Ford to Keep the I6 Beyond 2010?

[1991_Vn2nV]

Ford have decided NOT to close down their engine plant in Geelong and are instead going to spend $21 million on the plant. They will re-engineer the I6 so that it meets Euro IV emissions levels which I assume means no V6 after all for the Falcon?

Full story:
Jobs saved as Ford decides to keep Geelong engine plant open | Breaking News | News.com.au

[Emackulation]

What is the world without competition? I say Hooray for Ford.

[Jamie_87]

great news...people keep there jobs and ford keeps the I6.

Would have been sad to see that engine go, had my BA XR6 for 2 yrs now and i am very happy with the engine.

I wonder if the new engine will be direct injection, have been reading alot about it lately...

[1991_Vn2nV]

I just read that they will definitely be keeping the I6 until atleast 2013

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

Awesome
The ford 6 is a damn good motor, will be stoked one day to own an XR6T

[vnv8driver]

The ford inline 6 is a great motor so i see why they have decided to re engineer it, plus it means no job loss so another good outcome. pitty the holden plant is shutting down, so will all og our motors come from overseas direct or what? holden must be pretty broke to consider that option, along with mitsubushi.

[Shounak]

LOL. I blame you guys for the Auto industry shutting down.

Evidence, statistics from everywhere shows that people aren't buying Falcodores anymore. Instead of changing their product to suit the needs of the customer, Holden/Ford insist on producing the same rubbish and go crying to the govt when no-one buys the stuff they make.

I know a lot of you <25's say YAYY FORD WILL CONTINUE WITH THIS CAR. Yet chances are that you're not going to be the one buying them. Mazda sold more personal cars than Ford, tell you much?

Ford need to move with the times and give the people what they want. Simple as that. They definitely need to scrap a lot of these old unrefined motors that no-one but young enthusiasts without the means to buy one, drool over.

The large Aussie car has no future.

[minux]

I am just curious, how do ford think they will be able to meet euro standard emissions on the I6, yet nissan and BMW decided due to cost they could not?

[Full Spectrum]

Might suggest they are not moving into a new RWD platform any time soon. Rumours are FWD. And others are sharing the Mustang architecture. It might be behind delayed now in the crisis.
Or does that say something about the new V6 from ford ?.

[stocky]

I am just curious, how do ford think they will be able to meet euro standard emissions on the I6, yet nissan and BMW decided due to cost they could not?

leave it to the geelong bogans to work out what the japs and germans couldnt

[andyman]

might be leading upto the big fwd platform, in the future

[minux]

leave it to the geelong bogans to work out what the japs and germans couldnt

LMAO, the corio folk are going to steal the emissions

[Torquen]

Yay, Yay and Yay!!!

[1991_Vn2nV]

LOL. I blame you guys for the Auto industry shutting down.

Evidence, statistics from everywhere shows that people aren't buying Falcodores anymore. Instead of changing their product to suit the needs of the customer, Holden/Ford insist on producing the same rubbish and go crying to the govt when no-one buys the stuff they make.

I know a lot of you <25's say YAYY FORD WILL CONTINUE WITH THIS CAR. Yet chances are that you're not going to be the one buying them. Mazda sold more personal cars than Ford, tell you much?

Ford need to move with the times and give the people what they want. Simple as that. They definitely need to scrap a lot of these old unrefined motors that no-one but young enthusiasts without the means to buy one, drool over.

The large Aussie car has no future.

What an ignorant post. How is the Ford I6 unrefined? Its quiet, makes plenty of power and alot of torque and is quite fuel efficient.

With direct injection, the Falcon I6 will leave just about any other engine in its class behind.

It's a better overall motor than the Alloytec, Honda V6 and Toyota V6. You have to look for Germany for a better option in my opinion.

Also, im pretty sure Mazda's sales this year are down more than Fords... Ford are in a very good position at the moment despite slowish sales on the Falcon. Falcon ute sells well, Territory still sells well somehow and with its facelift next year it should help pick sales up further. New fiesta is a great car, Mondeo is a good car, new Focus is a great car and is likely to be built here.

[1991_Vn2nV]

I am just curious, how do ford think they will be able to meet euro standard emissions on the I6, yet nissan and BMW decided due to cost they could not?

The Falcon I6 is closer to meeting the emissions as it is compared to the Nissan and BMW equivalents.

The only upgrades will be to exhaust, calibration and injection (not direct injection though).

It could go much further with an alloy block, but that won't happen anytime soon.

[danja]

Might suggest they are not moving into a new RWD platform any time soon. Rumours are FWD.

might be leading upto the big fwd platform, in the future

How does moving to FWD improve emissions?!

[Tasmaniak]

interesting to read this after reading that Ford no longer has 20% of Mazda who played a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR part in designing the Ford V6 3.0 and 4.0 used by Ford worldwide.

[Full Spectrum]

How does moving to FWD improve emissions?!

Well the Americans seem to believe it improves many things over RWD. But they of course are nuts and come crying for RWD cars all the time.
But i don't recall saying for improvements in emissions "Go FWD".

[Tasmaniak]

a company producing a FWD vehicle in the US just makes sense when 60% of the population has to deal with Snow and Ice every winter.

[Shounak]

What an ignorant post. How is the Ford I6 unrefined? Its quiet, makes plenty of power and alot of torque and is quite fuel efficient.

With direct injection, the Falcon I6 will leave just about any other engine in its class behind.

It's a better overall motor than the Alloytec, Honda V6 and Toyota V6. You have to look for Germany for a better option in my opinion.

Also, im pretty sure Mazda's sales this year are down more than Fords... Ford are in a very good position at the moment despite slowish sales on the Falcon. Falcon ute sells well, Territory still sells well somehow and with its facelift next year it should help pick sales up further. New fiesta is a great car, Mondeo is a good car, new Focus is a great car and is likely to be built here.

What are you comparing to? You're crazy if you think the Falcon has any future. People simply aren't buying them anymore. Even govt + fleet purchases are slowing down. Ford may kill Mazda in fleet sales, but comes nowhere near on private.

As for Mazda's sales being down. I said private. 75% of F/H's sales come from fleet/govt buyers, but like I said these are beginning to slow down.

Territory has more of a future than the Falcon.

I'd say your post is much more ignorant and it seems like you have an agenda to push. My post is based on the findings of the Bracks report, which explicitly mentions a massive shift in consumer preferences.

Look at Mazda/Toyota's profits, now compare these to the huge losses at Ford. It turns out that the jap car makers more closely produce to the needs of the Aussie consumer than the Aussie ones do.

You're also nuts if you think anyone cares about a motor. Sure if you're a car buff you might. But most mum and dads don't think, ooh I was going to buy the Mazda, but the Ford engine is more refined, so I'll get that.

More specifically, since 2002, domestic sales of new Australian-made vehicles have decreased for GM Holden (by 33 percent), Ford (by 10.5 percent), and Mitsubishi (by 53 percent). Only sales of Australian-made Toyota vehicles have increased since 2002—by 22 percent to 2007. This trend has continued into the first two months of 2008, with sales of Australian-made vehicles continuing to fall.

I can keep coming up with this stuff because the facts are on my side. Yes, you love your big Aussie 6, but Australians don't love them enough to buy them.

My post was not ignorant either, it's a topic I've spent months researching.

[danja]

a company producing a FWD vehicle in the US just makes sense when 60% of the population has to deal with Snow and Ice every winter.

Fair enough, but nothing to do with emissions right? Just handling..

[minux]

The Falcon I6 is closer to meeting the emissions as it is compared to the Nissan and BMW equivalents.

The only upgrades will be to exhaust, calibration and injection (not direct injection though).

It could go much further with an alloy block, but that won't happen anytime soon.

Wow, you work for ford do you?

An exact quote from an engine designer at ford when I asked him the same question

"The only way the I6 will pass euro5/6 emissions is by not having the engine in the car"

So what has the government changed to allow ford to continue with this engine? Especially after all the development work gone into the duratech.

[Tasmaniak]

Fair enough, but nothing to do with emissions right? Just handling..

thats correct.

[1991_Vn2nV]

Wow, you work for ford do you?

An exact quote from an engine designer at ford when I asked him the same question

"The only way the I6 will pass euro5/6 emissions is by not having the engine in the car"

So what has the government changed to allow ford to continue with this engine? Especially after all the development work gone into the duratech.

What do Euro V/VI emissions standards have to do with it anyway? The engine is being re-engineered to meet EURO IV emissions...

Ford themselves stated the only upgrades required are exhaust, calibration and injection modifications. Last year they deemed it too expensive, however technology improvements elsewhere in Ford Global have made it considerably cheaper to get the I6 to meet Euro IV emissions.

And what would the government change anyway? Euro IV emission standards are Euro IV emission standards, the Australian government has no control over those standards.

[1991_Vn2nV]

What are you comparing to? You're crazy if you think the Falcon has any future. People simply aren't buying them anymore. Even govt + fleet purchases are slowing down. Ford may kill Mazda in fleet sales, but comes nowhere near on private.

As for Mazda's sales being down. I said private. 75% of F/H's sales come from fleet/govt buyers, but like I said these are beginning to slow down.

Territory has more of a future than the Falcon.

I'd say your post is much more ignorant and it seems like you have an agenda to push. My post is based on the findings of the Bracks report, which explicitly mentions a massive shift in consumer preferences.

Look at Mazda/Toyota's profits, now compare these to the huge losses at Ford. It turns out that the jap car makers more closely produce to the needs of the Aussie consumer than the Aussie ones do.

You're also nuts if you think anyone cares about a motor. Sure if you're a car buff you might. But most mum and dads don't think, ooh I was going to buy the Mazda, but the Ford engine is more refined, so I'll get that.

I can keep coming up with this stuff because the facts are on my side. Yes, you love your big Aussie 6, but Australians don't love them enough to buy them.

My post was not ignorant either, it's a topic I've spent months researching.

lol most people don't care about the engine? So power, torque, driveability, FUEL ECONOMY etc. don't have any impact on vehicle purchases?

What exactly are you comparing the Falcon to? The entire Mazda range? Compare either the entire range of both manufacturers, or one model against one model.

If you want facts, heres one. Right now, Ford are up 4.4% on sales between 07 and 08 last month. Mazda are down 24% on sales between 07 and 08 last month. And thats not 24% down in just fleet sales, its private sales too.

The closest thing Mazda have to the Falcon is the Mazda6 which sold only 720 vehicles last month. Falcon sold 2,747 sedans and 1,071 utes. So 720 v. over 3800 vehicles. Im pretty sure that tells you that the Falcon is still more appealing to the Australian consumer than the Mazda equivalent, even if you take fleet sales out.

What kills Holden and Ford are their smaller car offerings (particularly Holden) produced by their global companies... Not the Australian arm. When the new Fiesta is out in January it will hurt sales of the Mazda2 very bad (seeing as its a Mazda2 with 18 months more development and a variety of advantages), and the new focus is pulling in alot of sales too (1,387 cars last month!).

I look forward to your vast array of 'facts' that you have spent months researching, particularly private sales of say Falcon vs. Mazda6 last month.