rmc523 Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 Ford CEO Suddenly Reopens The Door To A New Falcon Ute | Carscoops Ford has done rather well for itself with pickups like the Maverick, Ranger, and F-Series. Yet in Australia, plenty of fans still look back fondly on the days of Falcon-based utes, the car-based pickups that once defined the local market. That lingering nostalgia might not remain nostalgia for long, because Ford’s CEO has hinted that a modern car-based unibody pickup could be on the table. Jim Farley, currently visiting Australia, spoke to local outlet CarExpert, revealing his interest in a vehicle that captures the spirit of the Falcon ute. “I think this country gave the globe the ute,” the Ford CEO said, adding that he is “pretty serious” about bringing something like it back. Farley was careful not to reveal much else. “I’m not saying anything about where it’s from or what it looks like,” he said, noting that the idea is still under internal discussion at Ford. What he did confirm is that a decision on the unibody ute project could come very soon. The final call is expected this week, before he leaves Australia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeluxeStang Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 This is really badass. I know he's mostly talking about doing this for the Aussies if it gets made at all, but I really hope they consider bringing it stateside. We're truck crazy, and things like the ranchero and El Camino seemed to sell pretty well for decades. I know some disagree, but I'd love to see a truck from Ford that didn't look like a traditional truck. I believe a decent amount of consumers would like something with truck utility and flexibility, but with car styling and driving characteristics, especially if it's done in a really neat way. Instead of just doing a truck that pulls from a boring looking car like a focus or fusion, create a ground up unique design that pulls styling inspiration from something like the mustang. I'm not saying use the mustang brand, but that type of design. The low, sporty look, a sharp front end. Maybe doing some sort of sail pillar behind the cab that emulates the fastback of a mustang coupe. Fenders that flare out a bit more, you get the picture. It's a fun idea, and it gets even better if you think of it as an affordable vehicle. Something using CE1 for instance. A fun, highly customizable ute would coupe styling that young people can actually afford and use to enter the car scene in a cool way. It's products like that which would give a platform like CE1 serious street cred as a desirable and aspirational platform. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasota Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 I gotta admit, that green Mondeo rendering struck a cord with me. It looks fantastic! I would drive it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 Farley is one of those CEOs who likes to shoot the breeze with enthusiasts and I suspect this is another instance where people read way more into what he says than just some wish that these products were possible. The Falcon pickup was actually a half chassis. Ford recently acquired a third production plant in Thailand, rumour is it will produce C2 product rather than Asia Pacific countries having to go to Ford Europe or North America. Short list would be Maverick, Bronco Sport or Chinese Territory. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeluxeStang Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 So just playing around a bit with AI and a quick sketch I did. Not quite what I had in mind, this is a little less boxy and muscle car-ish than that I sketched up, but it does an ok job of illustrating what I'm talking about. A lot of utes don't work super well visually for one primary reason, they often aren't visually cohesive. What I mean by that is you'll have something like a boxy truck with an upright truck front end, but they try to put an coupe roofline on it, or going the other way, you'll have a fluid coupe design, and the rear of the cab will have the standard straight cab rear and bedside, and it just looks off (Modern ranchero renderings where it's just a mustang with a truck bed show what I'm talking about). It would be really cool if you had a ute that from a distance, just looked like a well styled coupe, sleek lines and profile. You have no idea it's a truck until you walk around and see the bed opening. Kinda like how the cybertruck does it but imagine attractive coupe styling instead of looking like a triangle on wheels. A pretty fresh product that gives you the ability to have a great looking coupe with a more usable backseat, and the ability to haul a couch when you need to. Keep in mind as well if it was like the height of a mustang, maybe slightly taller, even with the angled roof, it wouldn't be hard to grab stuff out of the bed. If well executed, and offered for a decent price on CE1, a lot of us younger buyers would fall head over heels for such a vehicle. I know it's radical, but sometimes a radical product is what you need to excite people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-dubz Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 There is a reason sedan based utes went away in Australia. Maverick would do well there and would be cheaper 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 Falcon ute for Australia and Ranchero car/truck the North America will be one and the same. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeluxeStang Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 47 minutes ago, twintornados said: Falcon ute for Australia and Ranchero car/truck the North America will be one and the same. Is this confirmed or just fun fan speculation? I wonder if this "ute" is the CE1 truck then just by a different name and they're exporting it to other regions. Or if the ranchero/falcon ute is possibly the affordable truck Ford's been talking about to put in their truck plant. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 58 minutes ago, DeluxeStang said: Is this confirmed or just fun fan speculation? I wonder if this "ute" is the CE1 truck then just by a different name and they're exporting it to other regions. Or if the ranchero/falcon ute is possibly the affordable truck Ford's been talking about to put in their truck plant. Farley was in Australia to sign off of a pickup under development, I suspect it’s the RHD version of Maverick The sports pickup he was mentioning could possibly be the Lobo version…. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 3 hours ago, DeluxeStang said: Is this confirmed or just fun fan speculation? I wonder if this "ute" is the CE1 truck then just by a different name and they're exporting it to other regions. Or if the ranchero/falcon ute is possibly the affordable truck Ford's been talking about to put in their truck plant. Fun fan speculation....but, it would spread the cost amortization over a wider area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GearheadGrrrl Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 Farley and the Fords are in Melbourne for the F1 race with AU Supercars races thrown in too. The Fords seem to love Australia, not the first time they've come over for a Supercars race. Besides newcomer Toyota and Ford's Mustangs, GM is still racing the outa production Camaro in Supercars and Nascar too. And here in the USA. in Nascar Toyotas look like Camrys again, the "Camaro" looks like a Malibu again, and the Mustang seems to look more like a sedan again too... Whatsup? GM has been first to show it's cards, announcing that the CT4/5 that shares a platform with the Camaro will live to see another generation. GM ain't gonna build a platform for just Cadillac, so another generation of Camaros and rear/all wheel drive sedans for Chevy and maybe Buick are coming too. Ford is already hinting at a future sedan, and it ain't gonna be a Fiesta/Focus replacement- something sharing platforms with the Mustang with rear/all wheel drive is a profitable product. Adding line extensions like wagons and Utes just helps add more volume to profit off the investment. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorpsychology Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 16 hours ago, T-dubz said: There is a reason sedan based utes went away in Australia. Maverick would do well there and would be cheaper They went away along with all other Ford production in 2016. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeluxeStang Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 14 hours ago, jpd80 said: Farley was in Australia to sign off of a pickup under development, I suspect it’s the RHD version of Maverick The sports pickup he was mentioning could possibly be the Lobo version…. Didn't he say he would want something different to the maverick if they ended up making a new ute? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeluxeStang Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 If it's not an EV, maybe it's based on cd6? As explorerdude has confirmed Ford plans to offer more cd6 products? I feel like it would be smart for Ford to use one platform for everything unibody and rwd moving forward provided that doesn't compromise said products. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeluxeStang Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 Just some more AI fun. This design is closer to what I originally sketched, and is something that would be much easier to put into production. Hopefully one can understand the kind of vehicle I'm describing, a ute that looks more like a cohesive coupe design with a bed instead of a Frankenstein design mashed together that looks off-putting. This is how I would want something like a new ranchero to look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 (edited) 5 hours ago, DeluxeStang said: Didn't he say he would want something different to the maverick if they ended up making a new ute? No, he did his best not to reveal too much. One thing I did find in other report was comments from a person near the proving ground was describing something styled like Bronco Sport pickup. That would make sense if the new plant in Thailand will make something different for the Asia/Aussie market… Still it’s fun to speculate even if it’s wrong. Ford AUS has been wanting Maverick for years but couldn’t arrange it out of Mexico because RHD costs but if production is in Thailand, it might be easier sell for the region in both LHD and RHD. Quote “We have really been successful with Maverick….No, I don’t think it should be the same, necessarily. I’m not going to get into specifics. All I’m saying is, Aussies would love – on paper – a unibody, efficient, even performance ute because they have previously.” Edited March 7 by jpd80 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 And here’s the real reason for Farley’s visit to Australia, T6 engineering in Australia is in peril. Quote https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/ford-ceo-warns-ranger-development-may-leave-australia-without-regulation-changes Ford CEO warns Ranger development may leave Australia without regulation changes Ford’s global boss says the Blue Oval's Australian product engineering squad could move overseas unless the government's emissions laws are tweaked. “It’s a choice, because that engineering can be done in a lot of other places cheaper and faster,” Mr Farley told media including CarExpert. “Here in Australia, versus China or Vietnam or other places, there is a premium for innovation. So we’re willing to pay, but your government has to decide if they want engineers in their country, or do you want a country of hairdressers and bankers?” “They need to decide if they want to help us equalise the cost differential, because this is among the most expensive places to have engineers on the planet.” 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasota Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 21 hours ago, jpd80 said: And here’s the real reason for Farley’s visit to Australia, T6 engineering in Australia is in peril. I sure hope T6 engineering remains. The Aussie's have done an amazing job with the current gen Ranger. Can't wait to get mine in April. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 1 hour ago, Texasota said: I sure hope T6 engineering remains. The Aussie's have done an amazing job with the current gen Ranger. Can't wait to get mine in April. Sound like it's up to the gummint..... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 On 3/6/2026 at 1:44 PM, T-dubz said: There is a reason sedan based utes went away in Australia. Maverick would do well there and would be cheaper Agree On 3/6/2026 at 2:36 PM, twintornados said: Falcon ute for Australia and Ranchero car/truck the North America will be one and the same. Maybe On 3/7/2026 at 1:14 PM, jpd80 said: No, he did his best not to reveal too much. One thing I did find in other report was comments from a person near the proving ground was describing something styled like Bronco Sport pickup. That would make sense if the new plant in Thailand will make something different for the Asia/Aussie market… Still it’s fun to speculate even if it’s wrong. Ford AUS has been wanting Maverick for years but couldn’t arrange it out of Mexico because RHD costs but if production is in Thailand, it might be easier sell for the region in both LHD and RHD. That Suzuki plant that Ford bought has all kinds of production planning possibilities. If Ford set it up as C2 plant, then I think RHD Bronco Sport and Maverick are the most obvious product. Or they maybe thinking about adding more T6... I could see it go either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 On 3/7/2026 at 4:14 PM, jpd80 said: No, he did his best not to reveal too much. One thing I did find in other report was comments from a person near the proving ground was describing something styled like Bronco Sport pickup. That would make sense if the new plant in Thailand will make something different for the Asia/Aussie market… Still it’s fun to speculate even if it’s wrong. Ford AUS has been wanting Maverick for years but couldn’t arrange it out of Mexico because RHD costs but if production is in Thailand, it might be easier sell for the region in both LHD and RHD. I’ve thought for a while now that Maverick and Bronco sport would be good global products 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 9 hours ago, bzcat said: Agree Maybe That Suzuki plant that Ford bought has all kinds of production planning possibilities. If Ford set it up as C2 plant, then I think RHD Bronco Sport and Maverick are the most obvious product. Or they maybe thinking about adding more T6... I could see it go either way. Interesting tidbit, there was a poster on the link in OP that claims to see what sounds like a Bronco Sport pickup at the Lara proving ground. Might be bull but willing to keep open mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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