Ford Falcon to Die in 2016

May. 23, 2013 3:30 AM ET by Jay Traugott / 33 Comments

Although it was predicted, the announcement of Ford's RWD Falcon being discontinued in 2016 is still hard to take.

Rumors of the death of the Australian-market Ford Falcon have been going around for some time, but now it's been confirmed by the automaker that the Falcon will end production in 2016. October 16, 2016 is the date, to be exact and the facilities that build the Falcon are slated to cut around 1,200 jobs. And the sad story gets even worse. Australia has been a long-time car enthusiast country and the rear-wheel-drive Falcon has been a competitor to the Holden Commodore for years.

But after losing more than $600 million in just five years, Ford of Australia simply can't afford to keep building the Falcon because it's not sold outside of the country and even the local market for RWD sedans is dwindling. Ford's Australian chief Bob Graziano also blamed the Falcon's death on the rising value of the Australian dollar against other nation's currencies. Unfortunately, the news is likely to get even worse. Holden is also expected to end Commodore production in the near future as well for similar reasons. For now, the updated 2014 Falcon sedan, Ute and Territory SUV are still on track to go on sale shortly.

Still, it's a sad day for Australia's car community now that Ford will become an import-only automaker there. This loss will also affect the local parts industry which in turn will harm GM Holden as well as Toyota, who also builds cars in the Land Down Under. The bottom line is that Australia's auto production won't survive much longer and instead will be replaced with imports.

Ford Falcon to Die in 2016

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