Good points slick, I think for them to drop the falcon would be suicide, as the market still wants it. Whilst the territory is nice it is dissimilar in many ways to the falcon, can you imagine an xr8 territory?
Aussies love big sedans and as such we have ford and holden. I should imagine for the next decade atleast that this will remain the case; unless of course these cars are killed by cheap imports from places like asia.
Ford will continue to tinker with fuel economy as it is the strategy that is paying huge dividends at the moment. If they can shave another litre or two off the falcon appetite over the next 2 years then they will have a serious competitive advantage over all their rivals, including holden. For this to play out though that would require Holden and toyota to sit still and do nothing - very unlikely.
All in all, peoples requirements for cars focussed on specific areas such as safety, performance etc. Now, one of the primary concerns is economy. This has only shifted into the spotlight in the last couple of years, and as such, companies like Holden have unfortunately been locked into a design that doesn't focus on this new trend. Ford now need to make hay whilst the sun shines before Holden do something drastic to improver their fuel economy.
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If brains were gasoline, you wouldn't have enough to power an ants go-cart a half a lap around a Cheerio - Ron Shirley
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