MKZ, MKT, MKS, MKX.....I'm going to start referring to them as the big sedan, the small sedan, the crossover, etc....(can you tell why I'm not a fan of their model designations?!)
The big sedan redesign was what I was referring to, which the RWD sedan is tentatively planned for the year following it.
Where did Ford mention it in the press?
No company makes announcements of specific upcoming models in the press until they're about to come out. Consider we all know the next gen Camaro is coming out and will be based on Alpha.......now go find where GM itself actually said it in the press.
spyman3 who posts on fordaustralia forums and is the
source of the spy photos going around of the new falcon begs to differ. he says he has documentary proof that four vehicles have been shipped from ChongQing to Melbourne. Ford deny they are Falcon but to my knowledge no one has asked them whether they are Lincolns. i have asked him to persue this but whther he does or not is up to him.
I think that Ford use a test track at China but I don't know much about it and spyman confirms its existance.
This is what spyman posted on
www.fordaustraliaforums.com and his track record is excelent.
"Hey
well ford today has confirmed that there has been cars shipped to and from china for "ABS testing and or calibrating"
ive been watching them test the braking systems here for 25 years now so why would you air freight complete cars over to china
and ive had someone close to ford confirm my paperwork as being the proving ground in china they use
anyway pics out tomorrow in goauto.com.au"
Thanks MisterMe -have fixed.
Anyone can "
say" they have documentary proof, but unless they're going to provide it or at the very least, say what that "document" is, take it with a grain of salt. And even those with an excellent track record can easily get it wrong once in awhile. But assuming he did see something, it's pretty certain that it's not a future Ford based Lincoln/Falcon that was engineered in China.
First, Ford has no test track, private test facilities, or technical center in China unless it's not listed on the list of their global facilities. If they have the facility in Brazil listed, then the list I'm using is very complete........ Next, I know that many of the next gen Falcon's parts are going to be sourced from China. Also, the Falcon was not engineering protected for left hand drive, so that would eliminate the possibility of moving production there for that market. Also, Ford is making no investment in updating the Falcon platform beyond what's planned for the upcoming final versions.
There are many other far more likely possibilities assuming for a moment the shipping story is true.
* China is an OEM for the next Falcon, so it would stand to reason that they would need actual cars to work with.
* Ford of Australia is still the region's design and concept car center. Possible a few Ford China manufactured cars were shipped down to Australia to be reworked into concepts or to serve as the platform or jump off point for redesign work.
* Car was shipped to China from here in the US for market evaluation, then shipped to Australia.
* They were simply current Chinese made current Ford cars being shipped to Australia to be run at Ford's test track down there in Australia at Yous Yang.
But the most unlikely of all possibilities, and the one that goes against probability the most, is that Ford of China created a new RWD platform, and it's being secretly shipped to Australia...... that most certainly isn't the case.
GM has
all the necessary technology to make lighter and faster cars. They have invested
NanoSteel,
magnesium sheet metal,
aluminum panel welding, and
carbon fiber thermoplastics.
Yet somehow it's Ford who plan to radically reduce the weight of their cars by 20-30% by 2020, while GM only plans a 15% weight reduction - when they're already 15% heavier than most cometition.
Sure the technology and R&D is there, but the challenge is to make it cost effective.
Yes I agree with you but what are they? There aren't too many medium/large cars in the Ford system that are known for them to be so they could be a totally new one -hence my conjecture that they may indeed be Lincolns.
Most likely next gen Tauruses. They are due next year.