It's about time to start the lookout for the next Ford Falcon.

Scheduled for late 2007 calender year, it's going to be RWD, IRS, and no changes in it's engine lineup.

The car's design is supposed to be influenced by the Ford's Iosis concept, and Ford recently sent over a design director, Scott Strong, from Ford-NA (who originally came here from Ford Australia) to oversee the project. Intrestingly, this person also worked as head of design for SVT & has had his hand in other Ford NA designs.

Although the "Orion" (Ford's codename for the project) will not be exported to the US, it's expected to be based on a newer RWD chassis, and since the bulk of the car was developed here in the US, is expected to be a version of a car Ford-NA car. It's not clear if this means a all-new RWD Ford sedan for the US or if this means a streached version of the new Ford Mustang's D2C chassis (current Falcons are the result of continuing evolution of the 60's US Falcon-Maverick).

Ford's Chicago assembly plant was built with the ability to assemble both FWD, AWD, & RWD vehicles


Information on the Commodore VE is expected to appear in the Australian press later today (Friday morning in Australia's East Coast), and the Comodore VE will be in production later this summer. Ford's new Falcon line is expected to hit the streets 1 year later. GM-NA's Commodore based RWD sedans is expected the year following.

 

THat car would sell well in the USA

 

I thought the AU Falcon was BOF?