Ford Takes Charge of FPV After Closing Its Factory

The last FPV Ford Falcon GT marks the end of 21 years of production at the Ford Performance Vehicles plant.

In August, motorsport firm Prodrive announced it was selling its stake in Ford Performance Vehicles back to Ford, ending FPV’s life as a semi-independent manufacturer after 21 years. While the company’s equipment was being removed, the last Falcon GT was preparing to leave the factory. This will be the last hand-built model in FPV’s history.

From now on FPV engines will be manufactured Ford’s Geelong plant and the vehicles will be built at the Campbellfield plant, located in Victoris, Australia. Most of the 140 employees working at FPV have been let go with only five weeks of pay for every year of service. During its life FPV has manufactured more than 100,000 vehicles, but declining sales for large sedans in Australia brought its unavoidable death. In 2011 FPV sold around 1,500 vehicles.

Opinions about the Falcon sedan vary, some saying that the model will receive a facelift, some saying that it will be replaced in two years time by a new model, a rebadged 2014 Ford Taurus. FPV’s latest model is the Falcon GT RSpec, fitted with the Mustang’s 5.0-liter V-8 engine, offering 450 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque.