Just days after Ford announced it would end production of its Australian-built Falcon in 2016, a possible American successor to the car has been spotted at Sydney Airport.

Eagle-eyed transport staff caught a US-built Ford Taurus in transit before it was shipped to Ford engineers in Melbourne. The Taurus has long been mooted as the replacement for the Australian-built Falcon, something that gained momentum in recent years since the adoption of the "One Ford" policy, whereby a single car is produced for all markets around the world.

If Ford were to continue with a large sedan the Taurus is the only option from the brand.

Ford Australia spokesman Neil McDonald says the vehicle had been imported by Ford Australia.

“We often have engineering vehicles for North America and Europe and other parts of the world that we work on for other markets,” he says.

“It’s not an indication that the vehicle is going to be on sale here.”

McDonald says the Taurus’ presence was not necessarily linked to last week’s announcement that Ford’s Falcon and Territory were to be discontinued.

He said Australian engineers had been working with the US-sourced Ford Explorer SUV. The Explorer has been rumoured as a potential successor to the Territory.

So it appears the Taurus is either being tested and partially developed in Australia for the world - using the 1100-strong design and engineering resources that will continue at Ford in Melbourne - or evaluated for sale in Australia. Or both.

The car that was imported this week is a Taurus SHO, a car equivalent to the 270kW Ford Falcon G6E Turbo that currently sits at the top of the brand’s local range.

Ford’s top tier Taurus has a turbocharged 3.5-litre engine that pushes 270kW and 475Nm through all four wheels. It costs $39,300 in the US, which is line-ball with the Chrysler 300C Luxury sold in Australia for $56,000.

Cheaper Taurus models are fitted with front-wheel-drive and a choice of 211kW V6 or 177kW EcoBoost four-cylinder engines.

The Taurus was sold in Australia alongside the Falcon throughout the 1990s but was a sales flop and was discontinued after just two years.

Never thought id see a ford badge on a camry pfft....

At least it comes in AWD...

...but takes 14.6 to get down the quarter, doesn't come in manual, is heavy as f**k, and tows a measly 1500kg...will still probably make more sales than the falcon has in recent years.

While they're busy putting the steering wheel on the other side, let's hope they decide to switch the drive to the rear wheels too!

What about the Ford Fusion?

Surely it's close enough to the Falcon?

Due to the American mentality when it comes to cars, you need an F650 to tow anything larger than a single axle 6*4, so a 1500KG towing limit is quite acceptable on a large sedan.

I find it sickening that the 300C has a $16k markup for Aus, as the old BS of "but we have to engineer it for RHD" is crap as im pretty certain the CAD software they use to design these things has a "mirror" command. The Taurus/fusion will be cheaper to make than the falcon but thats not going to reduce the sticker price at all, it will just mean higher PROFITS for ford shareholders while 1200 people here loose their jobs.

at the end of the day im not even remotely close to being the kind of person who buys a new car (mine are usually 10 years old by the time i get the so i dont have to worry about the falcon replacement till 2026).

Sucks to be from Geelong though.

Cam and I saw lots of the Fusion as Police cars in New York, to me they are not that much. The fact that they ONLY come in 4cyl cuts some. One redeeming feature though, the front has a little bit of a Mustang look.

The Taurus is only a V6 too, sad. US Price: $39,300.00




Like I said before, as long as they consider bringing out a Mustang, I will be happy.

So what is the line up going to look like, taurus base model and maybe a turbo v6 for the performance model? will they even sell mustangs here?

If the taurus isnt going to get a hipo six and the mustang is the only v8 you can get it actually kills alot of the market that can afford one and makes it inpracticle....

People like beige appliances like the Camry, so you're probably right skidder, it will sell more than the falcon in recent times.

It won't be coming here, Ford will be pulling out of the large car segment altogether and just have Mondeo for somepone who wants a larger size car. That and the fact the next Taurus won't be built in RHD, nor is the current one.

Mustang will be Fords performance variant.

because that is also the new mondeo. Its about as big as an fg anyways. The taurus is bigger again.

The Ford Fusion is a 4 cyl and it doesn't look anywhere near as big as a Falcon. I saw heaps of them when I was in New York as police cars, they look like dinky toys. But that's just me

what about this Evo? Maybe Australia will get it?

http://42concepts.com/cars/ford-evo-oh-my-god/

What do you think?

Ever noticed that the Yanks occasionally have a hard time designing a decent rear end on a vehicle. Like this Taurus for example, it looks kind of OK all over except for the back. It looks like they ran out of ideas & just decided to chop it off & whack in a couple of tail lights.

Until the Japanese car makers where forcefully educated in symmetry they used to just make boxes on wheels. Getting them to acknowledge that a rounder shaped vehicle was the direction they needed to move towards was almost impossible. It had to be almost beaten into their subconscious with a big stick. They just did not like the curved shape at all, but look at what the curve has done for their sales today.

i could probably live this this.........