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Originally Posted by GreenMachine
Emphasis added.
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Not allowed, or couldn't make a business case? Ford has a habit of not going bankrupt. Who said they weren't allowed anyway?
Anyway, the main problem with the Falcon is that the Ford brand is not seen as 'Australia's own', even though that's a perception rather than reality.
Commodore is the car for (in general) people who are ‘sheep’ and want to look like everyone else. It would not matter how much better quality Falcons are, a lot of people would rather buy a Holden with the harsh V6 just to conform to the majority.
Ford had a reprieve when Holden released the first Commodore, which was too small. Once Holden matched the Falcon size, it was game over. There is still a market for the Falcon, but it won't return to its halcyon days of the 1980s and 1990s.
A lot of the discerning buyers who used to buy Falcons are now looking at European or Japanese brands now that the high Australian dollar makes them so relatively cheap, particularly if they want to downsize a bit. I suspect Commodore drivers would be the last to consider the other brands.
If the Australian dollar remains outrageous high, there won't be any Australian car manufacturers in the future - period.