Ford's Assembly Plant 1 at Broadmeadows has commenced production of the FG X Falcon and SZ MkII Territory – just two years shy of its official closure date.
Claimed by the manufacturer to be the best Falcon ever, the new FG X model boasts a significant reduction in fuel consumption without detriment to driveability, and features restyled sheet metal plus Ford's SYNC2 in-car connectivity system (with voice and touch screen control), reversing camera, front parking sensors and new interior trim materials and instrument graphics added to the standard specification. "Years of design and development brings us to this point and the whole team have been laser-focused on bringing customers the best ever Falcon, and seeing them come off the production line, ready for owners, is a great moment for all of us here at Ford," said Falcon and Territory Vehicle Line Director, David Wilkinson.
Perhaps alleviating consumer concerns that the final two years of production will be in the hands of demoralised factory staff, Wilkinson was quoted in a press release saying that the final Falcon and Territory will built to the highest possible quality.
"Ford has a rigorous global quality process that we follow to ensure Falcon and Territory are built to the highest Ford standards for our customers and without a doubt, these are the best cars we've ever made here at Broadmeadows."
Inside, the Falcon will offer a tan trim option for G6E and G6E Turbo models, with black carpet providing a contrast. XR models and the G6E Turbo are coordinated in an upper level cabin colour named Shadow, while the counterpart in the base-grade Falcon and G6E models is named Limestone. Bound in perforated leather, the steering wheel for Falcon XR variants features a coordinating thread. XR6 models come equipped with a prestige audio system and sports-oriented cloth seats, pedals and instrument cluster. XR8 seats are trimmed in leather and the audio system (with amplifier and subwoofer) runs through nine speakers.
The new Falcon and Territory are scheduled to go on sale from December 1.
Pictures show G6E with tan trim option, base Falcon, XR6 and XR8 interiors