Ford

Unless you’ve been shipwrecked on a remote tropical island for the last seven years you’ll be well aware that sales of the large car segment in Australia have been heading south. In 2010 the number of large cars sold was half that achieved in 2003 (the year before the slide began) whilst the overall new car market has grown significantly with both the light and small segments achieving strong sales growth.

No doubt as a result of this significant shift in consumer preferences auto manufacturers that play in the large segment have had to react. In September 2009 Holden fitted a 3.0L V6, the smallest engine offered in the Commodore in 21 years, since the VN replaced the VL in 1988 and Holden said goodbye to Nissan's inline 3.0L six cylinder. Bigger news again is Ford’s announcement that for the first time ever a four cylinder engine will be fitted to the Falcon in 2012.