well, the Falcon isnt big enough to replace the Crown Victoria, that job would have to go to the Fairlane, but I'm not completey sure what Ford wants to do with itself as it is. Hell, even the experts say the same thing.
Leftlanenews.com
Ford seems to lack the direction and focus necessary to create a strong product line and revive sales, according to three analysts. “Of all the automakers, I am most negative on Ford,” said Erich Merkle, director of forecasting, with the consulting firm IRN. “There is no continuity to their product development.” And Merkle is not alone in his feelings. “There’s been a real lack of direction on Ford’s part,” said industry research expert Karl Brauer. “Ford does not appear to have a focused product plan.” Brauer says he’s seen a lot of “thrashing about” in Ford’s product line that doesn’t seem to accomplish much — such as the renaming of all Lincoln vehicles and the sudden elimination of two high-performance vehicles. Joseph Barker, senior manager of global sales forecasting for CSM Worldwide, said Ford badly needs “edgier cars and trucks that exude passion.” “Ford must address its conservative design theme (and) their inadequate powertrain lineup,” Barker said.
If it is the lack of direction that Ford has, their whole lineup is going to get a lot messier before the Falcon or the Fairlane ever comes to the US.
IMO: Ditch the Fivehundred and Crown Victoria and re-install the Falcon and Fiarlane in the US lineup as new RWD mainstream models. Heres the problem, however.
1) The Falcon may be too expensive to compete directly with the new Zeta-based Impala/Monte Carlo over at Chevrolet, so Ford will have to do a lot of work to keep prices down in the US. Added to that, I don't think the Falcon nameplate carries enough weight to draw in not only the youth market, but the older folks as well. Torino would seem like a logical name to pick with it's historic background, but Ford seems dead-set on having thier car names start with F and their truck names start with E, so I don't know.
2) Replacing the Crown Victoria would have similar problems the Falcon would face, with prices being the biggest issues. The Australian Fairlane could come to the US as the Fairlane (it was a pretty popular model for some time), but there have been plans to make a Fairlane crossover to replace the Freestyle in 2008. Therefore to tie the car with the past, Ford would have to call the car the Galaxie, which would break their naming policy. But the thought of a Galaxie 500 with a 5.4L 350+HP model is interesting, esp. if it were to go up against the Buick Invicta (see Holden Statesman) with similar performance figures.
Either way, I hope Ford does decide to take cars from the AUS market and shift them to the United States. If they can keep prices low, they will sell well.