Falconeers
There are some models that are part of the very fabric of a nation’s automotive history, despite not being available worldwide; these nameplates transcend borders and are respected and coveted worldwide. One example is the Ford Falcon, which has a very special relationship with the motoring and enthusiast scene in Australia.
The Falcon was an Australian V8 icon for more than half a century, with production and sales ceasing in 2016. It seems the Falcon name still flies on a sedan, though, from the least expected place and in the least expected form.
Chery
Chery Falcon
Automotive publication Drive reports that the Falcon name is still around, but unfortunately you’d have to live in China to get one. Chery Automotive is one of the biggest carmakers from China, and it is using Falcon not as a car per se, or even related to the legendary V8 sedan. In fact, Chery’s Falcon refers to the brand’s latest generation of driving-assistance technologies, specifically aids like self-parking and fully self-driving capabilities.
The Tesla-esque Self-Driving Falcon features have been rolling out across Chery’s models over the past 18 months. Ironically, a mid-size sedan has just received the Falcon driving aids: the Chery Arrizo 8 PRO, which is the same size as a Toyota Camry or an older Ford Falcon. Funnily enough, the Arizzo 8 PRO’s Falcon technology is dubbed the Falcon 500, another Ford Australia badge applied to the mid-range Falcon models from the 1966 XR to the 1978 XC.
The Arizzo has been equipped with 3 different versions of the Falcon driving aids; one of the key features is the new semi-autonomous highway driving, known as Navigate on Autopilot (NOA). This system can help the car get on and off ramps on the highways, including lane changes by itself with little human input. Falcon 500 also has automatic parking as standard, which can park the car for you in perpendicular, parallel, and diagonal spaces. It can also memorize parking maneuvers and can trace back its last 50 meters in reverse.
Chery
Return Of The OG?
While the Falcon name can be used in China freely, the rights to it in Australia are held by Ford. So if Chery were to launch the same driving aids suite in ‘The Land Down Under,’ they’d have to use a different name for it. When it comes to the return of the Falcon name as a car, Ford is apparently planning to release a 4-door Mustang, which means in Australia it could be rebadged as the Falcon, should it push through.
Chery