Revealed: The first piece of last-ever Ford Falcon

FORD has revealed a first look at the car that will carry the Falcon name to the end of more than half a century of Australian manufacturing history.

The car maker has released a single teaser image of a headlight on social media, as the last-ever Australian-made Falcon counts down to a launch expected late this year alongside a heavily made-over Territory SUV.

The single image, posted on Facebook earlier today, reveals the new Falcon will carry a heavily redesigned front end, featuring a stylised honeycomb grille flowing back to narrower slit-like headlights set with projector lights and LED daytime-running lights.

The image also hints at a clamshell-like bonnet and trapezoid grille reminiscent of the Ford Fusion, the US-market mid-sizer based on the European-designed Mondeo that is most likely to replace the Falcon once production ends in late 2016.

The new Falcon will also revive the XR8 badge for the last time in the brand’s history, with the sedan and ute range expected to use a version of the supercharged 5.0-litre V8 developed for Ford’s go-fast arm, FPV, believed to produce about 335kW.

Few other details are known about the new Falcon, although Ford is also expected to keep the turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder and 4.0-litre in-line six dedicated LPG models alongside the longstanding 4.0-litre in-line six petrol versions.

Ford’s slow exit from Australian manufacturing falls a year before those of fellow local producers Holden and Toyota, which plan to quit the production landscape in late 2017.

Ford has already flagged that its shift to full importer status will pave the way for an expansion of its Australian showroom, including the Mustang two-door muscle car and potentially the Ford Edge as a Territory replacement.