Falcon nearing end of the road

Ford's iconic Falcon may be replaced by a front wheel drive 'global' model based on the Taurus. Photo / Supplied

America and the global economy appear ready to swallow another piece of Australia's soul.

The Ford Falcon, the nation's longest-running car line and loved for the awesome muscle machines its variants have included over the past 50 years, is unlikely survive beyond the present model.

Instead of the uniquely Australian machine that has ferried several generations of families around the country, its successor will almost certainly be a new, global, model.

It is possible the name may continue on locally-badged cars, but Ford executives have made it clear that the days a of vehicle designed and built from the ground up for a small market such as Australia have passed.

More ominously, some industry commentators are worried that the end of the Falcon may also mean the end of manufacturing by Ford in Australia.

Analysts have warned that the economics of the car industry will inevitably lead to its demise here, despite denials by Ford, General Motors and Toyota.

Speculation was heightened last year by deep cuts in Holden production lines, global woes besetting international parent groups, and moves by the Australian Government to pump more money into the sector.

Canberra has pledged A$6.2 billion ($7.5 billion) in industry support.

New figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries reported that car production last year slumped to a 52-year low of 255,713 vehicles - almost 100,000 below the previous year.

Australian car-makers remain defiant, and Industry Minister Kim Carr said that the survival of local Ford, General Motors and Toyota production lines demonstrated a resilience unmatched by most of their global counterparts.

"The strength of the partnerships developed by the Government with companies and unions has allowed the Australian automotive industry to pull through the crisis with productive capacity in place and workforce substantially intact," he said.

But in the American car city of Detroit, Ford chief executive Alan Mulally this week told reporters that the company intended to have only one large-car model under its "One Ford" strategy.

"People who make one vehicle for one country - a different vehicle - those days are gone because you can't compete with the global companies," he said.

This confirmed earlier indications that the present Falcon, which will continue in production for another five years, will be replaced by a vehicle designed abroad.