Ford Performance Vehicles, Australia

[the_wildthing]

What is it with the Australian car market that they have this? http://www.fpv.com.au/

They even have pick-up/trucks with muscle car power.

Is this available anywhere else?

I've always associated Ford with big SUVs and no-nonsense, almost boring sedans (except maybe the sporty Focus from the UK).

[KoKoNAT]

Ford - Australia, though a subsidiary of Global Ford, has a different marketing strategy from Ford - US. Ford - Australia has its own R&D and car manufacturing facilities (based in Melbourne) that caters specifically to the Australian market.

Prior to the 2005 petrol price increases, the largest segment of the Australian new car sales has always been the family car, a full-size sedan (or station-wagon variant). These cars are the big cars with 6- or 8-cyl engines. Ford - Australia's entry in this segment is the RWD-only Falcon with is basic configuration having a 4.0l straight-six engine. Its rival in the segment is Holden's (a GM subsidiary) Commodore (also RWD only) whose basic configuration has a 3.6l V6 engine.

It is only logical that in such a large segment there will be a market for people who wants high performance variants of their favorite full-size cars. Thus, Ford - Australia has a unit, FPV (Ford Performance Vehicles) that caters to this need. Think Toyota's TRD or Mitsubishi's Ralliart or Nissan's NISMO. Holden also has its own called the HSV (Holden Special Vehicles).

As for that pickup truck/car hybrid, its called a utility vehicle (or 'ute' for short). Born out of people who wants car handling/comfort and a pickup's cargo capability. Think a normal full-size sedan that has a pickup's cargo bay behind the cabin instead of a rear seat and a trunk. A vehicle that handles like a car, drives like a car but can carry loads like a truck. An Australian workhorse favoured by tradesmen (plumbers, carpenters, etc). Since its virtually the same platform as the full-size sedans, high performance variants of utes are also made for those who wants a lot of oomph out of their ute.

Sorry about the long post but I can't explain it without getting into details.

HTH.

[AG4]

What is it with the Australian car market that they have this? http://www.fpv.com.au/

They even have pick-up/trucks with muscle car power.

Is this available anywhere else?

Its a mystery, was Australia affected by the oil-crisis of the 70's? It looks like their love for large displacement gas guzzling V8s never died.
Its only now that the muscle cars are being revived again in the US, currently Ford's only affordable performance car in the US is the Ford Mustang.
The American equivalent of FPV is SVT(Special Vehicle Team), but they no longer exist, the 2007 475hp Shelby Cobra GT500 is the last high performance Ford to carry the SVT badge, future high performance Mustangs will no longer carry the SVT badge, while other SVT models like the Focus SVT, F-150 Lightning along with the planned SVT version of the Explorer Sport Trac(Adrenalin) and Fusion SVT were killed-off. One of the reasons? They said that too much development went to the Ford GT exotic car and development for future models stalled and were eventually cancelled.

Now with the Australian Ford Falcon based cars, all models including the pickup version(ute) have no LHD version because of the location of some mechanical components in the engine bay(it really was engineered to be a RHD car), it was never intended to be sold outside its main market which is Australia and New Zealand. The Falcon's 245hp 4.0-liter inline-6 base engine might also seem too large for Asian and European markets.

Unlike Ford Australia, Holden's role is becoming more global, since they are the ones heading the development of GM's new RWD large car platform(Zeta).
Some cars that will be built on the Zeta platform:
2007 VE Holden Commodore
2008/09 Pontiac GTO coupe
2008/09 Chevrolet Camaro
2008 Chevrolet Impala
2009 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
2009 Buick sedan/coupe (inspired by the Velite concept)

Cadillac will continue with its RWD/AWD "Sigma" luxury car platform.

PS:In the past few years Holden has been exporting RHD and LHD models to other countries as Buicks(China), Pontiac GTO(North America) and under GM's global Chevy brand(Thailand, South Africa and Middle East).

I guess one of the other reasons they have limited export markets is because eveb their base engines are large.

[KoKoNAT]

Its a mystery, was Australia affected by the oil-crisis of the 70's? It looks like their love for large displacement gas guzzling V8s never died.

You can say that again. The most popular racing series here is NOT the F1 Grand Prix rather it's the V8 Supercar Series. This is no boring run-around-in-an-oval-like-NASCAR type of thing either. Its a real track with hairpin curves and straight lines. I can see why the Aussies love this thing. The 2006 season started with the Clipsal 500 here in Adelaide. Though we live a fair bit from the track, we can still hear the roar of the big V8s during the main events.

[squala]

Ford Australia and Holden, as far as I can remember, have more or less the same engine technology as their US parent companies. Falcon is to Commodore as Mustang is to Camaro, something like that. Also, take note that the current Pontiac GTO is a twin of the Holden Monaro.

[AG4]

Ford Australia and Holden, as far as I can remember, have more or less the same engine technology as their US parent companies. Falcon is to Commodore as Mustang is to Camaro, something like that. Also, take note that the current Pontiac GTO is a twin of the Holden Monaro.

The V8 engines of Holden and Ford Australia are based on GM and Ford's American V8 engines. (Holden actually imports its 6.0 liter V8 from North America)
The base DOHC inline-6 of the Falcon was developed in Australia while the Commodore's 3.6 liter Alloytec V6(HFV6) is a joint venture between Holden and GM of North America with the help of Opel and Ricardo PLC of England, it was first introduced in the 2004 Cadillac CTS.

The Next gen GTO and Camaro will use the GM-Holden developed Global RWD Zeta platform, unlike the current GTO, they will have their own unique body and will be built in North America.

[ghosthunter]

Hi... currently in Melbourne, Australia... I've seen those sedan based pickup vehicles on the streets either in service vehicle form or street racer form. I have just one comment: "I want one!"

[mfo]

Sa pagkakaalam ko, rival car to ng Holden Monaro. Dunno kung sigurado.

[KoKoNAT]

Sa pagkakaalam ko, rival car to ng Holden Monaro. Dunno kung sigurado.

FPV is not a car. Its a unit of Ford - Australia, like Toyota's TRD or Nissan's NISMO. It soups up any ordinary car in the Ford lineup and turns it into a monster that belongs more on a track than the road. At the moment, FPV only does Falcon sedans and utes but word is they plan on doing Territory SUV and Focus small sedan in the future as well. Ford - Australia does not have a car out of the factory to rival Holden's Monaro.

Holden has its own unit called HSV (Holden Special Vehicles) that does the same thing to Commodore sedans and utes. They thinking of doing an HSV Astra too. They've released a concept HSV Astra coupe last year at motorshows.

[oldblue]

sa australia ata dapat yun mga vehicles nila can withstand a kangaroo impact lalo na pag gamit pang-byahe

[KoKoNAT]

sa australia ata dapat yun mga vehicles nila can withstand a kangaroo impact lalo na pag gamit pang-byahe

di naman... pero kung madalas kang mag inter-state o sa rural area ka, mas advisable na mag lagay ka ng bullbar sa mga auto mo kahit kotse lang at hindi SUV. pero meron ngayong gadget na peding ikabit sa harap ng kotse mo na nag e emit ng ultrasonic signal para i scare away ang kahit anong hayop sa path ng kotse mo. so useful pati sa mga wombats o koalas na rin... last november, nag interstate ako Adelaid-Sydney-Adelaide... dami akong nakitang kangaroo roadkill pero sa awa ng Diyos wala namang akong tinamaan...

[ghosthunter]

I've seen these and similar Holden brand UTEs in syndey & melbourne australia. They look very good, especially with a fiberglass rear flatbed cover and big shiny alloy wheels.

They even look better than Mitsu Evo, Subaru WRX and Nissan Skylines R34s which I also saw in good numbers while I was there.

[ghosthunter]