- Ford’s CEO says he’s “pretty serious” about a performance ute.
- It could serve as a spiritual successor to the old Falcon pickup.
- To make sense, it would likely need sales beyond Australia.
Ford has done rather well for itself with pickups like the Maverick, Ranger, and F-Series. Yet in Australia, plenty of fans still look back fondly on the days of Falcon-based utes, the car-based pickups that once defined the local market. That lingering nostalgia might not remain nostalgia for long, because Ford’s CEO has hinted that a modern car-based unibody pickup could be on the table.
Jim Farley, currently visiting Australia, spoke to local outlet CarExpert, revealing his interest in a vehicle that captures the spirit of the Falcon ute. “I think this country gave the globe the ute,” the Ford CEO said, adding that he is “pretty serious” about bringing something like it back.
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Ford already sells a unibody compact pickup in the US, the Maverick, which also comes in a sportier version called the Lobo. Even so, Farley suggested an Australian model would not simply be a rebadged Maverick. Instead, it would likely be something developed specifically for local tastes, with efficiency and performance high on the priority list.
“We have really been successful with Maverick….No, I don’t think it should be the same, necessarily. I’m not going to get into specifics. All I’m saying is, Aussies would love – on paper – a unibody, efficient, even performance ute because they have previously.”
The Ford boss also stressed the importance of proper local tuning. In simple terms, don’t just ship in a global product and expect Australians to accept it without question.
“To do it right here, as a car person, I wouldn’t want to just stamp a global solution and force the market to take it. That’s why I’m here. How you solve it for Australia is different from the US. The cost and the usage are more extreme here. The commercial space would also be bigger here from a sales perspective.”
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Farley was careful not to reveal much else. “I’m not saying anything about where it’s from or what it looks like,” he said, noting that the idea is still under internal discussion at Ford. What he did confirm is that a decision on the unibody ute project could come very soon. The final call is expected this week, before he leaves Australia.
The Long Lineage Of The Aussie Ute
Ford
Australia’s ute story stretches back to 1934, when the original “coupe utility” was created to handle both work duties and everyday driving. That concept eventually evolved into the Ford Falcon Ute, which remained in production across multiple generations from 1961 to 2016 and stood as a direct rival to the Holden Commodore Ute.
The wildest factory version arrived near the end of the line. In 2014, Ford Performance Vehicles launched the FPV Pursuit Ute, packing a supercharged 5.0-liter V8 under the hood and turning a workhorse into something much closer to a muscle car.
Farley said that his son is a big fan of the high-performance Falcon utes from the past. Still, he noted that while Australians have “a lot of performance expectations” and would be asking for a V8 engine, this would be quite difficult due to the strict emission regulations in the region. Judging from his earlier comments about efficiency, we can easily think of a hybrid solution.
The Return Of Low-Slung Vehicles
Ford’s ute-friendly remarks also line up with a noticeable shift in the company’s broader strategy. After years spent focusing almost entirely on trucks and SUVs, Ford is signaling renewed interest in lower passenger cars. Farley has recently adopted a “never say never” stance toward sedans in the North American market, noting that the real challenge is figuring out how to build them profitably.
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For now, Ford still offers the Mondeo sedan in China, with the same sedan sold as the Taurus in the Middle East. The model is not expected to reach markets such as Australia or North America. Still, it is easy to imagine the platform lending itself to a ute variant, perhaps with a two-door bodystyle and a sportier stance.
Our speculative renderings may not be the definitive answer to a Falcon Ute revival, but Ford does seem genuinely interested in revisiting a vehicle type that once defined an entire automotive niche.
