Ford Australia to kill off FPV by 2014 in advance of Mustang return

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Filed under: Performance, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Ford, Australia


Ford seems to be having a good time yanking our friends in Australia about. First, there was the news that after 90 years, the Blue Oval would be ending Australian production, effectively killing the legendary Falcon sedan. Then, yesterday came the announcement that Oz would be getting the next-generation, global Ford Mustang in 2016. And now, we have news regarding Ford's Australian tuning partner, FPV.

The group responsible for hot Falcons will be disbanded in 2014, according to Aussie newspaper The Age. FPV's most recent creation, the GT Falcon, will be discontinued. This news isn't a tremendous shock, as FPV was recently taken in-house by Ford. The tuning house's death will not lead to any job loss.

Ford will reportedly continue building Falcons with the GT's mechanicals, though. That means its 449-horsepower, supercharged V8 will live to fight another Holden. Along with the GT's upgraded suspension and brakes, the new model will wear the unused XR8 badge, allowing Ford to continue building cars for enthusiasts without spending extra on the pricey styling bits of the GT Falcon.

The XR8 Falcon's days will still be numbered, though. Falcon production is still on track to end, at which point the Mustang will look to take over the XR8's performance reins. The Falcon will well and truly die when the Mustang takes over for it in the V8 Supercars series, and the US-built Taurus arrives to handle the sedan's more domestic duties.Ford Australia to kill off FPV by 2014 in advance of Mustang return originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Jul 2013 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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