Ford Australia cuts 440 jobs, slashes production

By Tim Beissmann
July 17th, 2012

FIND DEALS

Ford Australia has axed 440 workers from its local operations and will scale back vehicle production by 30 per cent as it attempts to remain economically sustainable amid diminishing demand for the struggling Ford Falcon large car.

Ford Australia says it will cut production from 209 vehicles per day to 148 in November to “more closely align production with current market demand”, in what the company says is a “direct response to changing customer preferences”.

Ford says up to 440 redundancies will be offered across the business, primarily from the 1800 jobs at its manufacturing facilities, including the engine plant in Geelong and the vehicle assembly plant in Broadmeadows.

Voluntary redundancies will be offered initially but Ford admits it may be forced to issue compulsory redundancies if the required number is not originally met.

Ford Australia president and CEO Bob Graziano admitted the job cuts were regrettable but insisted they were in the long-term interest of the company.

“We understand that, unfortunately, the impact on our employees will be significant, but implementing this structural change is essential to ensure the longer-term health of the business, which is important for our employees, our suppliers and the communities in which we operate,” Graziano said.

“All employees who take up the redundancy will receive a competitive redundancy package, including training and career counselling; and we will work closely with them and our union partners to help our employees make the transition successfully.”

Ford Australia admitted it was considering job cuts last month when it announced its Broadmeadows and Geelong facilities would close for seven days during July to balance production with market demand.

The announcement comes just six months after Ford Australia announced a $103 million co-investment deal with the federal and Victorian governments, which Ford said would help fund updates to the Falcon and Territory in 2014 and guarantee the existence of its local operations until 2016.

Graziano says Ford Australia is unwavering in its commitment to continue building cars until that point.

“We are committed to the Ford brand and continuing to produce vehicles in Australia.”

The production adjustments will see Ford increase the Territory’s share of production to almost 50 per cent to reflect the increasing popularity of the model.

The Territory outsold the Falcon sedan over the first six months of this year for the first time in history. Sales of the large SUV are up 52.5 per cent so far in 2012 to 7695 units – in stark contrast to the Falcon sedan, which is down 24.6 per cent to 6846 sales. Sales of the Falcon Ute have also slipped 10.5 per cent, down to 2957 vehicles.

Falcon sales will hit a new low in 2012. Ford is currently on track to sell fewer than 15,000 large sedans for the year, which is around one-fifth of the 73,220 it delivered across Australia just nine years ago.

Ford Australia’s attempts to reverse the losses with the introduction of fuel-efficient versions of the Falcon are not proving as successful as it initially planned. Ford launched the new LPG-powered Falcon EcoLPi in July 2011 and followed it up with the four-cylinder petrol-powered Falcon EcoBoost in April 2012. At the launch of both variants, Ford said it believed each would eventually account for around 25 per cent of total Falcon sales, making half of all Falcons sold either an EcoBoost or EcoPLi variant. Since the launch of the EcoBoost, the two have accounted for just 21 per cent of total Falcon volume, leaving them well shy of their target.

Falling Falcon sales are compounding the financial pain for Ford Australia. In May, the company reported its biggest deficit on record: a $290 million post-tax loss for 2011.

The latest job cuts come 14 months after Ford Australia shed 240 workers from its Broadmeadows and Geelong plants – again due to falling demand for its vehicles – with daily vehicle production at the time sliced from 260 cars to the current level of 209.

The future of Ford Performance Vehicles was also cast into doubt last month when FPV confirmed the sacking of then-general manager Rod Barrett and around a dozen other Melbourne-based employees.

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Doomsday

The end is near my friend….
- The Anonymous Antagonist
  
  Yes, you’d like that wouldnt you?
- BP
  
  It is indeed:
  
  Four-cylinder Falcon sales – April to June 2012Ford company and employee cars: 159Private buyers: 53Business and fleets: 101Local Government: 13State Government: 22Federal Government: 2Not-for-profit organisations: 7
  - BP
    
    Four-cylinder Falcon sales – April to June 2012
    Ford company and employee cars: 159Ford company and employee cars: 159Private buyers: 53
    Business and fleets: 101
    Local Government: 13
    State Government: 22
    Federal Government: 2
    Not-for-profit organisations: 7
- Noel
  
  Sorry guys, I think Doomsday is right. Let’s face it, nothing can save the Falcon now. The poor old girl.
  
  In reality Australian’s just don’t want big sedans anymore, so if they get rid of the Falcon, the Commodore would stand a half a chance of continuing to be built (unless sales take off in the US and then who knows what will happen)
  - Housecat84
    
    But they seem to want Commodores and lets face it, the Falcon is consistently rated higher. I’d like to think that would be enough but alas, the people buying large cars don’t seem to think so.
    - Noel
      
      But do they, the Commodore is number 5 on the chart ytd, that is a big drop from being number 1 for 15 years.
      
      The Falcon is suffering the same fate as the 380 did, as soon as the negative stories start it is almost impossible to stop them.
      - Housecat84
        
        There’s no argument that there is a sliding trend towards SUV’s and Mid Size/Small cars. Commodore was always going to lose ground. Still, they’re selling more than the Falcon in any case and they have a fairly mediocre product when it comes to the 3.0 set up and the interior. It still sells- We’ve said it before. Their Marketing strategy carries a lot of weight. They need to take a page out of Ford US’s book in that regard. Time it with the 2014-15 Falcon on the new Mustang Platform.
- Damian
  
  This is inevitably what happens to a company that is complacent and lacks innovation and forward thinking. Ford Australia is paying the ultimate price for its purely reactive approach in the market.
  
  Where is the diesel Falcon? Where is the Australian built Focus? The market already reflected its desire for these two to come to fruition, but Ford Australia didn’t listen and gave us a four cylinder Falcon instead.
  - lee
    
    Damian – do you think that it is a re-active approach or self serving control from its US parent. Reading up on the plight of OPEL, I found that most of OPEL’s losses are attributable to the fact that GM would not allow it to export tooutseide Europe leaving it with costly manufacturing facilolities un-utilised.
- PM
  
  RIP Ford
Dave S

Please give us some good news Ford.
We dont want to see anymore reports of job losses.
- F1MotoGP
  
  There will be no good news for us only for CEO $$$$$$$. This is globalization.
  - Emc2
    
    Is that what they teach you in kindergarten economics?
    
    Why do you simpletons always think that job cuts in plants = CEO getting payrise. You wish life is that simple. And no, it has nothing to do with globalisation.
    
    There are so many economic factors at play.. market demand.. shrinking segment, etc.
    
    You should also know that in many companies, the higher your rank is, the more chance your package is linked to the company’s overall performance (rather than a fixed sum). Hence if the company is doing poorly, you’ll be more affected in terms of monetary remuneration relative to the lower ranked staff.
    - Douglas9305
      
      …although history also suggests that in some instances senior executives may actually get a bonus for managing a plant/company shut-down within budget and minimum public fuss……………
      - http://www.facebook.com/michael.lock.731 Michael Lock
        
        Agreed too Douglas & Robert, it seems very strange that the public just don’t see this current CEO out in front of the cameras or in the newspapers much at all since he was appointed.
        I believe Ford has already made the decision to close down in Australia which is very sad but we can’t change the fact that people don’t want to buy the current model Falcon and Ford USA does not want to invest into the next Falcon cycle.The current CEO is here to wind it down with the minimum of public and government fuss and that is why we don’t see him, I give it 2 years at most. When Ford changed its’ mind to not build the Focus here unfortunately the writing was on the wall then, same for Holden if they decided NOT to build the Cruze in Adelaide.What really annoys me about the 440 jobs lost is the lack of organisation by Ford and the Government to re-locate (give the 1800 a choice) people to North-West WA to earn TRIPLE their Ford salary. Instead we have Gina Reinhart getting approval to IMPORT 400 odd workers from Asia to build her various projects….it is disgusting, shameful and pathetic.
      - Homer
        
        and how many of these assembly line workers are boiler makers, diesel mechanics or have any trade at all? These simplistic solutions to a serious problem are just that, simple, but not realistic. Let us know when you’re ready to pack up your home, family, relations, friends and move way across the country, live in pretty average conditions and pay most of you increased income on accommodation and cost of living.
      - http://www.facebook.com/michael.lock.731 Michael Lock
        
        Homer, I have myself packed up my small bag as a young 20yo in Adelaide and hopped on the Ghan back in 1987 and moved to Alice Springs without knowing anyone to gain better employment. I had the best 4 years of my short life experience back then, so much so I said &#%$ this lets try Darwin!!! So I moved up there without knowing anyone in 91 and had a blast for 13 years, with a short fill in job in Katherine for 4 months.
        I then SOLD my house in Darwin and moved my family and small business to Perth in 2005 to expand it and give my family a better chance in a bigger city…..so don’t tell me people can’t adjust and move around you just need to get off their backside and go for it!!!! I know plenty of people who do fly-in/fly-out from all Eastern cities, Ford/Government just need to re-train this group.
        Just like the Asian import workers are getting of theirs to work in the North West
      - Homer
        
        Michael, appreciate your can do attitude. However you are still offering simplistic solutions, like “just get off their backside” and “just need to retrain this group”. What you did 25 years ago as a 20 year old and what you expect others to do is not real. Neither can you “just retrain” these people, in the real world it just doesn’t happen like that.
      - twincharger
        
        Good point Michael,Gina Noheart is importing 1700 semi skilled workers for her Roy Hill mine.
      - PM
        
        Head west Ford workers, you will be kicking yourself you didn’t do it sooner
      - moonie
        
        The mining companies want tradies and young labourers, not middle aged assembly workers.
    - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
      
      Agreed.
  - Ford Fairlane
    
    I agree with F1 on this.
    
    F1 didn’t state that Job cuts cause CEO payrises
    
    Emc2 – its true there are so many economic factors at play here but why do you think there are so many economic factors at play here?
    
    Cheaper labour in other countrys = Globalization
    
    Cost of manufacturing in Oz = Globalization
    
    People who buy forien made products just because its seen as trendy to buy a forien made product = Globalization
Laurie

So is the Australian motorist to blame for not buying Australian made cars! or was this going to happen regardless. 440 people have families that may want an answer
- Lbrinsmead
  
  I’d say the Government has made it easy for reliable, innovative and affordable imported cars to enter the market by not maintaining appropriate import tariffs and not giving a hoot about an American origin car company in the land of Holden.
  - Yetiman
    
    I don’t think increasing tariffs will fix Ford Australia. Consumers don’t want to drive a large cars any more.
    - Ford Fairlane
      
      That is BS as the sales of 4WD’s and SUV would also be declining
      - Mosmanite
        
        I agree. There is still a market for large cars, it just isn’t the biggest share of the market any more. Ford were foolish not to adopt the Focus production. While it would have reduced thier proift margin per vehicle, by selling a small ‘Austrailian Made’ car that would have gained better market share.
      - Focus wouldn’t have worked
        
        They wouldn’t buy Focus either. It could be made of gold and still it won’t sell, because of the Ford badge.
        
        People want SUVs because it appeals to the urban-outdoors image, and they are tall and big, so you can tailgate and harass other drivers with less chance of injury to yourself or your passengers.
        
        Otherwise, they make a good impression when arriving for the all important candle-lit supper. It’s all about keeping up appearances.
  - birdie
    
    what makes you think holden is austrailian , let me guess , you have a southern cross sticker on the back window of your crummadore , holden is no more austrailian then ford , its only thanks to goverment motors that foldden are here.
- Writings on the wall
  
  blame the fool that cancelled Focus production in Aust. At least Holden has started building what the buyers want. Clearly Ford in the US has a plan to wrap up production in Aust.
  - Ex MMAL worker
    
    Maybe so but whats the point of building 40000 small cars here in australia for next to no profit compared to 20000 large cars?
    
    Fixed costs are still the same no matter what car is built and the focus wouldve required all its mechanicals (GDI petrol engine, diesel engine and dual clutch gearbox) to be imported so that wouldnt have helped the geelong plant at all.As they say in business, there is no point selling thousands of something for next to nothing (profit) just to keep a factory/business open. As sad as it is its easier and better for the parent company to shut up shop and become a importer just like nissan and mitsubishi.
    
    I lost my job in 2008 after 21 yrs with mitsubishi here in Adelaide when it closed the Tonsley park factory so i know very well the rough times ahead for the Ford workers especially with the constant hammering from the press that seemed to have moved from Mitsubishi (the press went on and on for over 15yrs about how MMAL was going to close) to now Ford.
    
    I hope the ford workers that leave are able to get another fulltime job like i have been able to do.
    - Writings on the wall
      
      my point was that by having a car that sold ford could have survived longer in australia. focus production numbers could have helped keep the factory viable for longer and keep falcon and territory in production.
      Mitsubishi is a good example with just one model (without exports) there simple aren’t enough buyer in Aust. It was mitsubishi who nominated 3000 cars a month as the cut off point for production to survive, a number ford get closer to dipping down to each month
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
  
  Not cars anymore it seems everyone wants a SUV or 4WD Ute
  - Ford Fairlane
    
    Thats true SUV’s and 4WD’s have taken the buyers that would have purchased a Falcon or commodore in the past,but why?
    
    the answer is simple,Trendyness.
    
    Falcon and Commodore use less fuel = Greener
    Are dynamically superior which makes them better in collisoin avoidance = Safer
    Don’t block the vision of smaller car drivers as much = Safer
    
    4wd’s were originaly built for the off road,not commuting around the city.
    - Rocket
      
      I have a dual cab Ranger not because it is trendy but because it is very handy to have a ute when you have a family and need to carry a load. Pity Ford only designed the Ranger in Australia and did not make them here also. I have had Falcons and they are always good cars but but not as practical as a Ranger or a Territory.
    - Legnab
      
      Make sure you ditch your falcon quick smart , like the mitsu 380 will be worth nothing over the coming years , get a fiesta tomorrow.
      - Garrywhopper
        
        Change the record grammar boy, VW good, falcon bad durh durh durh
      - chook
        
        Congratulations Australia……..Many of us are playing our part in the demise of an icon…….Yes, little do most of you give a shat !!!….along with so many other things which originate here , the most recent one being darrel lea being in trouble !!……….Im still proud to have my own falcons , old and new , which will last out my years . As for much of the australian customer base , shame on most of you !!……because clearly you dont know a good thing when its staring you in the face !!!…….How can so many idiots be concentrated in one country ??
      - Werewr
        
        An Icon? You have got to be joking.
      - Patrick
        
        Good point, even if you are one of the few Falcon buyers left, why would you, it will be worth nothing come 2016 when Ford Australia close down, who is that stupid to throw $45,000 down the drain?
    - chook
      
      Yes Fairlane…..They think theyre so trendy with their bitumen safari 4wds now .,…. Whenever I see on the news about an accident involving a 4wd rolling over on a sealed road i now say “so be it “. I have no sympathy left whatsoever anymore for these wankers !!
      - Legnab
        
        Have another VB and a fag , get out the rod and catch a fish , then its of to centre link in the morning .
      - chook
        
        Actually Legbag …..I only drink spirits , dont smoke and am busily employed ……i dont need to cut my fuel cost by 30% below that of a falcon and degrade myself to a modern age VW beetle !!
    - Werewr
      
      Actually the answer is
      
      - Many 4WDs/SUVs are sold with a diesel which actually uses less fuel then Falcoone/Crummer
      - Huge increase in practicality, more seats, better interior flexibility – particularly compared to sedan only Falcoone
      - Plus they arent nessasarily dynamically superior, Territory was noted by several people as being a far better handler than the awful Falcon Wagon.
      - chook
        
        Yes….Territory handles better than the falcon wagon only because of the independent rear suspension which it shares with the falcon sedan , while the falcon wagon had leaf springs …..while the current falcon sedan handles better than the territory because of its lower centre of gravity……..but i bet many australian buyers dont understand much about “centre of gravity”…..obviously . ……and in your previous reply about me joking about the falcon being an icon ….well it is an icon , regradless what you think and it will be regardless of how long it continues to be built here or how many they sell ……Your petty opinion doesnt change the truth !!
      - Captain Nemo
        
        Hmmm now where have i seen that “paw spalling” before??
        i noe its BUNGLE!!!!!!! with yet another username
      - Frostie
        
        Haha, its been a while since I last saw one of your comments.
      - don’t feed the troll
        
        Where have I seen this poor spelling before? How hard is it to get the name “Falcon” correct? Ridiculous, just ridiculous. God I hate internet trolls. Different name, same person.
      - twincharger
        
        New name Phildo?
    - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
      
      I have seen SUV’s “trip over” on a roundabout. Something a sedan with a lower COG will not.
Mr Plow

Ford cannot keep building what people do not wish to buy. It’s as simple as that.
Robin_Graves

This is pretty sad, but Ford are in business to make money. If people aren’t buying the cars then there is no need to make so many. Fact of life I’m afraid. The other frustrating thing is that Americans and Middle Eastern customers would be interested in the Falcon (especially the turbos) but the money is simply not there to develop LHD. Its only going to get worse I think which is sad because the current I6 turbo driveline is by far the best ever made in this country and is truly world class although DI would make it even better. Cue Legnab and his usual dinosaur remarks.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
  
  Agreed .Ford US were to blind to develop that potential market, now their market globally is shrinking as a result of the “not invented here” syndrome and the very stupid “One Ford ” policy.
- Werewr
  
  Why would Americans or Middle easteners be interested in Falcoone and since when have they been keen on Turbos?
  
  Looking at the 20 best selling cars in USA – Pickups, small/Medium sized FWD sedans like Crapolla/Crapry/Civic/Accord and 4WDs. No large RWD sedans have sold in decent numbers in the USA for over 20 years. Besides Ford has Taurus and fusion on sale in these markets.
  - Robin_Graves
    
    I’m not suggesting that it would be in the topselling list, but the niche performance market would probably sell at least as many if not more than the Australian market. If you think middle eastern market dont like modding turbos, try going to youtube and looking up Nissan patrol 4800 turbo or landcruiser turbo. OK they are 4WD’s but there is definately a modder market for for boosted cars and they have plenty of money. They even import Skylines and convert them to LHD. I’m sure the yanks would also like a turbo falcon ute if they bothered to spend some money on the rear suspension and make it a seemless tray like the commodore. It’s just the economies of scale with a larger market. It’s probably too much of a gamble for Ford tho.
    - Werewr
      
      Ford Mustang starts at $22K in the USA, Camero 23K PORSCHE Boxster is $49K. Where’s Ford going to price a performance model Falcoone to get enough sales but maintain a profit?
      Go on, I’m after a laugh – give us some price suggestions and projected sales forecasts & profit projections for this USA/Middle East Falcoone.
      
      GMH tried this with the G8 and GTO – even priced from $28K, they had to heavily discount further to shift them, they sold fewer examples then they were in Australian and the whole operation was unprofitable. That was with a V8 option – I think you’ll find Americans prefer their powerful cars with a V8 rather than a Turbo 6.
      - chook
        
        Exporting cars to other countries may give bragging rights to some …….but with exchange rates playing their part it can mean that the more cars that go overseas than theres actually more money lost……..thats just what happenned when ford exported the capri in the 1980s , and although they sold really well in the US , ford here was just losing plenty of cash due to exchange rate at the time .
      - Legnab
        
        The capri was probably the worst quality car ever built in this country , thats saying something when you consider how bad the VH was .
        
        Ask any punter who bought a capri , most are in the dump .
      - Captain Nemo
        
        Bungle actually the worst quality car ever built in OZ was the MK1 Rolf. So bad VeeDud shut the factory after only few months production.
      - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
        
        No, the GTO and G8 were part of Pontiac and as you recall, Pontiac the division has since disappeared. They were only going to sell 30,000, but Pontiac folded before that target was reached.
        People who have bought GTO’s and G8′s like them a lot.
      - Werewr
        
        Yes, it disappeared because it was not profitable. It was not profitable because they could not sell enough of them at a high enough price.
      - p.a.
        
        Yes. The problem wasn’t the car, was the Pontiac brand.
  - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
    
    Because they do not sell any outside of the now discontinued Panther chassis , which was the basis of American Taxi’s. The Falcon could have made a RWD Lincoln and a replacement for the Panther. No Ford US decided on the FWD Taurus, that sells as many cars in the US as the Falcon here , in other words the FWD Taurus is a total failure. The Lincoln which is also FWD does not look long for this world as well.
  - Igomi Watabi
    
    Do you smart*rses knwo the derivation of referring to it as “Falcoone”? It’s offensive and not appreciated.
Jag

Interesting gamble ford oz made. imagine if they invested in making focus wit the C1 platform (focus, hybrid, kuga/escape or C-max)
I’d say it’s far more greater investment.
- Andrew M
  
  So you reckon they could have made the Focus here and sold it for 18,990 drive away??
  
  How much margin do you reckon would be in it??
  The XR6 when discounted sells for nearly twice the price of the Focus but I bet it doesnt cost nearly twice as much to make.
  Large cars have much better margin which is why Ford and Holden have been reluctant to drop them
  
  Also, Ford pulled their Focus plans when the green car funds were announced and Ford were told they werent geting any benefit for the Focus whereas Holden was for the Cruze.
  
  Now green car funds are being cut back Holden is up in arms saying it will collapse with out continued Government input
SLORE

YES!! The death of the falcon is nigh.

As for the 440 employees – they can go to TAFE and acquire a new skill in a new industry. No point in crying over spilled milk.
- Douglas9305
  
  …unless you are of course 50+ 30+ years with this one organisation having put your heart and soul into something you have believed in…….
  - Amlohac
    
    If Ford have any eithics (or money left) they will payout these employees handsomly and help them re-train to continue in the industry.
    
    Will it happen? Who knows…
LOL

And Wayne Goose thinks we should have a spring in our step.
- Patrick
  
  Labor doesn’t have a clue, but remember Gillard and Swan say its all about jobs, jobs, jobs!!!!!
  Bring on the next election now before this country has no manufacturing left
  - Igomi Watabi
    
    mmm, yes Abbott is the answer to all our economic woes! *cough*
  - Norm
    
    Oh hey PM!
    
    Didn’t we share a lammington and a lemon cordial at the last Young Liberals conference?
Peanut

What is the answer? What should they be making that the public will buy?
Should they make a mid sized rwd car?
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
  
  No, more SUV’s They are buying them in droves
Andrew

I still can’t work out why Ford or Holden haven’t put a diesel engine in their large cars. A diesel G6E or Calais would have me knocking the door down at my local dealerships tomorrow. Failing that, it’s into an imported car again. I want a big car for the family with good fuel economy. Just build it!
- BP
  
  Even so, I remember Holden stating there isn’t a big enough market for it. Would be good though…
- Dave S
  
  LPG
- Golfschwein
  
  I agree. Others may mount the familiar arguments against the diesel of the dollar payback per kilometre, the nitrous oxides and so on and so forth, but the simple fact is (and, hey, the Territory is proof of it), if they had built it, the buyers would have come.
  - Andrew M
    
    I dont agree,
    Territory is an SUV and the diesel mentality is strong on the 4×4 and SUV market.
    
    For something like a Falcon or Commodore which already uses 8L for round figures what do you think a diesel would achieve?
    
    Territory and its rivals are in the early to mid teens in fuel consumption so the benefits are visible with diesel.
    
    A diesel Falcon or Commy would do 7L at best I reckon, and wouldnt be as good to drive.
    
    And on the nitrous oxide side which you brought up, well, since when was a growth stimulating gas worse than a cancer causing gas??
    Diesel fumes would put a human to sleep much faster.
    If they want to do it fair they should look at the combined ratings for air pollution and green house gases rather than singling out one particular element
    - Golfschwein
      
      I think it’s something that Australian drivers have been ready for, Andrew M. Regardless of the maths and the gases and the particulates (all of which you make a fair and reasonable point on), a significant percentage of Territory, Cruze, Mondeo, A6, A3, A4, Passat, Golf, Focus, Superb, Polo, 5 series, 3 series, C Class, E Class, X1, X4, 308, C4, C5, i30, i40 and XC60 buyers go diesel.
      
      See what I’ve done there? Count ‘em! It’s not a question of what economy a diesel Falcon or Commodore would score, oh y’know, they’d only do seven or eight litres per 100 and it would take 122,818 clicks to break even rah rah rah…no. I’m simply saying, completely unscientifically, uncomplicatedly and unmathematically, that if they were available, people would buy, just like they do these other cars. I would hope that you see that as a fair and reasonable point, too.
      - Andrew M
        
        Yes, those vehicles are available in Diesel, but the thing with percentages and statistics is they can be manipulated to show what ever story you are trying to prove.
        
        Now, Of those vehicles, tell me which sell in any reasonable numbers as a whole……
        That would be Cruze, Golf, Focus, Territory and i30.
        See what I have done there? only those four are in or close to the top 10 list for sales volume. From there then we talk diesel percentage as the rest make up an insignificant amount in volume to start with.
        
        I dont know the splits, and I would love to know where such data is available, but I know personally I see many more petrol i30;s Cruzes and Focus’s.
        
        Take the economics out, which I never really brought up as I knew it would go round and round, then tell me what the sell is on a diesel Falcon…….
      - Golfschwein
        
        I’m not trying to manipulate any percentages or figures. I’m simply saying they’d sell. And I’m GUESSING, Andrew, I’m g-u-e-s-s-i-n-g. If I guess wrong, hey, I’m doing no worse than Ford’s marketing department.
      - Andrew M
        
        ha ha true, couldnt do any worse than Fords marketing efforts.
        Personally I think Falcon and commodore are out of flavour big time, and I doubt spending 500K on shoe horning a diesel engine aboard would change things.
        
        All I am doing is countering your argument about substantial existing diesel sales.
        Take the top 3 sellers from the Light, small, medium and large segment and we total 24,848 vehicles.
        Now tell me if there is a significant amount of diesels among that………
        
        Most of the examples you gave are pretty much niche products and in no way reflect a genuine mass change in buying trends.
        
        People want something different to a falcon, not a different type of falcon
      - http://www.facebook.com/people/Karl-Sass/100000921334936 Karl Sass
        
        You’re completely right Golfy, it would sell.
        Both Ford and Holden know that to go diesel would be a step backwards; it’s dirtier, noisier, more expensive to manufacture, needs to be imported, and obviously more expensive to run than LPG.
        Despite that, perception is reality in the mind of the buyer. Diesel is seen as a ‘greener’ fuel and LPG as an inferior taxi fuel.
        The engineers probably can’t bring themselves to do a diesel in the Falcon, but if they did it would sell.
Wakeup

The cost of manufacturing is this country is just insane! We can thank labour and the unions for that. When did people start believing that they “own” there jobs? Jobs are given by employers (who put there money in to starting and building a company), if the company needs to cut jobs to stay profitable then thats life! People need to take responsibly for there own lives and livelihoods and prepare for the future as nothing lasts forever. And not simply reply on their employers to support and fund hard times, retirement etc.
- Werewr
  
  Ummmm, The Liberals were in power when Falcoone had it’s biggest declines in production. They were in when Falcoone had it’s highest ever production in 2003 and by the time they left office at the end of 2007 Falcoones production had halved. The trend has simply continued during the Labour term.
  Liberals policys of globerlisation, trade agreements etc are far more damaging to local manufacturing than Labors.
  - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
    
    Interesting aspect of the “Free Trade” with Thailand, the Thai’s slapped a Luxury Tax on imported vehicles so Ford Australia could not export the Territory there. Level Playing field.
- DanielD
  
  Sorry I missed the memo Wakeup that said Australia was no longer a first world nation with matching wages and salaries and would from now on be paying its people the equivalent of a third world nation while the top end of time lived the high life.The Aussie notion of a fair go apparently made redundant along with our history of wealth and success and a fair go for all.
  
  A very aspirational logic you have applied there and right in line with so called Work Choices.The US inspired thinking you have spouted, hasn’t exactly done most Americans any good. They have all but wiped out their middle class, which has slowed their economy (middle class are aspirational buyers and kept the economy ticking) and they still aren’t competitive. On the plus sign, there are some very, very rich bastards in America and an order of magnitude more poor people. Many of whom used to be middle class Americans, before their lives were destroyed by cutting their wages and benefits to keep them competitive. Thats something to aim for in our new competitive economy you pine for.
  
  Wonder why Germany and the Scandavian countries have”t embraced it? Perhaps you might like to find out. Turns out there is an alternative.
Pauly

Sigh… I feel so sorry for the workers at Ford. But there is no point getting angry at Australian consumers for buying other cars. Ford Falcon is simply not a car that people want anymore, so why keep making it?

They should have invested in making the Focus here on the C1 platform. We could have also started making Focus Hybrd, C-Max and the next gen Kuga….

Instead we are getting the Focus from Thailand.

The people running Ford Australia should be shot.

- Crappy advertising
- Insistent on Falcon production until sales nose drive into the ground
- Refusal to start making C1 Platform cars here, when they were given a chance to do so.

Its not the workers fault, its not the Australian Public fault, blame it all on the top brass of Ford Australia.
- Dave S
  
  It reminds me of the Mitsubishi workers years ago. One said ‘we are just building a car no one wants’.
  
  This is disappointing. The Falcon used to be number 1. Although when they were number 1, they had a V8, a wagon and a LWB model.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
  
  Ford US more than Ford Australia, they are slaves to Detroit’s wishes, no matter how balmy they are.
tamworth1

ford needs to listen to their customers, imagine a diesel g6, a diesel ute and a diesel wagon, also what numbskull decided to ditch the fairmont, if you want to upgrade from a falcon now you buy a holden
- Robin_Graves
  
  I’d like an XR6T wagon (with IRS) but historically I don’t think they sold that well even when sales were up in the ’90s
  - Legnab
    
    Perfect for grave diggers , probably big enough for 2 up , pity about the old leaf back end .
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Karl-Sass/100000921334936 Karl Sass
      
      Yep they should’ve got rid of the leaf spring much earlier. Although I did once see a Falcon wagon being used to tow a large bobcat! Would’ve been about 3 tonnes and the back end was on the ground, there’s no denying they were a solid vehicle.
- Werewr
  
  Fairmont wasn’t ditched, it was rebadged as G6/G6E
  - tamworth1
    
    Yep my point was since ditching the fairmont badge sales have declined, if you want to upgrade from a falcon badge you have to go elsewhere.
    P.S I live in NZ( yes some of us are still here) and have owned always falcons and holden, nothing finer than an aussie car.
    - Werewr
      
      Your point does not make sense. Sales were declining rapidly before the Fairmont badge was ditched. During the final four years of Fairmont – 2004-2008, Falcoone sales basically halved.
- http://www.facebook.com/michael.lock.731 Michael Lock
  
  they do still make the Fairmont, it just as a different name…G6 (Fairmont) & G6E (Fairmont Ghia).
  I have always loved wagons, they really do up well as a ‘cruiser’ and are extremely practical but unfortunately Ford always steered the styling and packaging to the fleet and family users (boring or cares) types.
  I think that in the future and Holden or Ford wagon with an original factory V8 Fairmont, SS or Berlina in good condition will increase in value because they ARE a great car and an important part of Australian history.
  Holden currently does alright selling their Sportwagon because they offer the full variety of package from Omega to Calais V from the 3.0L to the V* and even a HSV R8 Tourer now that will be a collectable in the future.
Julia

Tony Abbott’s fault
- Darryl
  
  All that negativity from Mr Rabbott he just says no to everything including buying a Falcon. You must be real mad Joolya
- Patrick
  
  LMFAO
  
  Juliar hasn’t got a clue, she wouldn’t know what a Falcon is….
ChrisF1

Ford needs to cut Falcon production to 0. The writting was on the wall for falcon 5 years ago and all they have done is fit a useless 4 cylinder. Ford Australia missed their chance to stay relevant and now the workers will pay the price.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Micheal-Riseley/505139725 Micheal Riseley

Don’t blame Ford, blame stupid Australians that buy inferior products from ‘other’ companies
- Amlohac
  
  How so? Many other brands offer decent cars people want to buy. You cant force people to buy big 4 door sedans if they dont want them.
  
  Its a shift in market trends. Its as simple as that. Ford just havent kept up. Which is sad, considering it seems everyone in the country could see it coming from a mile away
  - Andrew M
    
    All Fords Vehicles are top of class, if not very near it.
    Fiesta, Focus, Falcon, Ranger, Territory etc all rank right up there among their competition.
    
    The problem is we are spoilt for chice in such a small nation.
    Commodore and Falcon used to sell around 7000 units per month in a time where we used to record around 600,000 sales in this country.
    
    Nowdays we sell 1 million units, yet not one single vehicle sells anywhere near the hay day of Falcon and Commodore.
    In theory the top seller should be selling 13,000 units/months if they simply stole the commodores market share.
    
    The thing is we have a lot of sales spread over a lot of vehicles.
    I made the point a while ago that nissan has 4 medium sized SUVs all selling 1000 units a month or there abouts.
    Manufacturers have to try harder these days to get the combined units.
    
    Nobody wants the same anymore, everyone wants something different and that is what I believe a lot of the falling out of love with Falcon and Commodore is all about.
- chook
  
  Yes Michael…….They dont care about award winning models, or australian made for that matter…….they care about getting what the neighbours just got !!!…..and if they hear some retard criticisng the ford name they will avoid it without doing their own research , reading a review or test driving one. It doesnt seem cool or trendy these days to buy a falcon , similar to years ago when at high school the teenagers did things they didnt necessarily like to be accepted in a group……..like taking out the cigarettes after the last school bell in the afternoon , or getting theirselves blind drunk and thinking its so cool , as they still do now . !! ……Such is the mentality of so many car buyers , they dont dare not go with the crowd……..incase its not cool !!
  - Legnab
    
    Ford does do cool cars , focus , fiesta , its just not cool to drive a falcoon when its oversized , uneconomical , its the 70′s , get over it the worlds changed , focus is as big as a 70′s falcoon inside .
    
    Problem is big fat people cant cope with the look of a smaller car , thats their problem .
    - Patrick
      
      Problem is big fat people are called bogans and no one wants the cringe of driving a bogan car anymore
  - DanielD
    
    If you called the many people who have had genuine problems with their Falcons and Ford retards, I would avoid your advice and opinion as well.
Leighh

are you all stupid? ford make great cars but we live in a 2 dollar shop country where people are happy to buy crap……….Holden is heading the same way ………
- Amlohac
  
  For the money, Ford do make quite a decent car. But people dont want Falcon/commodore type vehicles now. Its not a matter of who makes better cars.
  
  People look at a the Territory for example and see it as better value over the big 4 door sedan. Then there are those who cant afford to run a big vehicle and opt for a Focus sized vehicle. Its a dying segment.
  
  Not too long ago small cars were a slow market, no one could predict back then that a Mazda 3 would top sales charts for the whole country. Same deal with SUV’s, who honestly thought people would start buying big fuel sucking SuV’s over the humble Falcon?
  
  Maybe one day in the future people will move back to Falcon style vehicles. But for now (and for a while now) no one wants them as much as the used too.
  - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
    
    Problem is disposable incomes are disappearing due to so many taxes and increasing housing costs.
- chook
  
  Leighh……..most of em are stupid……..sincerely !!
- Igomi Watabi
  
  It’s interesting how this site is regularly overrun by people complaining about how expensive imported cars are in Australia and then by people who talk about how Australians buy cheap imports.
Markbest

Holden sacked workers toyota sacked workers ………..so dont just bad mouth Ford. its just not viable anymore thanks to our government to make cars here anymore. I drove an EcoBoost Falcon last week and it is fantastic………..its so much better than so many cars here but people are too stupid to even go and drive one……..
Doctor

Its just a case of the wrong car for the times. I don’t think that the Territory can sell in large enough numbers to keep Ford manufacturing here past 2016. Also, I can’t see how making the Focus here would’ve made money and a diesel Falcon probably would’ve sold in too few a number too. The fact the the LPi and Eco have failed seems to indicate that the Falcon is a thing of the past. Perhaps as a last ditch effort, the AWU could buy the factories and contract manufacture for Ford, after all the ACTU once ran Solo Petroleum and Bourke’s store. But please, don’t tip any more taxpayers money into this black hole.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
  
  Yes the Unions want to save Manufacturing( if they do not Unemployment in this country will make Europe and the US Positively rosy) then let them own those concerns. It has been done before successfully.
  - Legnab
    
    All cosy dreams , wages and overheads far too high , probably only toyota will last while it has some exports .
    
    Meanwhile fordophiles can look forward to the fusion/mondeo a good fwd car of similar dimensions , got a boat/caravan buy and SUV , simple as that .
Mick Dunn

Size and fuel economy aren’t the main factors with the Falcon & Commodore. SUV sales wouldn’t be where they are if that were the case. It’s a lifestyle thing – whereas people were once buying large sedans as the family car, they are now, for the most part, buying medium to large SUVs to fulfil the same role.

The traditional small and medium cars have gotten a lot bigger too so some people prefer those.

As has been stated above a few times, if Ford really wanted to keep local production strong (regardless of the absolute bottom line) then they should have stuck with building the Focus here.

Ford and Holden seem to be spending money on LPG, E85, 4 cylinder turbo etc just because they need to put that government grant money somewhere.
Chest Rockjaw

It’s a shame to see such a good car dissapear… Most punters see it as a dinosaur fit only for taxi duty.

I can only hope the Fusion/Mondeo makes a worthy replacement.

Sad to see this happen.
- Amlohac
  
  On that note, what will taxi drivers choose now?
  
  Territory Taxi’s? Interesting concept.
  - PIZZA
    
    Camry
    - Amlohac
      
      Cherry?
  - DanielD
    
    Around Hobart Prius, Camry and even the odd Aurion. Toyota looks set in Tassie to be the new Taxi brand of choice.
    - Legnab
      
      Same in adelaide heaps more camry’s laterly and the prius .
Wazsmith

The new 4c Falcon is a great car but where was the marketing, has anyone seen a TV ad for it anywhere?
LOL

Have a look at the sales data.Not long ago a car like the Mazda 3 at the top was never likely.
People are buying smaller cars these days for a number of reasons but mainly because they are cheaper to buy and run.
I bet if the average Joe was doing better this would not have happened.
- Dave S
  
  People seem more concerned with having a new car rather than a good car. RRP seems to be more important than quality or handling.
  
  I love driving, I would never settle for a small hatch or an SUV.
nugsdad

Well unfortunately the market is always right. And if you cant make what the market wants at the right price this is the inevitable outcome. They should have done Focus here but no doubt Thai business case looked better. My summary of Killing Factors:

I think all the Falcon taxi’s killed the image of the car. And now they have even moved to Hybrids.

The car looks too big and not modern, no lay person identifiable change since the BA came out 10 years ago.

And even that never pulled back from the AU disaster – that was the beginning of a long drawn out death.

No variants like wagon, LWB make it uncompetitive.

Long time with old uneconomical engines.

Very poor marketing never shifted brand attributes up.

FPV blown out of the water by HSV.

V8 Supercars not seen as at all representative of sales model, hence the death of win on Sunday, sell on Monday.

Dealer network has never moved from the 1970′s – in a word shonky.

Vehicles are significantly behind international technical developments.

So called small cars now provide all the room of large cars of the past, go sit in a Cruze, Mazda 3, etc etc – you actually don’t need a Falcon.
- Norm
  
  And here nugsdad has laid out a pretty good summary. See how it doesn’t have anything to do with the government?
  
  How is it the government’s fault that Ford build a car no one wants to buy?
  The government has given the local industry enormous support to keep people in jobs and the chance to develop competitive product.
  
  Ford deigned and built a great Aussie car. The Territory. If they had spent their R&D on fuel efficient drivetrains and reducing weight from the get go instead of marketing Turbo Territories that “Eat Sports Cars for Breakfast” then perhaps the company would be in better shape. The mindset of both Ford and Holden has been “Bathurst” for way too long and now they’re caught out.
  
  A thought. If the 2 tonne Captiva 7 can get around 7 – 8 ltrs per 100k with a new 2.2 diesel and a 6 speed auto – what would it get in a Commodore or a sports wagon which weighs 300kgs less?
  
  Thoughts and best wishes with the families who have lost their jobs.
Old Fella

The old faithful that grew up with Faclons, Commodores and even the old Valiants (remember those) are now fast heading for retirement.

The baby boomers who were the mainstay of the traditional Australian family car, can no longer justify these larger vehicles especially when you consider that all their family has grown up and even if the kids are still at home, they drive their cars.

We now need cars that are smaller and easier to park, are not too low beacuse our hips and knees dont work like they used to. So we are now forced to look at vehicles like small SUV or similar, that allow us easier entry and exit.

Also for a country with a relatively small population we have a huge range of vehicles to pick from.

The Falcon today is the best it has been in its history, but now we have so many vehicles to pick from that it doesnt make it to many peoples short list of cars that they are considering to buy.

Its a shame to see job cuts because behind the number are real people whos lives are being affected. I suppose it is the natural order of things. I have now been superceded myself.
Sanjay

Makes no sense to me why Holden are going gangbusters producing lacklustre cars while Ford makes the excellent Falcon and still gets kicked in the balls for it.

Time to start making the equally excellent Focus here, just like Holden did with the (painfully average and overpriced in comparison) Cruze.
Seymour Butts

Production of all size cars will become unsustainable in Australia as time goes on and the first people to whinge and moan about the sad state of the Australian economy will be those that purchase Korean, Japanese and European cars.

Manufacturing is a powerful force in this country and when Ford, Holden and Toyota are gone, we’re all in the excrement.
- Legnab
  
  Was a power full force, 140,000 jobs in manufacturing have been lost in 5 years , just blame the high wages which do not help exports or local sales , we are a rich country paying ourselves too much , with too much govt red tape and tax .
  - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
    
    Government Red Tape and Taxes are killers coupled with the ridiculously high dollar, that should have never been, if the Government had regulated the Mining “Boom” that was going to kill the rest of the economy. Wayne Swan and his “Once in a 100years ” trade “Windfall” is as phoney as the “beneficial effects” it was going to have on the Economy.
  - DanielD
    
    Legnab, you lead the charge by halving your income and get back to of us in a couple of years and let us know how it went.
    
    If it sounds good, I’ll join you then.
Guest

Car Manufacturing in Australia is doomed. The high Australian dollar is the major reason. The other reason is the local manufacturers (Holden, Ford & Toyota) are not competitive market-wise against their competition. They are making yesteryear model whereas the consumers are looking for current vehicles that mirrors their lifestyle or offers the most value for money.
Take for example the new Chrysler 300 – it’s a full $10k cheaper than the previous generation. This car comes with a full suite of car technology associated with expensive, luxury end cars. The interior is so luxurious that it could be mistaken for a German-made model. The 8-speed ZF auto on the 300 petrol V6 is only available in much higher priced car brands.
Another case is Hyundai/KIA – this manufacturer is making incredible inroad not only against local manufacturers but also the Japanese imports. 6-speed automatics and DSGs, direct fuel injection, panoramic sunroof & LED daytime lights are available across their model ranges.
It’s time politicians stop supporting car manufacturing in Australia. It’s wasting good tax-payer’s money which could be better spent on education, healthcare and social programs for the public’s benefit. It’s just supporting market failure for Ford, Holden & Toyota manufacturing cars that nobody wants – 4 cylinder Falcon, Hybrid Camry, etc.
- Guest
  
  Also, LPG falcons and commodores.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
  
  Manufacturing affects directly 4million Australians, No Manufacturing would have a disastrous effect on the economy. It would appear the “Asian Century” as promoted by Gillard could be very short lived as China could be heading towards a serious downturn.
- DanielD
  
  What we need to support those good things like education, healthcare and social programs are tax payers money. To be a tax payer you need a job. Given that we can’t all dig holes for a living, shuffle paper or make coffee in trendy cages, what do you suggest we all do?
  
  Believe it or not manufacturing is linked with countries actually being first world economies. Digging holes and selling for pennies a non renewable resource, hasn’t worked out in the long term for anyone.
  - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
    
    How true. Germany which is the “engine room” and “Money lender” of Europe is one of the world’s great exporters of manufactured products. The UK has no manufacturing as such an is rapidly becoming a basket case,.How times have changed.
  - Guest
    
    @ Robert Ryan & DanielD
    Manufacturing isn’t all that critical as it is made out to be. The manufacturing era for first world economies are essentially over – just look at the US and Japan. All of the low-to-middle manufacturing stuff are outsourced to 3rd world countries like China, Vietnam & Bangladesh. We are already living in the information or knowledge era. What tickles investors these days are not GM, Ford or even Toyota, but rather Apple, Google and Facebook. This is the future, stop living in the past.Investments in education, healthcare & social program is what keeps Australia strong and prosperous. It is a lucky country with mineral wealth lasting many lifetimes. If not, why do we see boat people knocking at our doors? We don’t need taxpayers money for these things – the mineral royalties will far exceed the monies from income taxes. If only the politicians invest the wealth in a sovereign fund instead of spending it recklessly like subsidizing Ford or GM.
    - Legnab
      
      Correct thinking Guest .
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Karl-Sass/100000921334936 Karl Sass
      
      Just like in the late 20′s when a few people started to question how they could possibly be making so much money so quickly, they were told ‘things are different now, this is the future’. It’s only a matter of time until ‘knowledge’ based industries move east. The reason we have manufacturing (among others) in decline while still having a good standard of living is two fold; the mining boom is covering the rather serious problems we have in terms of producing value added goods and there is a lag time between loss of industry and when the effects of decline become apparent. The US is a good example of this. As you said, a sovereign wealth fund is imperative.
      - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
        
        When the mining boom is over there will be no Sovereign fund from the royalties collected and no manufacturing and related service jobs to provide the gap. The fact we are just sending raw materials overseas instead of sending value added goods , is just crazy.
    - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
      
      Yes both the US and Japan are experiencing hard economic times. The US is desperately trying to get manufacturing back into the US. Japans manufacturing is being hit by an appreciating yen, so manufacturing is moving offshore to get cheaper labour.
      
      ,”Education Healthcare programs” can only exist as part of the SERVICE Industry. You need a lot of manufacturing jobs to give the infrastructure to provide a service industry. A Classic example is Detroit itself. When it was the centre of the US car industry the city boomed, when the car industry floundered , the city died and many people went elsewhere looking for factory and service jobs. The Mineral royalties do not “trickle down’ to everyone else, they are used by the Government to pay off the national debt. Boat People are coming here as a result of Government policies and the fact we have signed the UN Charter on Refugees.
      - Guest
        
        @ Robert Ryan
        As Detroit (Auto) crumbles irrelevantly into oblivion, let’s not forget Silicon Valley (High Technology), New York (Finance) and Boston (Biotechnology/Medical) arose and replaced Detroit. If you look at these 3 examples closely, public investments in education and healthcare are necessary for the evolution of technology, finance, bio – technology and medicine.
        Mineral royalties are collected by the State Government, not the Commonwealth. The recent Mining Tax and Carbon Tax reforms are Commonwealth’s grab for mining profits at the expense of the State. The National Debt is the Commonwealth’s liability. Subsidizing auto manufacturers like GM, Ford and Toyota just adds to the growing national debt. If the Federal government is channeled into a Sovereign Investment Fund for future use for all Australian. We would all benefit from this instead of the foreign owned auto manufacturers!
        Boat people come here because the human traffickers tells them that Australia would not turn them away, that the government would feed them, housed and clothed them (for free). These queue jumpers simply do not have the requisite skills for Australia (English – none; Computer skill – you kidding me?). They’re just here to freeload on the Australian mining wealth. So far, the wave of human refugees in the past have been beneficial or neutral to the Australian economy – Vietnamese (positive – Fruit & vegetable trade); Lebanese (?). These days, they are from Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. If the Federal government do not do anything now, we’ll all be buying bacon located next to the dog food section.
      - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
        
        I agree things could get a lot worse if they do nothing about the Boat People. The Problem with Silicon Valley was that innovation was outsourced to China. As a result, the transfer of manufacturing without the expense of developing the technology, help China pull 500 million people out of dire poverty.100 million into a fairly affluent middle class, and other 500 million in basically almost ,Sub-saharan poverty.
        Of course the US missed this boost in GDP and got cheap goods from China instead , that helped wipeout a lot of smaller US manufacturers.
        ‘ If you look at these 3 examples closely, public investments in
        education and healthcare are necessary for the evolution of technology,
        finance, bio – technology and medicine.”
        Very true, but they cannot exist in a vacuum, they need to be tied to a manufacturing process that brings in the wealth and is not dependent on seasonal factors(tourism,education) or price fluctuations(Mining, Agriculture)
JD

i hope the workers are from Fords marketing department. That is if they have one in the first place
Andrew M

What a lot of people dont realise is that the dying Auto industry is getting the spot light, but there are many other industries dying and leaving more jobs losses than what we are reading about right here.

The problem is the whole argument for jobs in this country is becoming weaker by the day.

Every day news of some sort of job culling comes down the air waves so people should stop thinking it cant happen to them, and its only Ford and Holden that are dying.

No better sign of job insecurity than the massive interest rate decrease not stimulating like it has in the past.
People arent worried about affordability anymore, but rather job security.

I think Australia is facing a sustainability crisis not just poor old Holden and Ford.
People stand and laugh and point at them but dont realise the problem is much deeper than apparently a couple of “dinosaur cars”

Everyone is always bragging how they found something online for 2 thirds the price, but ironiclly our economy and job security/availability was at a much more stable point when we were paying more for things.

We have always been an expensive country, but the more global we become the more vulnerable we become as a country, not just as a vehicle maker
- Ford Fairlane
  
  Heer,Heer
- No Fears
  
  Andrew talks a lot of sense usually & has a point regarding erosion of job security,my new car money is in the bank but I think I will leave it there.
  Many get emotional & heated about bad news from Ford or Holden & I would not deny closure of either would be tragic & the automotive industry here would take a massive hit.
  
  A portion of Holden & Ford’s market came from the incomes of people whose jobs have been out sourced,combine it with changing demographics & it is a hard task to market.
  
  The high dollar is a two edged sword, it makes it very attractive to export jobs,but local production of services suffers,the mines do well but local manufacturing is scant.
  
  The high dollar driving this is a mirage hiding a big problem which many can’t see.
  Cheaper to import food than grow or process it here has bad flow on effects.
  Cheaper to import cars than design or build it here all sounds familiar.
  It leads to business decisions that look good on the balance sheet that shareholders will applaud…like cutting jobs,ditching certain lines of goods to provide less choice.
  
  I can’t see any Government of any colour intervening to depreciate the dollar.
  Too many powerful interests.
  Am off to turn on the 3DHDTV.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
  
  The very high Australia Dollar has been compared to Dutch Elm disease that eventually kills a tree. The Mining Boom is the disease , that has sent the Dollar to record levels,. Good for the Miners but making it very hard for the rest of the Economy to function. For a country like Australia we need a Dollar in the 80-85cent range. Not too low, so as to make our companies bargains for overseas businesses and not too high to cause the problems we have now
symo

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Ford Aus should ditch the Falcon and simply develop the Territory on it’s own. Import something else for Falcon, or simply switch to the excellent Mondeo.

Territory and Ranger based SUVs are going to be more successful.
- Daniel D
  
  Territory on its own has no where near enough volume. It was only originally viable to develop because it used and rode on the back of Falcon sales and engineering in the BA days. Thats why it got approved and its the only reason it was approved. There is plenty of stories and quotes from Polites and crew at Ford to verify that from the time.
  
  Now Falcon is effectively dead and with it, the development dollars and incentive to update Territory. Come 2016 Territory is just as dead as Falcon. The hope from Ford Australia’s perspective is Territory sales will help claw back some money before the last one roles of the line. That hoped that for Falcon too, but it hasn’t worked out that way.
  
  The interesting bit missing from the story is how is FPV doing? My guess is not well.
twincharger

Very sad to see the declining Falcon sales lead to job cuts.We can argue all day about advertising budgets,no wagon or xr8.The parent companys attitude towards the Falcon as a global export.Clearly the best large sedan in Fords global lineup.
Talking to a Ford salesman the other day about Falcon and Territory.They had 1 Territory diesel in stock,a demo with 6000km on clock.If they had 12 in stock they would all be sold tommorow.
By the way thanks Julia.for the 2.5cents A YEAR over 5 year excise on LPG.And the hidden $0.15 a litre sneaky carbon tax Lpg grab.
- Shak
  
  I honestly think people who believe that the carbon tax will apply to any fuels should be required by law to actually pay that extra seeing as the rest of us informed folk wont be paying it.
  - twincharger
    
    Just reading New England MP Tony Windsor web site Shak.Non transport LPG+LNG are subject to a $0.0368 per kg for lpg and $0.067 per kg for lng.From the 1/7/2012 under the government carbon tax.LPG+Ethanol have been deferred till 1/7/2013 for transport.
    Point of interest the cost of refrigerant gas has increased 500% since the carbon tax.There will be a carbon tax on LPG for transport.
Dirty Roads

Ford says that there would be no country specific model but every market would have similar models based on their one globe car / vehicle strategy. Well, if that is the case why are the models that are currently being sold in US are not available here.

The new escape is such a good car doing great and why the hell Ford Australia does not get it here in the RHD form or better manufacture here. They keep pushing the crappy old Territory with new headlights and new Rim design..and talk about Falcon etc..

Japanese Car companies need to be applauded for the great job they do which almost make them recession proof..Maybe because they have brains.
- JD
  
  then why is the terri a very popular SUV. CRV looks ugly & is underpowered. The Kluger drives like a boat. Name one good jap SUV.
  - Dirty Roads
    
    JD
    
    I am confident that you did not understand the context here…my comments were about Ford’s Australia’s idioticity on trying to reinvent same car with an aged British engine instead of bring a popular/ better/ efficient model here based on their one global car strategy.This was purely from a Sales perspective or the lack of it due to which 440 pople oct jobs.
    
    CRV maybe bad..but Honda making up for the shortfall by selling Accords, Jazz, City and starting to see more and more new Civics. This is apart from the fact that my subject covers Japanese vehicles as a whole. Kluger may drive like a Boat but heaps of them are being sold.
    
    God Speed +
    - chook
      
      Freddy Klugers dynamics just prove that people care more about the gadgets and toys than about handling……..till the day they roll the thing over and they have a good hard think about the importance of good handling !!!………and of the people who have so thoughtfully reversed over their kids in the driveway………well it was probably Freddy Klugers wishes…..my only sympathy goes to the dead kids !!!……not the buyers of the SUV or 4WD
      - Werewr
        
        How about the importance of good brakes?
        
        A 1720KG car with 195KW – quite powerful and quite heavy and sometimes expected to be used for heavy towing.
        Then there is a 90TSI Golf – 1310Kgs and 90KW not expected to tow, or Ford Focus 2.0 with 125KW1380kgs.
        
        So which car get the biggest brakes? Well Golf 90tsi gets 310mm discs, Focus gets 300mm discs and whats this? XR6 gets 298mm discs!
        Even within the Ford Brand – the model with a extra 500KGs weight and 100KW more power and a extra tonne or two of towing capacity – gets the smallest brakes.
      - Shak
        
        You have to look at what the pads and rotors are made of, are they ventilated, how many pistons there are etc etc.
        Size isnt everything :p
      - Andrew M
        
        Beat me to is shak,
        You cant compare braking and stopping ability based on the rotor size.
        Some smaller engines are quicker than bigger engines too so stop taking a simplistic approach.
        
        The Falcon actually has the best braking distance of any vehicles around it, Why?
        
        Well the ability comes more so to the type of pads, type of rotor (not just diamater) type of caliper etc.
        
        The Disc size is one of the least relevant factors in braking performance.
      - Werewr
        
        It’s really quite logical – a big powerful car should have big brakes and a small car only needs brakes. Amazing you can’t understand that.
        It’s amazing that Falcoone has brakes smaller than many little hatchbacks.
        
        A small rotor size means less area to dissipate heat along with smaller pads and calipers. Less heat dissipation means brakes fade very easily – which they do on Falcoone. You might be able to get one quick stop in a Falcoone – but keep doing it and the pedal goes to the floor – try taking a Falcoone on a track day and watch the brake pedal sink to the floor after just one or two hot laps.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Karl-Sass/100000921334936 Karl Sass
  
  You’ll find the Japanese have exactly the same problem; they’re loosing their manufacturing to low cost economies. That’s despite their much bigger economy of scale.
  - F1
    
    So which developed economy or nation doesn’t have this problem?..
    - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
      
      Germany. It has managed to be one of the World’s greatest Exporters despite the Euro.
      - MattW
        
        Yep but they are unique, other countries don’t have the “mittelstand” concept
      - http://www.facebook.com/people/Karl-Sass/100000921334936 Karl Sass
        
        True, although Germany are benefiting from under performing nations like Greece bringing the value of the Euro down.
AAFordMan

Now is the time for Julia to do something. Not say something, but DO something.
Food for thought.
What about wiping all the taxes on a new car (both Aussie and imported), and replacing them with a single sliding tax based on the total Australian content of a car, ie an Australian made car might be made up of say 85% local product, therefore it gets taxed 15% of the set rate. But if a car is from overseas and perhaps has a lower percentage of Australian content (say 2.5% for example) then it gets taxed at 97.5% of the amount. No aussie content, 100% of the tax. Might even make some car companies want to source stuff from from Oz if it could reduce their price. The full tax rate could be based on the cars weight so the heavier the car, the more the initial 100% rate is to start. Bit like the carbon tax, how it is supposed to make the traditional electricity suppliers (polluters) artificially higher in price, so the punters can choose with their feet to go to a previously higher priced but now marginally cheaper, but more greener supplier. Go on Julia, you are doing it for one industry, why not do it for the local car industry? You tax their sales anyway, just do it differently and more smarter.
Anybody else got some more “outside the square” suggestions?
- Shak
  
  I wish we had thinkers like you with idea’s like this in politics. It sounds like a very good way of playing on an equal playing field with the rest of the world. We would be helping local industry, and still letting imported cars compete. For once our Government has to realise that even though we shouldn’t be engaging in uncompetitive behaviour, everyone else is and the future of our industry is in the balance.
- Legnab
  
  YER lets employ another 5000 public servants to administer a useless dept to monitor contents , fairy tales for socialists .
  - chook
    
    Legnab………we dont need to be socialists to drive a falcon . I hate socialism and communism so dont suggest falcon owners are as such .
    - Legnab
      
      What i see is the reds trying to tell us we only can drive oz made cars built by foreign owned companies , funny , so falcoon owners love socialist policies of subsidisng using out taxes .
      - http://www.facebook.com/people/Karl-Sass/100000921334936 Karl Sass
        
        By that logic German, Japanese and Korean cars, including your i30 are socialist because they’re subsidised by governments.
- Andrew M
  
  One problem with your plan, it would be against any free trading agreements in which every other trading partner to Australia also plays by….
  
  Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, sorry, I couldnt say it with a straight face.
  
  How about Australia just grow some b a l l s and start looking after ourselves first rather than swanning around trying to impress and be a big power nation which we arent and never will be.
  
  We think we are king pin with our dollar above parity, but we are fools to think it will stay that way. Once the dollar and all economies normalise their rankings against each other, our debt will double and the worth of our dollar which we pay back with will be worth near half again.
  On top of that, by that time we would have thrown away all our industry and along with it our ability to be self sufficient.
  
  Suddenly a Bonds singlet wont be cheaper to source from China, and Darryl Lee chocolates really will be something special. On top of that a Hyundai will cost more than a Falcon.
  
  Our employment figures are even false which hides the true seriousness of the nature.
  It use to be that if you were taking up schooling, or tertiary training of any sort that you werent classified as un employed, and I believe its still considered the same way today
  
  The government pushing all this “upskilling” only hides the true unemployment figure
  - F1
    
    Very good point..
    
    And very true as well..
  - Legnab
    
    Who says the dollar will fall , we have fundermentally a strong economy , where as USA , europe are in dire straights , watch our currency stay strong .
    
    Previous govts have pushed for strong ties with the asian tiger and this has been to our advantage .
    
    Only dreamers hang for this wonderworld of car making in OZ , i have seen the demise of the clothing , footware , homewares all move off shore , because of cheaper labour in asia , even japan has lost its ceramics , cutlery , clothing to other asian countries because like us they are an expensive country to manufacture in .
    
    No more bleeting about govt assistance they have wasted enough , just write to ford in USA and complain , best of luck .
    - Garrywhopper
      
      Yes you mentioned you’ve hit hard times at the flower shop, had to lay off your arseboy assistant,. Even the pink dollar isn’t safe
      - Legnab
        
        Gee nemo your really getting up steam over the old demise of the falcoon , i will put a rose on its coffin next time the grave robber passes in his depreciating GE6 .
      - AAFordMan
        
        Dear Mr Leghorn (can I call you Foghorn?), since posting my initial comments and suggestion a few days back, I am saddened by the comments you have been posting not only about my suggestions, but generally throughout this whole blog. What is really wrong with trying to keep an industry in this country, seeing Australians in work, seeing the flow on effect that the industry has for keeping suppliers in work, the service industries busy etc etc? Why is it that to be proud of something made in this country you are then labelled a bogan? You commented that monitoring the content of cars would see 5000 people employed in Canberra. Is 5000 people in work a bad thing? I too have seen industry disappear offshore, and once gone, they are never coming back – and that is to our countries loss. Believe me, if all we do is seek cheaper goods because some company and subsequently the people who purchase the goods are exploiting cheap labour, eventually we wont be able to afford anything, cause we wont have the jobs to get the money in the first place. We need to think of ways of keeping jobs here, not rolling over and playing dead everytime another industry goes offshore. If it is because we pay ourselves too much (do we?), then maybe the tax on cars I mentioned previously should also be related to the labour rates payed overseas, where each car comes in with a set number of hours to make it, then has australian labour rates applied to it to formulate the sell price, and then at least the playing field is level. May even be in our favour, as I bet that while we cost more per person per hour, the average Aussie worker is probably streets ahead in efficiency and even total numbers required to produce a car. Remember, if overseas stop buying the minerals off us, we are dead meat. Maybe the government should tell the mining companies to halve the production of minerals and double the price – that would soon see how much our minerals were wanted (isnt that what the arabs do regularly to push up the price of their oil?) Protecting an Australian Industry is not a bad thing (I dont care who owns it, as long as Aussies are employed and the things are made here), and neither is having pride in your country. Go on then, stop being negative all the time (and sometimes plain rude!), and come up with some suggestions on how we keep the jobs for this and many other industries in Australia. PS, sorry for the rant!
      - Legnab
        
        AAFord so you believe govts should subsidise, at taxpayers expense a foreign owned companies workforce .
        
        No if ford cannot make money so be it . its a tough world , those people will be given generous assisance from our govt to retrain etc .
        
        Protectionism is a fools paradise as many manufacturers in many industies found ot when labour reduced tariffs in the mid 70′s .
        
        Tariffs just made makers lazy , failing to update machinery , low productivity , high wages , you see the result .
    - Andrew M
      
      Legnab,
      So what do people retrain in?
      You have already rightly so pointed out that clothing, footware and homewares etc have moved off shore, so where does it stop?
      
      The mines as giving our country a false worth, they are the only reason people try and say we are becoming a power nation all the while the rest of the country is falling down around them.
      
      Stop using the aussie dollar as an indicator, we were much better off when we were around 65cents.
      The high dollar has done more harm than good
      - Legnab
        
        The red hen will give her labour mates a job pluckin chickens , get over it currencies float, ours happens to be strong , go have a holiday in vietnam and see what life is really like .
- chook
  
  1/….Refuse the supply of fuel to the drivers of imports …….permanently.!!…and then punlic transport will become profitable , and removing congestion by removal of garbage from the roads 2/….Ford build a U boat…….to torpedo and sink vehicle carrying ships headed for australia 3/…. Prioritise the security of australian jobs to those who actually put back into our economy by buying australian made . They obviously give a stuff about australian jobs ,……not just their own australian job . 4/….Be sure that in time ……maybe past ourlifetimes , that a larger tsunami than before will put japanese industry properly and permanently out of action . A case of when not if , so even when the economic damage here is done then atleast nature will punish them !! 5/….War between north and south korea without the US being involved , then the north will close down hyundai , daewoo and kia once its over .
  - twincharger
    
    EL Presidenta chook.You have my vote,,lol.This might be a wake up call to Aussies to support our local car industry like they do in other countrys.
  - Daniel D
    
    The chook is going free range all over you and she’s not happy.
  - Legnab
    
    Really , maybe you should run for prime minister , what happens if we go to war with USA , do we nationalise our local car producers , we can make CRUMMERCOONS , nice mix of bogan cars .
    - Ford Fairlane
      
      Maybe just you should go to war with the U.S,you could drive your golf into the world trade centre and rev it till your engine blows up(won’t take long),they could take you out with some cyanide laced fairy floss or an exploding chupa chup.
      - Legnab
        
        Failane would not get past the brooklyn bridge , big barge would have expired with terminal engine failure plus collapsed front end .
    - chook
      
      Ok then ….lets go to war with the USA !!!!……then in a day or two we will be their next state !!!…..I will be proud to live in a country then where the big three makers have near 50% share between them of the US car market !!
    - Daniel Dacey
      
      We should become a republic and rename ourselves ‘USA United States of Australia’. We should also declare ourselves one of the western worlds most stable democracies (we are) and the cradle of liberty and freedom, oh and a nation with public health care and affordable education, because thats what free nations do.
      Yanks should have the reasons to blow us off the map to the UN that week and start operation “Free Australia” the following week. They should get plenty of private investment for the war too, incase the yanks figure out they should have better schools and hospitals.
- Patrick
  
  Yeah, get rid of Julia, that will fix all our problems
Save It For The Track

Ford failing? Marketing? Lack thereof. New 4 cylinder ecoboost, LPG model? Who knows about them apart from readers of motoring mags and websites? Holden success? – marketing/propaganda. Ford could have the best or close to best vehicles in a segment, but gets told about it. If they have a marketing department they should be the first to be paid off. How about as many as possible of the 440 laid off from the factory be moved into marketing in various areas of Ford, they couldn’t do any worse than those already there.
Legnab

Just had a thought about the cars in my street , our house, golf , swift , i20 , neighbours mx5 , x5 , fiesta , optima , xtrail , astra , e class merc , xtrail , disco3 , volvo xc70 , camry , bmw 3 , imprezza , polo , not a falcon to be seen .
- Garrywhopper
  
  Fag street
  - Legnab
    
    Well so you live in bogan street , VK , VS , VP , VD , VE and a few broken down AU’s , probably sunshine , nice one garyfloppy .
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Karl-Sass/100000921334936 Karl Sass
      
      Your small minded comment rather ironically shows a large part of the problem; image. Going by the those cars it sounds like a reasonably affluent area. The egalitarian outlook is being replaced by an image conscious snobbery where image is very important (especially so in affluent areas). It has nothing to do with the merits of the car. Many people understandably associate the Falcon with taxi’s, however taxi’s use them because they’re durable, comfortable etc; all good qualities to have. However an increasing number of the public see them as a poor man’s car. Clearly the FoMoCo Aus has other issues too, but this is an rather sad social component of the Falcons demise. Perception is reality in the mind of the buyer.
    - Patrick
      
      I’m afraid Legnab is right, he quotes a very familiar street in our big cities now, not affluent just family suburbs with not many Falcons and only a few more Commodores, the large cars are just not wanted anymore
      - Andrew M
        
        Yes, but the picture he also paints is the large variety.
        
        Tell us how many double ups Legnab
        A lot of those vehicles are lucky to sell over 1000 units just like the Falcon.
        
        This brings me back to my earlier point in that not one particular vehicle has stolen sales from Falcon and Commodore.
        
        Manufacturers have to put out a lot more models nowdays to even get a reasonable market share.
        Nissan for eg has 4 vehisles competing against eachother in the medium SUV segment.
        Nissan sell 4000 Medium suv’s a month but they have to support 4 models to achieve this
      - Legnab
        
        Thats fords problem narrow range , falcoon just one fat old heavy sedan , no hatch , no wagon , uneconomical , favourite of the bogans , taxi .
        
        No one wants that tag in their driveway.
    - CCD
      
      Phail. There is no VD Commodore. BTW Golfs are the European bogans’ cars.
  - Captain Nemo
    
    Yep Bungle lives in Fag street in the grimy bogan suburb of Payneham SA.
    All the Eurotrash is probably leased & the Jap/Korean stuff stolen.
- chook
  
  I see you have a lot of patriotism in your street !!!……not , maybe a few stalkers , gays and wierdos there too !!!
- Captain Nemo
  
  Bungle i bet all the Eurotrash is leased & all the Japanese/Korean stuff is stolen.
  Such is life in a grimy bogan suburb like Payneham SA.
- Garrywhopper
  
  I’d say your a muppet that lives on Sesame Street
  - Legnab
    
    Magic, captain garryfloppy nemo , exactly one hour ago , both in the tow truck with barry hauling the last of the depreciated flacoons off the streets .
    - Garrywhopper
      
      That’s not even funny, quite retarded actually grammar boy. You need to try harder to be funny and not a dumb dumb
Great Service NOT

Some Ford Dealers don’t help the good old Falcon either. My wife and were looking to replace her medium size car with the EcoBoost Falcon. We went into a Northside Brisbane Ford Dealer on Gympie Rd two weeks ago on a saturday morning and had a look at one. We were impressed and I asked the young salesman if they had a Demo we could Test Drive. Reply “No. We’ve only got 2 and the Fleet Fellas have got them and they don’t work Saturdays”. I then asked about one of the cars in the new car display lot? Reply “No. The management don’t allow test drives on new cars until we have people ready to sign an order!” I couldn’t believe it. How the hell do they expect to get sales with an attitude like that. Won’t be going back to that dealer again and I am telling my friends about the experience. I would have liked to email Ford Australia but guess what, No email address to write to. We went to another Ford Dealer a few Km’s up the road, they had heaps of them on as Demos and test drive no problem. Guess where I will go to buy.
- Daniel D
  
  So true. Took my Territory in a couple of months ago to get the ball joint recall done. Long story short, after that appalling experiences, we wrote a new Territory of the shopping list, even though we really liked the new model.
  
  Have a new Mazda in the driveway now. Ford you need to fix your dealers.
Shauntillet

I feel sorry for all the people at Ford Aus, for years Ford America have tried to shut them down (remeber the Taurus and what it was meant to do to the Falcon?). I think the people at Ford Aus should be proud of what they have achieved considered what they have to deal with.
Daniel D

Ford fans like to blame the PR machine at Ford almost exclusively for the current mess and certainly Ford PR seem to do a great job of selling Holdens as they don’t seem to sell Fords, but. personally I think they started the decline when the BA Falcon was a huge success. Ford and their dealers burned through customers with dodgy issues with the cars and a couldn’t care less attitude. Ford ducked and weaved around legitimate quality and engineering issues, while trying to do the bare minimum for warranties, till the warranty run out. They really burned a lot of people – including many long term Falcon buyers. Add on the Territory saga with the ball joints, broken window clips and rust – all of which shouldn’t have happened and should have been fixed in weeks, not years when they did and you have a situation where many folks never forgot and never returned.
Then Ford kept the cavalier attitude going for the fleets who also got sick of it and noticed no one was buying the cars at auction anymore as the private buyers had walked away from Falcon and the car was on the nose with the public.

Add the bogan tag, large cars sales declining, petrol prices and the biggest range of choices for new cars Australians have ever had and Falcon was in serious trouble.Finish up with poor marketing, a dealer network that never learn’t their lesson and still treats customers like crap, a renewed push on all fronts from the Koreans in particular and some Japanese brands like Mazda (who knows the value of a private buyer and word of mouth) and its all over rover.

Thankfully the new Terri is selling reasonably for Ford – not spectacularly as some like to say. The car really should have larger market share given its advantages over the competition, but again that reputation does stick around and temper sales, so Territory is ahead most months, but not hugely so.

If Territory suffers any long term problems like the previous version and Ford don’t address it quickly, then things will spiral out of control, well before their 2016 deadline for both cars.

It would be nice to see Falcon and Territory end production in Australia on a good note for build quality and factory support. Lets hope that happens. The dealers however are a lost cause.

Thats my take anyway.Best of luck to those workers affected by this announcement.
Heath Russell

the ford falcon should shrink to maybe between a bmw 1 and 3 series size, keep the 4cyl, 6cyl and focus on building a top quality car, quality at every step must be the key here, you want a quality car that handles well and does the engineering right.

i guarantee a mid sized rwd quality car for 40-50k would sell like hot cakes, people want halo performance and economical base models, with a focus on quality and fuel efficency and a bit of a downsize the falcon would live on and prosper
- Nasal Explorer
  
  Heath Russell ”
  the ford falcon should shrink to maybe between a bmw 1 and 3 series size”.
  
  But then it wouldn’t be a Falcon anymore – it would be Focus-sized and Ford already have a Focus-sized car. It’s called the, er . . . Focus.
  
  You’re saying that Ford should switch markets to the (smaller) prestige sector. I’m not sure that is what Ford needs right now because the man in the street who used to buy a Falcon is not looking for that sort of thing with his hard-earned dollars.
PIZZA

Sad….Brownies soon loss their favourate ride…..
john

IMO the large car is not selling in the private market very well because it is in the land of neither here nor there. The large car is too big now because the market segments below have grown in size they have pushed the large car too become a brute. SUV’s have taken the buyers who like large cars by offering high driving position, reasonable economy, and plentiful room for people and luggage. A toyota corolla today offers as much interior space as an EH holden ( a large car of the 60′s). For people looking for A – B transport, taking the kids to school etc. other cars make more sense than a V6 commodore, falcon. The Ecoboost is a good idea but is not selling because it is too little too late (should have been developed 5 years ago) and fuel economy alone is not the only reason why large cars are failing without fleet buyer help!
Aus_poppa

So many are missing the real point. Falcon is declining because people don’t buy them. In fact if fleet and taxi sales are removed, the figures are even more dire. They haven’t been buying them for quite a while, but Ford Australia didn’t address the problem for years. I don’t think that a diesel Falcon would have saved the day, but given that it has boosted Territory sales markedly, and given the fact that the basic architecture of Falcon is so closely related to Territory, maybe a parallel development of a diesel Falcon might have made things less worse.

Had Ford persisted with its plans for local manufacture of the Focus I would guess that they would have been in a better position. To all those who will jump to say that this would just be making the same numbers but for less profit, I say – do you think that GMH is making the Cruze in Australia as an act of philanthropy?

So even if the Commodore declines to the point where it is no longer economic, as I fear it will, GMH will still be a major force in the Australian car market – with an Australian made product. Isn’t that what we all wanted? Even if it is that GMH that so many love to hate. The shame is that Ford worldwide has some really good products coming over the next year or so – we just won’t be making any of them here, and unless Ford gets its act together we won’t see too many of them – B Max, and C Max being cases in point..
MattW

Pretty simple in the end. What people want in a vehicle has changed, going towards SUVs or small classes of car, and diesels. Neither of which the Falcon or Commodore are.
In today’s world it is not economically viable to have a platform that sells 35,000 vehicles (doubling YTD Territory & Falcon sales), regardless of what FTAs or government policies are in place. How many vehicle platforms sell less than 35,000 in the world? Only ultra high profit luxury or sports like Ferrari or Bentley. And your more affordable luxury cars are sharing existing platforms anyway (eg BMW X5/X6, Jaguars, the VAG brands).

Exporting the Commodore as the Chev SS into the US will be the last throw of the dice for the Commodore. Even with the Falcon gone once we reach 2016, the declining market share in Australia won’t be enough to support the Zeta platform by themselves. Export sales will be needed to make the platform viable going forward from there.

One good thing about getting the global vehicles is we will be getting all the bells-and-whistles that we currently miss out on with the Commodore & Falcon due to their limited development budgets (due to to the limited sales) but other cars have… the stuff like self parking, adaptive cruise, heads up displays… you need the budget a global platform has to build those in.

I’ll be disappointed as I quite enjoy my FG XR6T, but the writing is on the wall
- JooberJCW
  
  Correct,
  
  Peoples perception about goods and services have changed dramatically in the past 10-20 years, with stronger foreign influences, the buy aussie mentality has been on the decline
  
  The falcon now competes on a value/quality with nationalism taking little to no account anymore, your neighbours would be more impressed if your drive a new VW passat than a falcon.
  
  As Matt mentioned Massive European / Japanese cars in the market have a big R&D behind them and have the ability to scale platforms.
- Dave S
  
  I really think that there are not that many global RWD platforms that we are missing out on. If we lose the Falcon, Ford has no RWD platform and Gm only only has the Corvette and the Zeta platform (Commodore).
  
  I personally prefer a good RWD platform to some expesive gadgets. Falcon and the Commodore are getting close to updates. These updates will bring new technology. Remember when the Series VE came out. One of the first cars around the world to get DI. Multimedia Touch screens units in cars that cost less than the Commodore are still hard to find even a year or 2 later.
moonie

I had an EA Falcon.

That fixed it for me.
Greenroom

Maybe they should build BRZ’s and GT86′s for Toyota and Subaru, that would keep the factory busy.
Sledge

We have been in a similar situation as far as Falcon floundering ie the disasterous AU. The savior was Geoff Polites who grabbed the bull by the horns.
He made the ugly au into a classy BA, introduced DOHC sixes & V8s, F250s, FPV, XR6 turbo, COTY Territory and was gearing up for diesel Territory & Falcon. He knew what needed to be done and got on with it and then did it all over again with Jaguar/Landrover.
It could happen again with a strong decisive leader but we haven’t seen one in a long time.

If Polites was still around we’d have a G6TD, diesel utes and sportswagons and I’d bet large that they would be back on top
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQLKLFNYP3UFBFAGOV2LNDSREA Robert Ryan
  
  Very True. Unfortunately Ford US knows better than their Oceanic subsidiaries of the local market and as a result Ford Australia has gone backwards. It is not much better for Ford in Europe and they have yet to even scratch the surface in Asia, sale of the F series Pickups is keeping them afloat in North America.
Gibwater

All the segments that sell well here-twincab utes,most SUV’s and ‘small’ sedan/hatches such as Corolla or Mazda3 are imported.Why can’t the local three simply build what the market wants? I also wouldn’t worry too much about the Ford workers who’ve been there since 1970 who say they face an ‘uncertain future’. Their payouts will take them around the world several times over,and pay off their mortgages.And did they ever consider that a change would be nice? The writing was on the wall years ago-they should have saw it then.
glen

The new Ford Focus is a great car. If they made that here it should outsell the Cruze.
- tamworth1
  
  focus and mondeo sales are just so below average, once falcons gone who on earth would want to be a ford dealer. Maybe ford needs to look at making more of an Australian car agian, i.e a v8 option, a bench seat 6 seater option, a crewman type ute option.
JamesB

That goddamn CEO ought to do the right thing by taking a pay cut and not let his front line workers suffer. Earning hundreds of times more than the Tier 1? How do they sleep at night?
- http://profile.yahoo.com/PJ4JVM37ETYBIUR4DVB4XXJ7RM Carl MaC
  
  Greed for want of a better word is good
  
  The CEO was sent here to do a job and when he finishes he will be rewarded with a pay rise. There is nothing stopping you earning hundreds of times more than the Tier 1 or anybody else, but there are always ducks and drakes in the World and you can either be one or the other, but not both, as the dog said in Babe, every-one has their place on the farm.
  
  Just wondering after reading ALL the posts, just how many of the “loyal workers” owned a Ford, has anyone asked them WHY they have purchased their foreign car instead of the Companies cars for which they work for. Food for thought?
  
  One would think with all the reviews of motor vehicles over the last 50 yrs, that car manufactureing companies would take on board the reviewers comments and the readers comments, like these Forums, and try to instigate some of the ideas given by the authors, but alas, the Companies know more than the people who write about their ideas.
  
  When Mercede-Benz invented ABS, they were poo-pooed by others whom they thought they knew better, look how long it took for MB idea to fruitate, now every manufactureer supports ABS, a gold-mine for Benz
  
  Drivers told Companies, diesel diesel diesel is the go, but “they” knew better, Ford Explorer, too little too late, Nissan X-Trail, same, reversing cameras are the rage now, what do the Big 3 do? Parking sensors. And on an on it goes, never listening to the masses
Save Ford

Well I am going to do my bit. As everyone notes in these discussions people talk about how good the G series is but very few are buying. So rather than complaining I am going to buy a G6 limited edition ecolpi. I was tossing up with the new ecoboost, but decided the lpg unit would last better over the longer term
chook

Well done mate !!……..If more people would stop complaining about the effects of themselves shunning a great product , and like us and some others , actually appreciating it for what it is and supporting it by buying it !!………then you can rightfully agree why it lives up to the good reports it gets in the reviews and tests . It really seems that the australian buyer has a far different mentalitity from much of the rest of the world ………because ecoboost engines are proving successful everywhere else where theyre available , but here…….most buyers just wouldnt even bother……..so to those out there who wont even give FG falcon a chance…….shame on you all !!……the only jobs most of you care about is your own , and without a doubt you will all be crawling up your bosses date hole for a second chance when your time comes for unemployment !!!………..I till recently used to support australian made things with a passion !!!…..and i will from here do my best to buy foreign made groceries and furniture and smaller things to return the favour to as many of you bludgers out there who buy import cars !!!….I will also urge the Workforce from Ford to do the same thing………so if any of you guys at geelong or broadmeadows read this , remember , 90% of australia doesnt give a damn for you guys unfortunately because theyre very selfish , naieve pieces of scum …..so return the favour now by buying all your daily purchases from foreign providers , not local . ……but importantly , i and some other people have our falcons and into the future regardless of what happens to local production ….
ace123

How can Australia maintain multiple car manufacturers based largely on a small domestic market. Answer is it simply can’t. Circumstances over the last 5 years has meant that people are spending less on consumers goods, wary of their own job stability, and given the high Aussie dollar become more discerning about what they buy because of a relatively low cost imports . Against this background, manufacturing has all but ceased at a local level in just about everything. The car manufacturers have received large government subsidies to forestall the inevitable. Both Ford and GM at the Falcon and Commodore level make a car that it out of touch with the buying public with the possible exception of taxi drivers and limo drivers. The Falcon and Commodore are no longer an aspirational vehicle for new or even older drivers, people have now a broad range of choice and given the lack of demand and high labour costs within a small domestic market, its goodnight and goodbye to car manufacturers in this country.
gt86.com.au

This is the end.. My Lonley friends, the end!
Ford needs to be manufacturing Popular GLOBAL ford models, and have them exported from Aus to nearby Asian Countries. The local market is not big enough to service Ford’s mostly irrelevant product line.
BK

Ive booked my car in for a wheel alignment today. Hope it goes well.
Sapper

I see a lot of people bemoaning government subsidies for car manufacturing…I have two things to say;

All countries subsidise their car manufacturers. Every. Single. Country. They either do it in the same way Australia does (direct subsidies) or by way of tariffs/taxes on imported cars.

Lose your manufacturing and lose your ability to make war. Yes, I know nobody wants to make war, but, should any nasty start heading south towards this country, believe me, you will be happy when Ford, Holden and Toyota retool their plants and start churning out tanks, armoured vehicles, aircraft, et al. Once those skills are lost and the plants have been sold off and the land used to build mcmansions, it is gone. It would take many years and a LOT of money to get such an industry going again, without taking into consideration the skilled engineers and assembly workers that would have to be found/trained, instead of the few months to retool for military purposes.

I learned this after joining the Army and going over to the US for exercises. The Americans opened my eyes to this, and I then researched it back here. Ford, Holden and so on made quite a bit of military equipment for us during WW2, though we have bugger all industry now compared to then.

Every nation worth its salt needs to keep its car manufacturers going, even if they only keep them going to churn out X a month luxury/high performance models. Keep those plants and skills here and up to date. You really never know when you will need them.
Themadpom12

Thank God that Holden are struggling too. I’d hate having only Holdens as Aussie made. I would have a 4cyl Falcon tomorrow if I could afford one and convince the wife, I’d actually have 2, 1 for her.