Price hike for Ford range

Ford has followed the lead set by Toyota and Holden, raising prices for the majority of the company's product portfolio to allow for the lower value of the Australian dollar. The new pricing is scheduled to take effect from January 1 and affects locally-manufactured cars and imports alike.

"Our local cars do carry parts that are imported from overseas," explains Justin Lacy, Brand Communications Manager for Ford Australia.

"The ZF transmission comes from Germany and the five-speed auto comes from France, the V8 engine comes from overseas. There [is] obviously any number of parts... impacted by exchange rates..."

As a consequence, even though the Falcon and derivatives (including the Territory SUV) are built in Australia, the added cost of the imported parts since the Aussie dollar lost ground against the 'greenback' has forced the local manufacturer to increase its retail pricing for a number of models.

In brief, the new Fiesta will continue to sell at the level announced prior to its local launch (more here ) and the Focus small car will not increase in price from the new year.

Mondeo's price jumps $1000, as does pricing for the Escape SUV, the Ranger LCV and the Transit range.

The only Territory variant to increase is the entry-level TX model, which adds $500 to the retail price.

Falcon Utes are $500 steeper than before and the passenger-carrying Falcon range increases in price on a sliding scale -- by as little as $900 for the entry-level XT or as much as $1400 for the flagship G6E Turbo.

Barely a fortnight ago, Toyota announced its revised pricing schedule to take effect from the new year (more here ), but Holden responded to the changing fortunes of the Aussie dollar much quicker, bumping up prices with effect from November 3 and as far back as October 1.

As with Ford, the updated Holden pricing applies to imports and locally-manufactured cars. The Barina light car is $300 more than when the upgraded model was announced back in August (more here ) and the recently released Sportwagon is $500 more expensive -- across the board -- than it was when the pricing was released to the media at the Melbourne International Motor Show earlier this year (more here ). Other models affected include the Epica mid-sizer and the Captiva SUV.

The situation for the local manufacturers will likely mirror the case for full-line importers, raising prices in the new year. So, as Mazda MD Doug Dickson told the Carsales Network recently: "The message is cars will never be cheaper than they are right now" (more here ).

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