Fairmont Ghia to disapear?

[FPV]

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

They need to unify the brand more, dropping the Fairmont Ghia name would be a start and perhaps thinking of something new, like XS GHIA or even an XR GHIA maybe? The Calais is very sporty, they tried to do teh same with the Fairmont Ghia but failed!

Well firstly Holden followed Ford into the sports-luxury category. The VY calais was a full luxury sedan when launched, they only decided to throw in a bit of sportiness by tacking on a bodykit and wheels in VY series II, and a sports calibration of there IRS. Ford aimed at the sports-luxury category from the BA, and i think it was pulled off nicely, no bodykits, just subtle hints of sportiness along with a sports control blade suspension to distinguish itself from the rest of the range, along the lines of a BMW 530i. Ford had a more integrated sports look on the BA while the VY looked like a stop gap approach for a sports-luxury sedan, it was pretty much a HBD body kit. They have smoothed the body kit to a certain degree on the VZ, however we will probably have to wait until the VE to see a proper sports-luxury exterior.

Wheels tested the BA Fairmont Ghia against the Mercedes E320 and the 530i(E39), and you could hardly say it was embarassed, it was one star below the 530i and half a star off the E320(W211) if i remember correctly.

I think the Fairmont Ghia definately has a justified position in the range, it has enough differentiation under the skin between it and an XT. Ford decided back when the AUII was launched that people who bought Fortes wanted the cars to look like Fairmont Ghias as well, therefore the Fairmont bonnet was implemented across the AUII range bar the XR's, and they have followed that track until now, at roughly the same time Holden decided they wanted to have the calais differentiated from the base models. Two different views have been taken, however Ford looks to slowly be changing there view. The BF Fairmont Ghia's bumper has more chrome, and some have said on this forum that there will be more differentiation in the next update.

Also im not sure about the XS naming, Excess? I do note that you specify that as only an extra model not that the name should be implemented.