Ford BF Falcon - Mark II

Mark II

On the 6 October 2006, the BF Mark II was officially launched by the late Ford President Tom Gorman. BF Falcon MkII went on sale 22 October 2006. The XT, Futura and Fairmont sport a facelift, while the XR range gets some minor interior updates. Small changes to the exterior are barely visible on the BF range, but the sporting image has been incorporated greatly throughout the range. The Fairmont Ghia has had a major exterior image upgrade (compared to the other models) including more chrome and larger diamond finished alloy wheels. The Fairmont Ghia featured the BA series XR6 Skirt kit, minus the XR badging. Simple and elegant. The Fairmont on the other hand does not receive this "special" sports body kit but still receives small visual upgrades.

In the final months of production (July 2007 onwards), the XR6, XR6 Turbo and XR8 received a special edition body kit with dark gray inserts on the bumpers and skirts (November 2007 onwards), shadow chrome 18" alloys with dark gray inserts on the spokes, and Premium Sound/Climate Control as standard. The naturally aspirated XR6 was gifted these options only with the added option of the ZF six-speed automatic. In New Zealand the cars with the special edition body kit were known as the 'Rebel' model and had Rebel badging with the Rebel title sewn into the leather headrests. The NZ Rebel models included all of the optional upgrades.

It is interesting to note that much of the Falcon's success in Australia can be attributed to Ford Australia (and indeed also Holden) continuing to face the same problem that led to the Falcon's introduction in the 1960s: the resistance of Australian Ford buyers to "smaller" models. Attempts to sell the US Ford Taurus in Australia and New Zealand as a possible future replacement for the Falcon proved disastrous. Conversely, the Mondeo - which proved unpopular in Australia (but a success in New Zealand)—is the largest model available from Ford in Europe since the Scorpio was dropped in 1998.