Ford to cease manufacturing in Australia

[wrighty05]

Import only company apparently.

Terrible news for families that are effected. And this changes the landscape for motoring manufacturers in this country for ever.

Interesting to see how this effects the V8's.

[Bundy]

It's certainly a dark day for Australian manufacturing. Whatever side of the fence you sit on whether Ford or Holden, it's always extremely sad news when an iconic brand such as Ford packs up and leaves thousands of people out of work. My affinity with Ford of course comes through supporting Geelong FC so I hope the community can remain resilient and support those that have lost their jobs.

[Redforever]

You always feel for the workers and their families. But let's face fatcs. Ford have down this to themselves.

Lacklustre local product caused by under investment in the Falcon and Territory aligned to blinked North American thinking and a failure to integrate Australian produt into global platforms has left Ford locally with two orphaned products.

Of course the cost base is higher in Australia, but a big part of the problem is that the overall investment required to keep Falcon and Territory competitive was huge. Ford locally had to design and engineer and have manufactured bespoke componnts for cars that sell a fraction of what they did even 5 years ago.

At least GM had the forthought to incorporate the V seris platform into it's global engineering system which alows Holden to access new technology and engineering at a fraction of the cost of that of Ford in Australia. From V8 engines to electronic systems, diffs, suspension component, brakes. All of these are shared with other vehicles and the costs ammortised across a far greater production base.

Look at the VF with all of it's new tech and materials. Almost all of it is derived from or taken straight off other GM vehicles. Self parking, heads up displays, infotainment screens and radar parking along with huge upgrades in materials from alloy panels to new interiors. Ford would never be able to deliver a similar upgrade if they had to design and engineer every part.

Add to that Ford's bewildering lack of sales and marketing support for the falcon for years and it is little wonder that they are calling it quits.

Good luc to Holden and Toyota and i wish them the best.

And best wishes to those Ford workers and their families....

[Bundy]

May 24, 2013 8:25:45 GMT 10 Redforever said:

You always feel for the workers and their families. But let's face fatcs. Ford have down this to themselves.

Lacklustre local product caused by under investment in the Falcon and Territory aligned to blinked North American thinking and a failure to integrate Australian produt into global platforms has left Ford locally with two orphaned products.

Of course the cost base is higher in Australia, but a big part of the problem is that the overall investment required to keep Falcon and Territory competitive was huge. Ford locally had to design and engineer and have manufactured bespoke componnts for cars that sell a fraction of what they did even 5 years ago.

At least GM had the forthought to incorporate the V seris platform into it's global engineering system which alows Holden to access new technology and engineering at a fraction of the cost of that of Ford in Australia. From V8 engines to electronic systems, diffs, suspension component, brakes. All of these are shared with other vehicles and the costs ammortised across a far greater production base.

Look at the VF with all of it's new tech and materials. Almost all of it is derived from or taken straight off other GM vehicles. Self parking, heads up displays, infotainment screens and radar parking along with huge upgrades in materials from alloy panels to new interiors. Ford would never be able to deliver a similar upgrade if they had to design and engineer every part.

Add to that Ford's bewildering lack of sales and marketing support for the falcon for years and it is little wonder that they are calling it quits.

Good luc to Holden and Toyota and i wish them the best.

And best wishes to those Ford workers and their families....

For the Falcon to be feasible it needed two things in my mind to overcome the disadvantage of higher costs both in R+D and production. One was government inteevention which they partially got through subsidies or handouts. The other was sufficient demand driven by an effective marketing policy which underlined the value that a Falcon could do for you and the economy for the amount you pay.

The government could have done more by re-introducing tariffs but really much of the blame has to lie at the feet of the consumer in that for the little bit extra it cost for a Falcon compared to a comparative imported car they ought to have bought the locally made product, especially if you consider the pace that wages have risen.