Ford has filed a trademark for the Falcon name… in Mexico.
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Ford Authority reports the Blue Oval brand trademarked the name there on May 12, 2023. While it's not unusual for companies to hold onto trademarks to protect heritage nameplates, Ford has been busily resurrecting old names.
A Mexican-market Ford wearing the Falcon name would also have company from another ex-Australian nameplate: Territory.
After exporting a version of the Yusheng S330 SUV built by Chinese Ford joint venture partner JMC as the Territory, Ford is now rolling out a new vehicle by that name in markets like Mexico.
It's once again a rebadged Chinese SUV, but this time one developed by both JMC and Ford: the Equator Sport.
The front-wheel drive SUV is offered with turbocharged four-cylinder power and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
It's unclear what vehicle Ford would apply the Falcon nameplate to.
Ford doesn't offer any passenger cars besides the Mustang in Mexico, but it still has a presence in various passenger car segments in markets like China and the Middle East.
The Focus lives on for now in China and in Europe until 2025, though the Chinese-market Escort sedan – based on older Focus underpinnings – has been retired.
Ford in China has developed a new generation of Mondeo which also wears the Taurus nameplate in markets like the UAE.
Considering Ford once planned on replacing the Australian Falcon with a Taurus, it's not much of a leap to imagine the company using the Falcon name on something known elsewhere as a Taurus. However, Mexican customers have a much more recent memory of the Taurus than they do of the Falcon.
While it enjoyed a long and rich life in Australia, produced until 2016, the Falcon name was last seen in the US in 1970 on an entry-level version of the intermediate Torino.
A version of the first-generation Falcon also continued to be produced in Argentina until 1991.
In addition to the Chinese-built Escort and Territory, Ford has also resurrected another classic name in the Puma, used from 1997 to 2001 on a Fiesta-based coupe and used from 2019 onwards on a Fiesta-based SUV.
The famous Bronco name made a return after 25 years, and stayed even truer to form by continuing to be used on a body-on-frame off-roader.
The company has said it is open to reviving more names.
Ford is rumoured to be dusting off the Capri nameplate – used varyingly by Ford of Europe, Ford Australia, Mercury and even Lincoln – on an upcoming model, potentially the teased, sportier counterpart to the European Explorer electric SUV.
That could see a rematch of a famous European battle, that of the Ford Capri versus the Opel Manta – but neither will be coupes anymore.
Ford's ex-General Motors rival in Europe, now part of Stellantis, has teased the return of the Manta nameplate for an electric SUV.
Content originally sourced from: CarExpert.com.au
