Ford Falcon sales for October were the highest in
volume since March 1996, and Falcon has continued to be a favourite with the fleets. Ford
has seen their biggest Falcon government sales since October last year, with a mix of
units, predominantly Forte and Futura.Launched in mid-September, the new Falcon was on
the market for only a few weeks before first sales results were posted. However, after its
first full calendar month of sales, Ford has good reason to be very happy with the new
model.
"We’re now catching up on the delays caused by the gas crisis and elections.
Production is back at the right levels, stocks are flowing through to dealers and forward
orders have built very strongly," says Tony Brigden, Vice-President Sales and
Marketing for Ford Australia.
"We’re now seeing the rewards for the hard work put into this new car by each
and every person in the Ford Australia team. After just one full month of retail sales,
we’re right on target, and we’re very happy with our order bank which is now
around 40% higher than last month."
Release of the new AU Falcon has seen Ford’s Australian flagship take a string of
awards. The car took three out of the ten awards in the RACV Best Buys awards announced
just last week: Best Large Car went to the Falcon Forte, Best Prestige Car to the Fairmont
Ghia and Best Fleet Car to the Falcon Forte (LPG).
And the RAA in South Australia voted AU Falcon Family Car of the Year in the $25,000 to
$40,000 category.
According to the NRMA, one of the country’s leading motoring associations and
insurers, the AU Falcon Forte has the lowest weekly operating costs of any car in its
class, citing lower insurance and depreciation costs as the main contributing factors.
The Falcon Forte is up to $10 a week cheaper to run than its competitors over a
ten-year period, according to their study.
The NRMA based its findings on a range of expenses typically incurred by the motorist,
including depreciation and interest costs, registration and insurance, fuel consumption,
tyres, service and repairs.
AU Falcon is also the least expensive car to repair after a low speed front-end
accident. The new Falcon has the lowest insurance rating of any vehicle insured with the
NRMA and will cost the average policy-holder approximately $100 less per annum to insure
than its nearest competitor.
Resale value is perhaps one of the biggest considerations in a new car purchase, and
the actions taken by Ford in initial pricing, cost of ownership, insurance and repair
bills have seen savings reflected in initial used car residuals set by the authoritative
Glass’s Guide.
These are all vital factors that are carefully taken into consideration by major fleet
buyers. Small wonder then that the country’s government fleet buyers have put their
faith in the new AU.
