Bring Back The Taxi Pack?

[vztrt]

OH NO!!! They can't do that.

I know many will probably not like it. But the way Ford are going its not the best. Also as the line is set-up Falcons need to fill the gap for the Territory and as there is no Wagon they would need something.

So with the XT pretty much dead and the Falcon still is getting used highly as a taxi (at least in Melbourne and Sydney and Brisbane) why not set up a Taxi XT for the sale. Lower cost to keep the units ticking over, no real tech in it as its not really required also keep the outside bland in the true XT way. If the boot on the LPG system has actually been fixed it would be very temping.

Issues that I would see would be:
- Problems of units built as the old LPG tank took longer to get into the car then the petrol equivalent. But this was a much bigger issue back when they were making 550 units.
- The 6 speed auto may not be favoured due to repair cost, but then again the same could have been said about the old 4-speed when it came out.
- Peoples perception of the Falcon as a Taxi, most are out there now so I don't know how this is that big of an issue.

Positives:
- Keeping the line ticking will help keep production costs down and also unit costs of Falcons lower.
- Hopefully keeping most taxi's at XT's will keep them out of higher series models.
- Low cost to get the interior to a more taxi spec which means a lower risk money wise.

I'm sure that people will not like it and I know Ford wanted to go away from the "taxi image" but I don't see the taxi industry really moving away from them. Also it might at least push the numbers up to get the media off their back and justify a business case to keep it going.

What are people's thoughts?

[barra265t]

They should have kept making BF MKIII wagons as taxi only.

[Mr Hardware]

Originally Posted by barra265t

They should have kept making BF MKIII wagons as taxi only.

amen brother
4-speed, egas, leaf springs
if only they'd gotten rid of pesky additions like abs and airbags then it'd be a dream cab
now if only they could bring it back with a hose-out interior and a bench seat
in fact, even better
just bring back the AUIII egas, best taxis there ever was.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by barra265t

They should have kept making BF MKIII wagons as taxi only.

That would have been a good idea to keep it going with the other fleet accounts.

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

if only they'd gotten rid of pesky additions like abs and airbags then it'd be a dream cab

They scare me enough with these things.

[Brazen]

Yeah making the BFIII wagon as a taxi and fleet special would of protected the image of the regular Falcons. Heck they could of called it the Falcon Longreach wagon to remove it further from the Falcon brand.

Thinking out loud....They could have also brought out a cargo version with no rear seats... (Falcon Longreach CargoWagon)

or use the bits off the RTV to make a country pack for Telstra and other utilties and govt departments. (Falcon Longreach TrailWagon)

[au2000]

lol...scarily enough i agree, i see so many yellow fg xr6's & g6's here now... it really doesent matter anymore, taxi drivers prefer falcons due to realiability etc & still buy them second hand at auctions then paint them & run them... ford may as well strip a falcon down to bare bones & flog them off cheep & keep their market going...

[Ford_The_Win]

Aren't there new safety standards now though? It was what brought Crown Vic down in the US as far as I remember.

[dylancox]

I went for a Ford Factory tour a while ago and was told that legally Ford and any other local manufacturer had to produce parts and panels for a model for a period of 10 years after it ceased production.

If I could somehow put together a nice shed out in the bush, hire a couple of immigrants to assemble these spares around the clock, then flog them off as new taxi's.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Ford_The_Win

Aren't there new safety standards now though? It was what brought Crown Vic down in the US as far as I remember.

The XT has a 5 star safety rating and the US doesn't really control how our taxi's operate.

[Paxton]

Ford don't want anything to do with the Taxi Market. Nothing at all.

They have tried to distance themselves by not overstocking with XT Falcons, killing off the 4 Speed Auto, and also stopping manufacturing the Fairlane.

Ford will not bring back the Taxi pack. It died a death long ago.

[Road_Warrior]

Perhaps, though, they could build under licence an LPG-powered version of the TXIII London Black cabs...a huge support base already exists for them with easy access to parts from China. The extra product line could keep the plant ticking over well and the car itself may be more suited to modern 'taxi-ing' than the traditional sedan.

They could even make it so that the cab uses Falcon suspension, steering and brake parts (or even the entire chassis) and just plonk the black cab body on top.

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

Perhaps, though, they could build under licence an LPG-powered version of the TXIII London Black cabs...a huge support base already exists for them with easy access to parts from China. The extra product line could keep the plant ticking over well and the car itself may be more suited to modern 'taxi-ing' than the traditional sedan.

They could even make it so that the cab uses Falcon suspension, steering and brake parts (or even the entire chassis) and just plonk the black cab body on top.

Will Ford Aus allow someone to build their previous models under licence? Maybe that way we can always have Falcons, even if Ford Aus goes under.

[Gobes32]

Bizarrely enough I agree, when the decision to can the taxi pack was made it was when the BA was going gangbusters. Ford aren't exactly in the position to be picky about what they build anymore........

[DJM83]

I dont see many falcon Taxi's here in Brisbane, yeah sure theres a few but alot have been replaced with Hybrid Camrys and ive also seen alot of VW Passats

[2011G6E]

Rockhampton is infested by Toyota Prius cabs...

They're useless...try jamming four big adults into it when the cabbie pulls up, especially when one of them is a big Kiwi...

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

Will Ford Aus allow someone to build their previous models under licence? Maybe that way we can always have Falcons, even if Ford Aus goes under.

Highly unlikely, with intellectual property rights and corporate trademarks and all that. The idea has crossed my mind before as well.

The idea I have is this: if Ford Australia is going to be making CD4 platform cars here (IF, I said!) then they could make these London cabs on the CD4 platform. They could dip into the Ford global parts bin for an engine and trans combo that is LPG-friendly (the London ones are diesel) and start smashing them out. They offer more utility and ease of access (and carrying capacity) than a Falcon and could be made here.

[Rico 110s]

Originally Posted by DJM83

I dont see many falcon Taxi's here in Brisbane, yeah sure theres a few but alot have been replaced with Hybrid Camrys and ive also seen alot of VW Passats

I was on a Brissy Camry Taxi going to the airport, when i had a discussion about why they should not kill off the old falcon taxi. And this guy tells me that it takes 3 days to service a Prius/Camry taxi because of all the on board electrics, compared to 3 hours with the Falcons. Seems nuts to me to continue with a very expensive program. Have also noticed more Falcon taxis in Darwin lately, wonder if the price of servicing is starting to hurt some of the Cabbies

[jpd80]

Actually, the Mondeo TDCI Stationwagon would make a good taxi,
probably what Ford was thinking all along.....

[Smoke Pursuit]

Hmm theres still guys out there that would buy BFIII Falcon wagons new over anything else and run them as cabs.

Sadly most taxi operators buy auction cars that are 12 - 18 months old, ex rental / fleet.

Even if Ford built a taxi pack like the old days operators wouldn't buy them, not when they can go get used ones for 15 kay less. The only ones who bought new were big operators or small owner drivers that were fussy about their cars (very few of these guys around anymore).

I still think the BFIII wagon should have been kept as fleet / taxi / body transport vehicle... Nothing else compares... Most funeral companies ran 2 - 3 BF wagons to transport bodies, what are they going to use now? Mondeos? Cause they cannot fit a body in a Sportswagon.

[Paxton]

Originally Posted by DASH GT

I still think the BFIII wagon should have been kept as fleet / taxi / body transport vehicle... Nothing else compares... Most funeral companies ran 2 - 3 BF wagons to transport bodies, what are they going to use now? Mondeos? Cause they cannot fit a body in a Sportswagon.

I agree. This car was just pure profit, and could have helped keep the lines going. It may have cost a slight amount of money to get the Orion engine into it, but Ford could have done it quite easily.

With eGas almost back on deck, they would have sold a great number of Wagons to fleets.

[Road_Warrior]

But...would the ROI have been there for adapting all the Orion/E8 gear to it? Don't forget head office wanted to cull as many 'superfluous' platforms as they could and EA169 was one of them. I don't think FoA could have mounted a credible defence against Dearborn's platform rationalisation demands.

[au2000]

would not have been too hard to make the front of a bf look alot more like a fg.... it does not matter if ford want to be associated with cab or not, cabbies still buy them, espcially here in vic, now they are also buying terry's .......
like has been said before, can ford REALLY be that fussy for a customer market? .... after all, there are plenty of g6 cabs in vic...

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Paxton

I agree. This car was just pure profit, and could have helped keep the lines going. It may have cost a slight amount of money to get the Orion engine into it, but Ford could have done it quite easily.

With eGas almost back on deck, they would have sold a great number of Wagons to fleets.

Shame the Falcon S/W could not return from hiatus, maybe do an "XG-XH" style update
with kinda an FG nose Dash/ interior and door skins to match the new styling....
Just thinking of using as many available existing parts as possible to make a BG Falcon.....

[Gobes32]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Shame the Falcon S/W could not return from hiatus, maybe do an "XG-XH" style update
with kinda an FG nose Dash/ interior and door skins to match the new styling....
Just thinking of using as many available existing parts as possible to make a BG Falcon.....

I like your way of thinking........

[janddbone]

Agree Wagon should of had minor update just as XF utes did... I would have been tempted...

[yift]

the taxi pack only died because the cab companies were not buying them brand new.
it was financially viable for a cab company to buy a second hand falcon with or without gas and paint it yellow and have all the crap fitted to it, because ford were selling the taxi pack more expensive.

as for ford not wanting anything to do with/distancing itself from the taxi market is utter rubbish. if a cab company picks up a second hand falcon and converts it and it still has warranty left, ford will and have honour the warranty.

as forford wont overstock the XT falcon because it doesnt sell, they sell more xr6, g6 and g6e models.

killing off the 4 speed auto was due mainly to the company manufacturing them going broke and also they wanted to keep the european flavour they are introducing into the falcon series by keeping with the zf as a base.

Fairlane was killed off because of dismal sales, why would a car company sell a model if they only sell less than 5 a month? ford isnt ferrari or bently, not even bmw or mercedes keep models they dont sell in certain volumes.

[Joe5619]

OMG.. Poeple really need to build a bridge with this Wagon thing!! Sick to death of reading over & over & over & over again in every topic by the same few peopel!!

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by yift

the taxi pack only died because the cab companies were not buying them brand new.
it was financially viable for a cab company to buy a second hand falcon with or without gas and paint it yellow and have all the crap fitted to it, because ford were selling the taxi pack more expensive.

as for ford not wanting anything to do with/distancing itself from the taxi market is utter rubbish. if a cab company picks up a second hand falcon and converts it and it still has warranty left, ford will and have honour the warranty.

as forford wont overstock the XT falcon because it doesnt sell, they sell more xr6, g6 and g6e models.

killing off the 4 speed auto was due mainly to the company manufacturing them going broke and also they wanted to keep the european flavour they are introducing into the falcon series by keeping with the zf as a base.

Fairlane was killed off because of dismal sales, why would a car company sell a model if they only sell less than 5 a month? ford isnt ferrari or bently, not even bmw or mercedes keep models they dont sell in certain volumes.

Fairlane only failed because they didnt inject enough cash into it. They were selling more then 5 a month but they really lost market share when the WM came out...

Theres still lots of Limo / Corporate car operators crying because they cannot buy Fairlanes anymore, but just like taxi's most of these guys bought low km second hand ones.

Oh well they could still make a taxi pack sedan if they wanted, keep it basic with steal rims, rubber floor, rear parking sensors and cruise control, but it would be still alot dearer then buying an ex chaser or fleet car from the auctions for 17 - 20 kay.

[Brent]

I bet Ford can't wait for the day when the last Falcon taxi eventually retires from service. Taxis are a shocking advertisement for Falcons......whining transmissions, rattling suspension, clunking diffs, completely worn-out interiors. Most cabs are attrocious, and why any manufacturer would want their "brand" represented by the lowest common denominator of vehicles on the road is beyond me.

Taxis are as good an advertisement for a Falcon as Tony Mokbel is an advertisement for gentleman's wigs.

[Polyal]

I think a few are missing the point here, Ford need sales, they have a kick **** new LPG system coming out which obviously is perfect, if they "made" a XT just for fleets/taxi's, ie NO private people can buy them (well maybe with an ABN) then it shouldn't effect resales.

I dont like the fact that the taxi co's are using G6's and XR6's at the moment, but can you blame them, they are probably no more expensive as a XT when second hand.

So potentially you still have the same problem, but if I was Ford I too would be looking into this market. Yes profits are not high, but as DASH mentioned it keeps the ball rolling.