Ford Australia cutting even more jobs
October 15, 2008 by George Skentzos
Ford Australia has confirmed it will significantly slash even more jobs at its Victorian plants in the wake of poor sales performance.
Jobs will be cut across all divisions, including engineering, administration, product design, marketing and manufacturing.
This is seen as a cost cutting measure following Ford’s decision to slow production of its six-cylinder models by up to 25 percent, which will also result in the loss of a further 350 jobs at its Geelong and Broadmeadows plants in November.
This is only the beginning, with the company currently conducting a review into its operations to see where further associated costs can be reduced.
As it currently stands, around 4,700 people are employed at the company’s Victorian operations, split almost evenly between manufacturing workers and administration roles.
“We have told employees there will be voluntary separations on top of the 300 to 350 jobs being cut in manufacturing,” said company spokeswoman Sinead McAlary.
Because the review into the matter is not yet complete, Ms McAlary would not comment on the exact number of jobs which were likely to go, however Fairfax media has reported it could be as high as 500 workers.
Source: News.com.au
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Dont believe that more jobs wont go ……..not just from Ford. With Ford and GM in America almost broke more programs and will be cancelled and more people will lose their jobs. Its not just the local car industry either……its across the board. But as usual, so called Australians wont support local products……..they drive imported cars then winge that they are losing their job……I just bought an FG Falcon and it is by far the best car produced in this country………. time to start supporting ourselves before their is no local manufaturing industry in this country……cars or otherwise.
oops……….manufacturing NOT manufaturing ……sorry !!!!!
Ah so 4700 split between Admin and production almost evenly. Theres the problem Admin = non-productive (largely) seem the management havn’t noticed 2300 folk sitting on their butts all day doing probably what i’m doing now.
Aha….Mr shifty looking new CEO of Ford Australia is not wasting any time.
employment situation will no doubt worsen across all industries. I am a Contractor in trades industry and have noticed the amount of work diminish over the last couple of months.
It’s annoying to think that Ford is being forced to cut MORE jobs than they have already announced…we can all see the Herald Sun now, with it’s big “More Jobs Axed” headline, then going onto blame Ford for selling the wrong car at the wrong time
What amazes me is that people continue to lap up softroaders/small SUV’s but shy away from a fantastic car such as the FG Falcon…im no Ford fan (VE Wagon on order) but Ford are delivering one fantastic car that also manages to be fairly light on the fuel
Tariff cuts are the last thing we need, especially in the current climate….people out there need to realise what manufacturing means to this nation and that anyone working for Ford will be affected by this move too
That and Ford US will forever be hated by many australians
this tide of job cuts was announced 12 months ago.
this is related to the halt in producion of the I6 engine.
how about the 350 new jobs being created for the focus production that starts at the same time??
Cupid,
you are spot on. Sounds too top heavy to me if there is as many admin as there is manufacturing staff.
i was once told you need about 10 workers for every office employee.
of course that varies depending in the industry, but in anyones language, 50-50 aint right
Realcars,
yep, spot on.
jobs have diminished in almost every industry.
Im in construction aswell, and im told the work has dried up considerably.
I myself am not too worried because i have 6 months solid work before i dont know whats next.
One of my sources has dried up, but its the one i put on the side burner to try and get through the back log of work from my other source. and of course i chose the source that was worth slightly better coin.
the country was on a death path. no matter how much you know behind the scenes, you only need to look at the sudden and history making full percent rate drop coupled with the boosted home buyer grants.
my feeling is someone has had a look at the outlook, and said we are stuffed, we need something to give sudden impact.
its possibly the right move, but this time once they get the balance back in the economy, they should balance it out again before more sudden changes are made/needed.
sorry off topic i know, but still related
FG For Me,
mate ive had my FG XR a little over a week now, and totally agree it spanks the competition.
Neil,
hopefully the sinking aussie dollar will see some life bred back into aussie manufacturing.
Amazing how it all goes back to the sub prime loans made in the States which were sold to banks all over the world as a packaged investment!
Yank govt should have acted 12 months ago by by providing liquidity to renegotiate these home loans with the borrowers.
Would have kept people in homes and repayments rolling in to the banks.Instead people leaving their homes to the banks who now due to the glut of homes for sale can’t get their money back and banks around the world with these investments now worth next to nothing.
If they’d get the RS Focus happening, they have to put on another 4700 people! Get to it Ford.
Realcars,
the way i see it is they were making changes to the economy with out enough time to evaluate the impact.
first interest rates go down too quickly, then holy crap, put them up, then holy crap, put them down.
it all started when the interest rates went too low in the first place, and then stayed there too long.
the economy has been hit with sudden impacts for the last few years, and no one has really been monitoring the impacts.
its like accelerating hard to get up to speed and then braking suddenly to slow down in a motorvehicle. it gets you poor fuel economy.
whereas if you were to gradually accelerate, and gradually brake whilst watching the road ahead, you will get better fuel economy and a vehicle that lasts longer
Realcars,
yeah i love the term “Jingle Mail”.
thats what they were saying to describe those in the states who were walking away from their houses and mailing the keys back to the bank.
and remember HOLDEN are axing more jobs next year as they shut down the 4 cylinder engine plant and also 600 engineering jobs as well as programs are cancelled…….so its not just Ford.
Can someone tell me why our import tariffs are almost zero but other countries have a 35% import tariff ?? obviously their governments are protecting their industries against imports and they can dump their stuff here for nothing as well !!!!
FG For Me,
well because the rest of the world bluffed us.
when there was apparently a free trade agreement set, most countries were supposed to lower their import taxes, but silly old australia was the only one who really did, and in turn started welcoming imported stuff.
turn australia into a stand alone country i say.
the more we seem to get involdved in the rest of the world, the more trouble we seem to get in
if Ford actually told and showed people how good the FG and Territory are they might sell more……….all they need is a good relevant marketing campaign. Entice them to go drive one back to back with a VE……..I know who the winner would be……..
The fuel economy of the FG is unbelievable…….better than most medium cars and better than some so called economical small cars……..
Yeah Andrew M I seen a doco that mentioned Jingle mail the other day.
FG for me some playing fields are more level than others it would seem.Asian countries are good at what u have mentioned.
I know people hate paying tariffs or taxes on local goods but
we need a manufacturing industry. Yanks have lost much of theirs and are really just a net consumer more than anything which is going to make it even harder for them to climb out of this hole.
Asian countries are mostly net producers and this will see them prosper into the future possibily to our and Americas detriment i.e redistribution of income.
I believe Asian protectionist policy has a lot to do with this.
FG For Me, when we get an Australian car industry then they can raise the tariffs.
Having said that, Holden and Ford are already afforded a rather healthy handicap when you consider a BMW M3, AMG C63 and Nissan GT-R should cost no more than an HSV R8.
Then in the meantime, they sell ‘our’ Commodore in the US with a Pontiac badge for significantly less than the equivalent model in Australia.
There is no loyalty.
I’d rather drive a $70,000 Nissan GT-R and see Holden and Ford dry up instead of listening to the propaganda that they are ‘Australian’ and pay more than double the price for every other vehicle sold here.
Local workers are the only Australian thing about them, which is why its such important news when almost 500 employees are expected to lose their jobs.
the prob i think that ford has is its dealerships with the way they treat customers trying to screw as much money out of the customers rather than giving a great service and i know this as iv wrkd at a ford dealership and watchd a car get its front bumper ripped off by a young apprentace i dont think id b to happi with a dealership if that happned plus its the cost of the cars as well ay dnt get me wrong i love fords own 1 best car iv ownd but its the dealerships that are turnig me off which im now thinkg of going to a chrysler, mazda ect
Ford Australia simply doesn’t sell a product that would interest me! This large family sedan might be technically better then then it’s predecessors… But being a falcon, thats not saying much! I’m not gonna waste my money on a car with bad resale, and shoddy build quality!!
And yes, i have driven the company FG a few times. Nothing Special!! The dash looks cheap, and you can certainly tell it’s not European!! No thank you!!
I agree with spider. If Ford Australia made more than just Falcons and Territories then they might not be in such a shitty position. On paper the FG Falcon is a real winner. However, FG looks to much like BF which was a revised AU and for some people that by itself is enough to force you to shop elsewhere.
When Ford releases the all new FWD v6 Falcon in 2010 it will become bleedingly obvious that the FG was created merely to fill the time between the aging BF falcon and new American Falcon/Taurus. It never really was an ‘all new model’, just a face lift that cut a little deeper than most.
the only jobs that need to be cut are the marketing department/monkey that runs it…utterly hopeless even with great products, at least steal some ppl from toyota, they are geniuses for making people by bad products
This operation risks falling below the critical mass required to justify its very existence.
This again smacks of Mitsubishi Aust’s plight back in 2004. Ford may make a great product in the FG but its just not what Australia wants anymore. Just as mistubishi made a great car in the 380 the public didn’t want a 3 year old rehashed American reject when it was released in 05 and now they appear over the FG/territory aswell.
Come on, ford get the focus here into production right now……………….
…..and i’m not saying the FG is a rehash either
…………mmal did a fantastic job re-engineering the crappy US spec galant into the 380 and we didn’t want it. Ford have done a really top job with FG but the buying public are like children. They won’t eat their peas if all they want is ice cream. It was down to ford’s marketing to make them eat peas and they have failed.
you have to realise..
its the company policy at the very top which is the main reason such american companies such as GM and Ford are going broke, hence jobs are being cut down.
just in efficiency, I thought their manufacturing principles were behind that of the japanese, but it seems their admin and clerical are inefficient too…. almost 5000 admin members in Australia?? Geez.
Toyota has about less than half of that.
You dont’ need large numbers when their is an efficient and functional system in place.
but this is just a sign that Ford is under going changes… its good and bad… the bad being mentioned alreay.
Isnt anyone going to comment on the massive job losses at Holden ? Its just as relevant ……..annd remember , Holden are exporting the type of vehicle that Americans are turning away from in droves…….gas guzzling pushrod V8’s………so expect more job losses from Holden as well……
Andrew M Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
“turn australia into a stand alone country i say.
the more we seem to get involdved in the rest of the world, the more trouble we seem to get in”
Brainiac stikes again!! So what you’re saying is we should purchase Australian made mobile phones? And Australian made LCD tvs? And Australian made computer software? And what about the computer you’re typing on, is it Australian made?
I can tell you all why manufacturing capability in this country has dimished – having worked in the industry over 20 years I’ve seen it first hand. But I reckon I’ll hit another sore spot with your FG Falcon lovers…
this is a ford blog but as (in)efficiencies are mentioned lets face it, as i’ve said previous, toyota wrote the book on kaizen so their remarkable utilisation of resources including people shows. Ford may have good products (I’m no gung-ho ford advocate) but their greatness has not been communicated among its business model or processes. Maybe ford will need to go through the mulcher to re-invent itself like other makers.
Here, in this country Ford have propagated the myth (with holden) for more than 40 years that we can’t live without a big rear drive 6 or V8. That’s gotta change.
If the FG is such are great car why are they not selling more to export markets like Toyota does to survive in Australia? With the Aussie dollar where it is it would be a bargain overseas. If holden can rebadge a as a Pontiac why cannot Ford do the same. It is the product team rather than the marketing team who are to blame. These guys have to communicate and save via larger scale production.
At least Ford have improved their vehicles vs the Crappy Holden.
Nick, world wide demand for large family sedan such as this has dropped significantly!! The Fg Falcon would’nt survive locally without tariff protection. Let alone if it needed to survive internationally on its own merit!
Actually, As “efficient” as Toyota is… and trust me on this, in university, there’s a specific unit in manufacturing engineering course that outlines the Toyota production system, I learnt it back then.
Now… being exposed to it everyday, the university taught principles are only 10% of the overall magnitude of Toyota.
Mazda, Honda, heck even Hyundai as of late are all in a way developed their “system” based on Toyota. Ford is slowly changing but it should of happened 15 years ago.
And yes, GM/Holden lost heaps of jobs too, again because the lack of forecasting changes in the market.
People saying, GM and Ford have “hybrid” or “alternative” vehicles in the future… well it takes more than 5 years to get that implemented… Toyota began their change of direction back in mid-to-late 90s…
But good luck to Ford, the Australian industry (manufacturing) will take a massive blow if they ever collapse… in the end all big manufacturers want each other to survive somehow…. the more competitive… the more jobs, the cheaper the cars can be sold (suppliers can afford to supply cheaper parts the more manufacturers they have as clients.. and parts too).
^James, that is kaizen: philosophy of ongoing improvement, a Japanese business philosophy advocating the need for continuous improvement in somebody’s personal and professional life. This thinking was partly initiated in the 1950s by american, W Edwards Deming. The japanese picked it up and have never looked back. Trust the yanks to ignore one of their own people.
Kaizen is only one discipline of the Toyota Production System. (TPS). There are many factors that cant be taught but are actually a cultural phemomena of Japanese society and some other totalitarian societies.
In the west it’s everyone for themselves and the cult of the individual but in Japan the individual is nothing but the company and the group is all.
Efficency is what they are born with.. not taught like in the west.. Almost impossible to compete with..
Part of the reason for the FG’s failing is the MEDIA. Ever since FG was launched, the media has done nothing but print bad press. Eg in the initial road tests, “It looks to much like the old one” Never heard that said of BMW, AUDI, VW Golf etc.. and everyone who has looked at them side by side say that comment is just plain ridiculous. (Ummm sorry that’s just fact)
Also (and the quote I most liked “It is a great car, but is it what is really needed these days?” Considering the FG returns 28mpg (10.5l/100km) thatis an outstandingly economical vehicle of it’s size.
The media has made large of the downturn of the Falcon market, you hear a little about the down turn of the Commodore market, and NOTHING of the downturn of the Camry / Aurion market. Last month, Falcon was actually up on last year, Camry / Aurion & Commodore down. Don’t forget Honda is WAY down on it’s projected sales this year, as can be witnessed by the dealerships have had a year full of factory backed sales incentives (rather rare for Honda)
“caradvice.com.au”, I do like your site but if you are going to report these things please try to keep up to date. THis morning the Govt controlled media outlet reported the slow down at Holden, yet you guys report on a three day old subject that is to take place over the next two years. (sorry just sick of seeing death by media a.k.a MMAL) Also how about reporting that vehicles like Mondeo and Ranger are travelling along at forcasted sales rates (slightly up in Rangers case) and Fiesta has been travelling near Fords forcast, yes Territory is down, so is it’s marketplace, But Ute is also UP.
DanMan, you are (I pressume) also aware of the amount of money Toyota has spent in shoring up it’s Government contracts and supplying trade trips to government ministers and fleet buyers to Japan etc? This is perhaps the biggest reason why Toyota has had it’s march into the top spot.
In terms of exporting FG, can’t happen till they get the V6 as the left hand steering box doesn’t fit in with the I6. Also Thailand (level playing field) has something like an 80% tax on vehicles of that size, similar story in Malasia. So level playing fields are a joke.
For the respondants that will come on saying that they begrudge paying taxes to keep our industry alive, why would you feel better paying inflated prices for Euro’s or Japanese Brands for their pressumed prestige? Lets face it Civic is made in Thailand yet carries a premium price over others because it’s a Japanese Honda.
DanMan, you are (I pressume) also aware of the amount of money Toyota has spent in shoring up it’s Government contracts and supplying trade trips to government ministers and fleet buyers to Japan etc? This is perhaps the biggest reason why Toyota has had it’s march into the top spot.
Yes i am aware of that. I am not blinkered to ANY facts about cars, no matter the brand..
The point i made was also about how western society and western companies are all ‘boom and bust’ going from fat profits to near bankruptcy on a ten year cyclical basis. When Did toyota have ‘crysis?’ when did they have a recall scandal? (involving deaths)? Japanese companies have a longer veiw of steady progress instead of an obsession of profit every quarter all the time which is frankly a pure fantasy in the western mind.
To put it another way.. if Toyota made house’s everyone would buy a Toyota house becausce they wouldn’t risk their money and their family in anything else.
Holy wall of text Frontman…
I think that like GM & Mitsubishi – Ford Australia could have done much more to promote the Ford Focus and at least demonstrate they have started down the path of Diesel/Hybrids/Plug in electrics.
If only they had less attachment to the U.S.A divisions.
Talking about level playing fields.
China has a 150% tarrif on this size vehicle engine,also the same in Indonesia. India I’m not sure of and Japan will not even import this sort of car (probably the stigma of it made in Australia).
Wonder what would happen if Ford,Toyota or Holden made a hybid to sell to these countries?
Too all the workers at Ford Australia…..Goodluck.
This is perhaps the biggest reason why Toyota has had it’s march into the top spot.
A factor yes, but hardly the biggest reason.. more consistency of product eliminating risk in the customer’s mind (be they private or govt) and TOTAL efficency (or elimination of MURDA, waste)in the production process delivering greater value to the end user…
The name of the game is world domination and they are playing to win better than any other company in history.. if this was ww2 they are like America, Nazi Germany and Japan combined… scary huh.
there you are CB,
done that Google search on Lane Chane Assist yet??
if you thought by stand alone country that i meant Zero interaction with the outside world, then you are the tool for thinking anyone could be so stupid
Crikey Anti spammer is Datsun!!!!!!! Talk about dusting cobwebs :-)
DanMan, Toyota (along with all other Japanese Brands had their problem in the late eighties early nineties (too many late nights at present to give exact dates, however they were lucky enough for the Japanese meltdown not to tie in with an over inflated fuel price, and a total core market turn around. Which, if you look at it in an open honest way, is what has happened to the US market. I mean lets face it, 2006’s best selling vehicle in the US was F series. as it had been for the preceeding 18 years. In 07 it took a downturn, which developed into a total slump. 18 months to go from public darling to orphan. Only Michael Jackson can do that.
This is the same market that Toyota and Nissan have been struggling and throwing billions of dollars at to break into. Look at Toyota’s fleet in the US, 9 out of 17 models are SUV’s. The very same market that has caused the major down fall of the US giants. Bear in mind Ford EU is profitable and has been since 2002! I am also informed that Opel either is in the black or is nearing. GM Daewoo should be in the black as they have spent no money there and are selling products that were already slated to be built or were existing under Daewoo Automotive (or was it Motor at that stage? doesn’t mater).
Again I’m not anti Toyota, I’m just a facts type person.
Ohj and sorry everyone for writting a novel :-( I tend to get long winded when trying to stay awake
Ford cutting jobs – Holden to follow. I feel sorry for those affected – but really, why should we support a supposed Australian product. Falcons (and Commodores) are no more Australian than a Camry or Corolla. They are all assembled here, but the ownership has not one iota of Australia in it. They are not listed on the ASX, and hence have no Aust ownership.
Scammed,
the fact that falcons and commodores are designed here, engineered here and manufactured here makes them more australian than something just assembled here i would reckon
Scammed, The Falcon is probably the most Australian motor vehicle on the market. Only available in Australia (NZ counted as 7th & 8th states for convenience) and actually fully designed here by Australians. Corolla hasn’t been made in Aust for over 10 years, Camry is available in exactly the same form everywhere and VE is designed and built here and sold OS.
But, by support if you are refering to Govt backing and Tarrifs etc, why then is ok to give 70 mil to Toyota to investigate building a car here that they could import from the states?
Why should BHP Billiton get major tax brakes to go exploring? WHy should the Tourist industry get an LCT brake so that they can ferry asian wedding couples around? Wha about all those people working there getting paid? All that income tax and payroll tax and GST that’s collected along with the alcohol tax etc on a Friday evening? Maybe we should just pay for those people to go on the Dole?
Sorry not having a shot at you but the picture is even bigger than that.
Asia will eventually win out as far as producing the worlds cars. Some niche euros will survive only because rich Asians prefer them to the local product.
Andrew M Says:
October 16th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
“if you thought by stand alone country that i meant Zero interaction with the outside world, then you are the tool for thinking anyone could be so stupid”
You did make the statment, so you’re stupid – simple. Imbeciles like you have no concept of how trade works and then make brash statements like that.
BTW I’ll tell you why our (heavy) manufacturing industry failed – costs and inefficiency.
In the Port Kembla and Newcastle steelworks all one could hear back in the 1980’s was “strike”, even though they were amongst the highest paid workers in the world.
In university we learnt the basics of Japanese manufacturing, created half a century ago – most of it is still relevant today, but when I walked into a high level production meetings in the steelworks in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I was met by boos of “Jap bullsh##” and “go f###ing live there” – this mentality is still prevalent today.
Another example: In 2004 at a conference we looked at the productivity of crane drivers working in various ports around the world (Singapore, Korea, Netherlands, Brazil, Australia) – guess what? Compared to Rotterdam, which is the world’s busiest port, our crane drivers were paid three times as much, for one SIXTH the efficiency.
Anyway, there are numerous examples I can raise – but unfortunately there isn’t much a country like us can do.
BTW, I work for a large mining house, and we have now started purchasing our steel overseas – the quality is just as good thanks to our expat QA/QC, it costs only 1/4 as much, and is fabricated in 1/2 the time. We get the product here ahead of time, we construct, beat the schedule, and many Australians go home with nice bonuses.
CB so management just shrugged their collective shoulders and walked away?
Starts from the top down not the other way around. The people at the top are paid to manage.
Greedy incompetent management compared to their Asian counterparts that’s the problem in the whole western world not just here.
Then again in most western countries like Australia political correctness is rife and any nationalistic or patriotic behaviours are suppressed.
How can we motivate our workforce to work for the country as the Asians do if this is the case.
DanMan hit the nail on the head in relation to asian culture.
Asian jeanie is out of the bottle and no one will put it back.
Realcars, the unfortunate thing is the PROTECTION given to the workers by the Unions. Look at Holdens forcomming downtime, the unions are demanding that the workers are paid leave bonuses and extras to keep their income correct. Whilst I would rather not see anyone drop their income, the plain simple truth is if they have to pay more money for not working then the inevitable arrives sooner and then the Unions will have protected the workers right out of a job.
Unions have their place, but when they price their member out of a job, then something is wrong. The Awu in the US fought to get their member life long health benefits and retirement plans etc, now thos companies are folding before their eyes. Do they care? yes they want money put aside to protect those retired workers health plans. To hell with their current members, they can loose their jobs.
Frontman your point about unions is a valid one.They do go too far sometimes and for the wrong reasons.
This adversarial approach is unfortunately a hallmark of our Industry in general and is much the fault of management as it is of unions. Conservative governments have chosen to union bash instead of rallying workers for the greater good of the country. If they and management had of instead focused on this then union power would have been diminished substantially.
I know that talent and effort needs to be rewarded but exec salaries/perks have been obscene in the Western world, largely thks to the yanks,and it is difficult to get the rank and file to toe the line when this is constantly rubbed in their faces.
Regarding unions – anyone seen the strikes in WA by the loco drivers? These guys are on $160K+ per year, with $20K+ bonuses – and they went on strike for one shift, demanding their conditions and jobs are retained even if the automated system comes online. Rio Tinto have them assurances they will have roles within the company, but the drivers want assurances their benefits and salary will remain intact.
The unions are to blame for this as well…….getting unskilled migrant factory workers undeserved and un-manageable wages and conditions has resulted in job losses in many sectors, not just the car industries. All those paid days off, public holidays and ridiculous religious days off with pay have now come back to haunt them. Ford are a bussiness like any other and are not a community service, they have created many many jobs over the years and given much to the country and like any bussiness have ups and downs…….its a bussiness cycle. So just think……..if you had supported Ford and bought a fantastic Territory or FG Falcon instead of that IMPORTED car you and many others might still have a job. Its just that simple….but people just want to take take take and give nothing back..and that is a cold hard fact.
Australia is not the only one, but we are too slow at trying to get the system soughted out and when one party tried to the lost their position. Remember when Daewoo Automotive went bankrupt? They filed on a Thursday, shut down for the weekend and reopened on a Monday as Daewoo Motor. Why because they weren’t allowed to sack anyone. Even after the factory had gone fro 60% automated to 87%!!! Perhaps Ford and Holden and Toyota should do that.
Re-open renegotiate the contracts to peace pay reduce the costs of our cars in line with the Koreans and then see what hapens to the market. WOuld you buy a Sonata over a Falcomodamryion if they were the same price??