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The Ford Falcon is a full-sized car which has been manufactured by the Ford Motor Company of Australia since 1960. From the XA series of 1972 onward, each Falcon and range of derivates have been designed, developed, and built in Australia, following the phasing out of the American-influenced Falcon of 1960 to 1971, which had been re-engineered locally as the XK to XY series for the harsher Australian conditions. The luxury-oriented Ford Fairmont model joined the range from 1965. Luxury long-wheelbase derivative versions called the Ford Fairlane and LTD arrived in 1967 and 1973, respectively. The Ford Falcon and its derivates have been Australian-made best-sellers, with over 3,000,000 sales in seven generations to 2003, almost exclusively in Australia and New Zealand, but also South Africa. Along with its closest Australian-made rival, the Holden Commodore, the Falcon has dominated the ranks of taxis in Australia and New Zealand, as well as police car and company fleets. In its last incarnation as the FG X series, the body style of the Falcon range consisted of sedan and utility body styles. Originally, however, its range also included a panel van, station wagon, and hardtop (coupe). Luxury variants of the current model Falcon, collectively known as the G Series, are marketed as the Ford G6, G6E, and G6E Turbo, which replaced the long-standing Fairmont and Fairmont Ghia models. Other Falcon-based models no longer produced are the Futura and Landau, as well as the long-wheelbase Fairlane and LTD. In May 2013, Ford Australia announced the end of local production, which comprises Falcon and its closely related Territory crossover SUV, by October 2016.〔 This decision is attributable to Ford Motor Company's "One Ford" product development plan introduced in 2008〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Speedy Delivery–Global Product Development System Defines Ford )〕 to rationalise its global range. Under this plan, Falcon's indirect replacements are the fourth-generation Mondeo from Europe and the sixth-generation Mustang from North America – the latter to retain Ford's Australian V8 heritage. == First generation (1960–1966) == During the 1950s, Ford's Australian sales were faltering due to the popularity of the Holden which did not have an effective competitor. Ford assembled the British Zephyr and its Consul and Zodiac derivatives. However, while these cars were moderately successful and had a good reputation, Ford could not match Holden's price, so sales suffered. One of the reasons for the price difference was the higher cost of imported parts, which were subject to an import tariff. Ford also assembled Canadian-sourced Ford V8 models, but these cars were in a higher price category, putting them out of reach of the average buyer.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Ford Falcon XK )〕 Hence, Ford decided to commence local production of a Holden challenger. Initially, they intended to produce the Zephyr, Consul, and Zodiac, using expensive dies they would need to purchase from Ford of Britain. However, during a visit to Ford headquarters in Detroit in 1958, they were shown the new Falcon, which was being prepared for its US launch. Immediately, the executives were attracted to the new car- it was about the same size as Holden, but it was low, long, wide and modern. The width allowed it to accommodate six people, and a two-speed automatic transmission was available. Besides all this, Ford Australia felt they had more experience building North American cars. Hence, they decided to make Falcon their new Australian car. In 1959, Ford built a factory at Broadmeadows, a suburb of Melbourne, for local production of the North American Ford Falcon. The factory was designed in Canada, and had a roof which would facilitate dispersal of snow – notwithstanding the fact that snow does not usually fall in Melbourne. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ford Falcon (Australia)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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