The Chery Falcon name has returned in an unexpected form, with the Chinese automaker using the familiar badge for its latest generation of driving-assistance technologies rather than a car related to Ford’s iconic Australian Falcon sedan.
Falcon Lives on Through Chery Technology
The Ford Falcon holds a special place in Australia’s automotive and enthusiast scene. The Australian V8 icon remained in production and on sale for more than half a century before production and sales ended in 2016.
Now, the Falcon name is still being used on a sedan, although not in Australia. Automotive publication Drive reports that Chery Automotive, one of the biggest carmakers from China, uses Falcon as the name for its latest driving-assistance technology.
The system includes features such as self-parking and fully self-driving capabilities. Chery’s Tesla-esque self-driving Falcon features have been rolling out across its models over the past 18 months.
Chery Arrizo 8 PRO Gets Falcon 500
The latest model to receive the technology is the mid-size Chery Arrizo 8 PRO, which is roughly the same size as a Toyota Camry or an older Ford Falcon.
The Arrizo 8 PRO is equipped with three different versions of the Falcon driving aids. One of the key features is a new semi-autonomous highway driving system called Navigate on Autopilot, or NOA.
NOA can help the car enter and exit highway ramps and perform lane changes by itself with little human input.
Falcon 500 Adds Automatic Parking
The Arrizo 8 PRO’s technology is called Falcon 500, another connection to the Ford Australia Falcon name. The Falcon 500 badge was used on mid-range Falcon models from the 1966 XR to the 1978 XC.
Falcon 500 also includes automatic parking as standard. The system can park the car in perpendicular, parallel and diagonal spaces.
It can also memorize parking maneuvers and trace back the car’s last 50 meters in reverse.
Could the Falcon Name Return to Australia?
Although the Falcon name can be used freely in China, Ford holds the rights to it in Australia. That means Chery would have to use a different name if it brought the same driving-assistance technology to Australia.
As for the Falcon name returning to an actual car, Ford is apparently planning to release a 4-door Mustang. If that model pushes through, it could be rebadged as the Falcon in Australia.
