Intresting GoAuto article on Ford's Holden-like investment in turning Ford Australia into a global platform development center.

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...25716900149E13

The way I read the article in the way it coresponds to other things that's happening at Ford:

1) Ford's Panther chassis (which includes Crown Vics) going to be around for at least a few more years.... possibly to the end of the decade.
2) Ford of Australia will likely be exporting cars to the middle east, a left hand drive market.
3) If Ford of Australia will be exporting, there's a good chance Ford's pulling out of the big RWD market when the Panther is finally is discontinued (Lincoln is going AWD, most likely meaning the next big Lincoln will be a variation of the Ford Five Hundred, and by association, the next Crown Vic)..
4) Finally, if..... and that's an very big "IF".... Ford does make a RWD sedan based off the next Falcon, it will be made here, and likely won't be anywhere near as high volume as the Panther chassis has been, leading me to speculate Mercury as the sole seller of the US E8 chassis.

 

So if Ford stops making Crown Vics in a few years, who picks up the lucrative RWD cop car/taxi/livery market (this also assumes Town Car bites the dust and loses the limo sales)? A new Falcon would make a great cop car if Ford would just bring it over. Surely Ford isn't just going to cede that to Dodge.

(But then, I thought the same thing about GM and the Caprice...)

 

Ford still has the Grand Marquis to pitch to that market.

 

um,m, no panther m,eans no grand marquis either..

 

So, what you are speculating is by the end of the decade, Ford's cars could be even more conservative, Toyota like than they already are?

 

No more like subaru breeds with toyota conservative (crap cant find the link), but Ford also aims to be the largest AWD domestic manufacturer.

 

AS a fan of the PAnther platform I'm glad it's gonna be around for a bit longer. A shame Ford never bothered to really update it or replace it.