It seems like only yesterday that Ford was a mighty force to be reckoned with. Fords raced around the mountain at Bathurst, trying fling Holden into the kitty litter under the guise of a slip of an elbow.  However, the battle wasn’t restricted to the track, oh no.

Ford battled Holden in sales too, with near 50% of the market. They elbowed each other, like fat two grannies at a buffet, for 1st place in buyers’ hearts. Since then, at least in Australia, Ford has become a sad shadow of its former self, relying on the Ranger for ¾ of its sales. It is not only incredibly dangerous, but an unbelievably stupid place for a retailer to find itself in, so how did it happen?

First of all, Ford has done a little better than Holden, which as you know, is now defunct. It died after its Yankee parent, GM, pulled out of all right-hand drive markets. What a complete schnozzle. Holden, like ford, relied on their big selling passenger cars to carry the company. As tastes changed, so did the fortunes of the “Big Two.” Neither of them read the room, and after both Commodore and Falcon declined in sales, there was nothing for punters to ponder.

Ford now sits in 5th place behind Toyota, Mazda, Hyundai, and Kia, in year-to-date sales. What’s worse, Ford has a mere 1/3 of Toyota’s sales, which must burn like a bitch.

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ABOVE: Ford models

That brings us up to date. Over the last few years, Ford all but abandoned passenger cars. Of 8,546 cars sold by the American car maker last month, 6,058 were the mega-butch Ford Ranger Ute. The excellent, but unloved Mondeo was dumped, leaving only Mustang, Focus and Fiesta to carry the flag for non-SUV buyers. Together, they sold a miserable 541 units last month. Ford’s Puma and Everest SUVs make up a further 1160 vehicles, for the manufacturer that once built all their cars here in Australia.

In a final indignity, although Ranger is the number one seller in the country for last month, it only takes a glitch or a change in taste for that to slip. We’ve seen Corolla sales collapse to number 10, and Toyota Land Cruiser slipped out of the top 10 altogether, with a mere 1,162 units finding new homes.

You might think the gorgeous Mustang is a strong seller. You see them everywhere, but 437 ‘Stangs were sold last month. Worse still, Ford took a knock with Mustang getting a terrible 2-Star ANCAP rating. Love them though you may, would you risk being in one?

Here’s what the boys thought:

Casper:

I’ll be honest, Ford is not a brand I’d consider. Mustang is gorgeous, but I don’t fancy being in a steaming ruin.

Dear god, what were they thinking? Then, the previous Focus ST. It was great, but psychotic, with hideous torque steer. Add to that, the problems Ford had with their dry-clutch DCT PowerShift, and any potential Ford had a supplier of choice, evaporated in slow car crash of denial, deflection, blame, and abuse. But, that’s a story for another time.

Were I to have an appetite for a new car, and I looked at the menu at the Ford Café, I’d starve.

Favourite Ford – none. (The only one I’d consider is Mustang, but I don’t have a death wish.)

Ethan:

I like Ranger a lot, and it is the only Ford I’d consider.

While I prefer the raw allure of Mustang, the safety rating is just plain bonkers. The Ranger’s look is butch, and it feels rugged, yet is easy to drive. It is very good off-road, and we use one on the farm as the hack. However, there is one big but, and that is the dreary cabin. For goodness sake, that’s where you spend most of your time, and it is just dreadful. It is full of nasty plastic, with seats alike church pews. In fact, everything that’s not right in front of the driver, feels cheap. I know it has most of the features of a normal SUV, but like the last Holden’s Colorado, the interior is, to say the least, sub par.

For someone that does no off-roading, and is not a tradie, Ford has nothing to offer me. I now own a Defender, the last of the old models. Why? because I love the look, including the slightly rampant cabin.

Ford went from being the Falcon Car Company, to the Ranger Car Company, MEH!

Favourite Ford – Mustang (but I wouldn’t actually buy one)

Max:

Ford shat the bed when it found it only one car to carry the business.

I like SUVs and have just bought a new Range Rover Sport. I hadn’t intended to spend so much, but a change in job brought with it, a new car allowance.

Whacky-do!  It is a family business so I chucked in some theoretical bucks to get the car I really wanted.

I looked at Ford, Kia, Hyundai, Land Rover, VW, and Audi. I wanted options in all price ranges just in case my budget didn’t match my fancy. The Choice came down to Ranger, Range Rover Sport, and Touareg V8. It might seem like an odd bunch, but there it is. In the end, the budget was just enough for a VW, so the Ford was out, for which I was truly thankful. I mentioned the business is a family one, so a bit of sweet talking later, the Range Rover Sport was mine, sort of.  The trade-off was that mum and I share the Rangie and a Classic Mercedes 280 SL Pagoda. Mum has had the Pagoda for 40 years, through 2 renovations. It’s gone from being worth a lot, to nothing, to about 20 times what it cost new.

In the end, Ranger just didn’t cut the mustard, and that cabin gave me the shivers.

Favourite Ford – Ranger (but we chose not to buy)

Alan:

I feel sad for Ford. The company runs the risk of going the way of Holden. Will one model keep them afloat? Who knows.

Don’t get me wrong, Ranger is great to drive, but there is no doubt it is a tradie ute. The rest of the SUV range utterly failing to capture buyer’s imagination, and their passenger car range can only be described as bijou. In a way, Ford has been lazy and rested on its laurels only to be overtaken by the Japanese and Koreans.

One thing of note was how badly Ford handled the Powershift issues. This dual clutch automatic failed dramatically, and owners complained of shabby, sub-par treatment. Reports reached us, of owners being blamed for what Ford knew to be a design issue. TSK TSK. That is not the way to endear yourself to the punters.

I haven’t driven a Ford in quite some while because the Ford spokesman declined to submit further cars for review. It doesn’t much matter because we haven’t had any requests for Ford reviews.

Favourite Ford – Focus ST (the old model, as I have not driven the current model)

Other GayCarBoys SUV Stories:

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