea what Territory was and they
probably didn’t believe what we were saying.
And now the market has voted pretty positively
in favour of Territory so you’d have to get a sense
of ‘now the vehicle’s out there, we know what
we’re up against’.
“Today, based on what they have, I think they
sold 84 last month. I don’t think it’s a big issue at
the moment. They might hit the market in a sweet
spot, they might present themselves better, they
might incentivise the deals in a big way – who
knows? We’ll react to a certain degree, but I’m
not fi ring people because of the fact they are
going to have a V6.
“They’ve got a different business model.
They’ve really expanded their exports and maybe
that’s what they’re focused on. And maybe that’s
how they measure themselves. But we’ve got a
formidable competitor and they’re not doing this
for practice.”
While Mr Gorman admitted Territory has had
“clear sailing” in the medium SUV segment over
the past six months, he said competition would
heat up in 2005, especially from former segment
leader Toyota. Holden is also expected launch an
all-new medium SUV here in 2006.
“They’re going to come after us: some with
products, some with aggressive pricing and some
with marketing,” he said.
“I think Toyota has a history of being a very
aggressive marketer here in Australia.”
To counter this in the longer term, a number
of Territory derivatives are known to be in the
pipeline, but Mr Gorman refused to be drawn on
which will appear fi rst and when.
“We have other Territory developments we’re
working on at the moment,” said Mr Gorman,
who confi rmed off-road, diesel and performance
versions were the most asked-about future
Territory models.