Are FORD leaving V8 supertaxi's??

[TSR]

Going by the story in today Sydney Sun Herald FORD are under considering scalling down there involment in the supertaxi, saying that FORD used to be a FALCON MOTOR COMPANY,but under today climate with all the eco stuff FORD are now focusing on the MONDEO, FOCUS and FEISTA.

And Mr Gorman gave Aussie Bernie a little spray saying that the v8supertaxi' do have a used by date.But Mr Gorman did say FORD will always be involed in motorsport in Australia.

So is it only a matter of time before the supertaxi become a one horse race.( Going by this year result it is already happening )

[D.R.T.]

I believe Mr Cattach did retort by mentioning they had Toyota in the wings. However IF Ford did pull out because of a lack of relevant to its motoring sales, would Toyota be willing to jump in against Holden ?

[pete55]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

I believe Mr Cattach did retort by mentioning they had Toyota in the wings. However IF Ford did pull out because of a lack of relevant to its motoring sales, would Toyota be willing to jump in against Holden ?

I doubt it.

[TSR]

Me too, why would Toyota poor millions into something with a used date on it. But on the other hand Toyota is the Number 1 Car Company in Australia and the World, but then again why would they.

[kmsport]

"P-O-P".....Was that a big bubble I heard bursting?

[Razor]

If the Toyota decideds to replace Ford, what car would the Japanese car maker use? Camry? Aurion? Hilux ?

[TSR]

Originally Posted by Razor

If the Toyota decideds to replace Ford, what car would the Japanese car maker use? Camry? Aurion? Hilux ?

Come on Razor, I reckon Toyota will pick the YARIS at least it might have a chance against the walkinshoody VE.

[FPV GTHO]

Why is the only option for Toyota being discussed that of replacing Ford, not joining them and Holden?

[Raglanparade]

I think its inevitable that Ford may leave. If Ford leaves the V8 program, it frees up money to spend on Marketing the small cars better. The small car product, Focus and Fiesta are amongst the best cars in the world in there catagory.

Halo marketing (v8 Supercar) only gets you so far, but maybe Ford is weighing up whats better for its resources.. spending how many Millions a year on the overpriced supertaxi's?? or spending the money wisely promoting the cars that actually sell ??

The V8 Supercars could be Aurion v Commodore v 380 and i wouldnt care less to be honest.

[pete55]

I don't think Toyota would support more than 3 or 4 teams at the most. Would this mean Holden would have to run the other dozen teams?

[TSR]

Originally Posted by pete55

I don't think Toyota would support more than 3 or 4 teams at the most. Would this mean Holden would have to run the other dozen teams?

And Holden are not travelling along that good either

[FPV GTHO]

Maybe its about time then the whole category was binned for something more favourable

[stmorri]

There still would be private teams prepared to run Falcons in the championship but there would need to be a system of success ballast as a measure of parity to even things up......come to to think of it they need success ballast now for 2007.

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by FPV GTHO

Maybe its about time then the whole category was binned for something more favourable

like?

[pete55]

Of those privateer Falcon teams, would they continue running the BF for the next two years thereby getting value out of that model. Wouldn't that sort of cheapen V8 Supercars, even more than it is now with VZ's still running.

[FPV GTHO]

Originally Posted by peckstar

like?

Something that isnt $500K per new race car.

How much do you think of that is simply going into the suspension, considering not a single piece from either the Falcons or Commodores would be shared with a road going unit.

[Peter Ford]

cant see ford pulling oit of the series,because they have too many fans who will be upset and they have drivers under contract,where would these drivers go?.

[peckstar]

fair enough, the cost do seem to have gone high. the TREC will be lower next year, but still room for improvement, at the end of the day when i win 30 mill in powerball this week, i would struggle to be able to justify 6 mill to race next year.

[Henry]

Originally Posted by Peter Ford

cant see ford pulling oit of the series,because they have too many fans who will be upset and they have drivers under contract,where would these drivers go?.

Didn't stop them in 1973, or 1979... or from attempting to prevent the XD from being homologated for touring car racing (allegedly because they thought the formula was a little one-sided...) ...or from pulling the Cleveland V8's in 1982... was just thinking about the GT's anniversary... did you realise that the 20th anniversary of the XR GT passed without a V8 of any sort in the local lineup?

I couldn't blame them - I'd like to see them put their time into a production -based category.. provided something like that could be found, and run competently...

[peckstar]

and henry, its costing them now i reckon. those kids that didnt grow up with falcosn under there nose on race day are now buying commodores

[billy bigtime]

Originally Posted by peckstar

and henry, its costing them now i reckon. those kids that didnt grow up with falcosn under there nose on race day are now buying commodores

Correct but the majority are still being sold to Fleets. With Fleets trying to save on fuel costs I doubt wether any great advantage will come out of V8SC in the future. Small and Medium size cars will take over. And unless you want to drive a Daewoo, Ford should decimate Holden in these segments.

[Peddler]

I love it! I would love Tony Cochrane to fall flat on his arse and get someone to get some real racing on Australian racetracks.

With the success of 2litre style touring cars all over Europe getting massive coverage and spectators flocking to events... i would love to see this emulated in Australia. I would also like to see a more a structured format where we could infact have an "International" touring car class.

Yes i know, V8's are so Aussie... but who gives a stuff! I want entertaining racing not a bunch of ***** pussy footing around a track so not to upset anyone.

[SSbaby]

The news doesn't surprise me. FoMoCo have had a long history of pulling its motorsport program, dependent on its corporate mood at the time. Don't get me wrong, I don't blame Ford for reviewing its commitment when you look at things from a business angle:

Ford V8Supercar drivers are probably the highest paid with little return on track wins.

Ford V8 sales are a fraction of Holden's. Ford are doing it much tougher than Holden in the market, ATM - don't forget, Holden's huge export programs in place.

The exposure Ford/Holden seem to get from V8SC just targets a finite market... and you don't have to drive a Ford/Holden to the V8SC races just to enjoy the racing!

Most Australians know that V8SC bear little relevance to the showroom cars. Is it any wonder Toyota are killing em both in overall sales? Don't get me wrong, Toyota's products use more fuel than Ford/Holden's V8s (i.e Landcruiser, Prado etc...) but Toyota have a huge range, the right mix of vehicles (which are priced right) and the parent company is generating so much cash, it's spending all the profit it makes here on marketing.

[racer69]

Since when does canning the V8Supercar program mean that it would be canning it's motorsport program.

Any V8 pullout would be in favour of marketing the smaller cars, something which the Super2000 Fiesta in the ARC would fit into nicely.

Originally Posted by stmorri

There still would be private teams prepared to run Falcons in the championship but there would need to be a system of success ballast as a measure of parity to even things up......come to to think of it they need success ballast now for 2007.

A) Why would you want to use success ballast for anything, isn't the deal artificially contrived enough already?

B) Why would the series want to keep a car competitive from a manufacturer that wasn't interested in supporting the series?

[Robert Ryan]

With the success of 2litre style touring cars all over Europe getting massive coverage and spectators flocking to events... i would love to see this emulated in Australia. I would also like to see a more a structured format where we could infact have an "International" touring car class.

Also you would see rapidly the death of Australian roadracing. Speedway and Drag Racing would takeover as the major categories here. 2 litre series are far from successful in Europe, FIA GT, and Singleseater categories tend to outrank them. See how many people watch the BTCC?

Most Australians know that V8SC bear little relevance to the showroom cars. Is it any wonder Toyota are killing em both in overall sales?

Don't get me wrong, Toyota's products use more fuel than Ford/Holden's V8s (i.e Landcruiser, Prado etc...) but Toyota have a huge range, the right mix of vehicles (which are priced right) and the parent company is generating so much cash, it's spending all the profit it makes here on marketing.

But they are loath to get involved with local racing.Sounds like a lose lose situation for local industry and Australian Racing.
logically two very different issues, one is to do with the price of petrol and another is a racing series.