Ford axes local Focus plans
July 24, 2009 by Paul Maric
Ford Australia has this morning announced the axing of plans to locally produce a 2011 Ford Focus, based on the Iosis Concept below, for local sale and export.
By Paul Maric and David Twomey
One of the major issues Ford faced in producing the Focus locally was the cost of local labour in comparison to more low-cost economies in the Asia/Pacific region.
Ford told media this morning that no jobs would be lost as a result of the decision to abandon production of the Focus, which was due to begin in 2011. The car is expected to be built in Asia, instead of Australia and Ford has said it will be imported from an overseas source for sale in Australia.
“Although difficult, this is the right decision for Ford Australia,” said Ford Australia President and CEO Marin Burela.
Mr Burela told CarAdvice that the decision of local manufacture of the Focus has been extensively investigated since he took the reins at Ford earlier this year and the final decision had been made only a week ago.
At the announcement press conference Mr Burela and Innovations and Industry Minister, Senator Kim Carr, both stressed that while Ford had been allocated Federal Government funding by the previous Liberal Government for the Focus project, none of this funding had been drawn by the company.
“Ford Australia has a strong commitment to manufacturing in this country built on ongoing support from employees, customers, dealers, suppliers and government. Our investments today demonstrate not only our commitment to address climate change, but to bringing leading edge technologies to the Australian market.
“Ford is fully committed to working towards fuel economy leadership in every segment in which we compete, across local and imported vehicles. In fact, later this year we will introduce the most fuel-efficient vehicle in Australia when we launch the Fiesta ECOnetic, which will be more economical than hybrids at only 3.7L/100km,” said Mr Burela.
The news, which may have shocked some parts of the industry, was greeted by spontaneous applause when Mr Burela announced it to employees earlier today. The Focus build was expecting to break into action closer to the end of this year.
Mr Burela said the most important thing was to make the Focus as price competitive as possible and this could best be done by building it in another country. CarAdvice believes the 2011 Ford Focus, will be built in Europe, the United States and an Asian location, possibly Thailand or China.
He blamed changing global economic conditions for the decision to dump the Focus, saying the company could not make a business case for profitably manufacturing the car at its Melbourne plants.
One of the other breaking stories from Ford Australia is with regard to Territory and Falcon, which will receive four-cylinder petrol engines, liquid injection LPG six-cylinder engines and as exclusively broken by CarAdvice on Tuesday, a 2.7-litre V6 diesel engine from Ford’s former partner Land Rover.
CarAdvice will update you as more information comes to hand.
Print it: 
SamR……are you serious? Its a great move by Ford. Many people only buy a small car for the fuel economy but if they could buy a comfortable roomy great car to drive and have great fuel economy they would. Choice of 4turbo, I6, I6 Turbo,I6 Gas injection and diesel…..an engine for everyones tastes and needs in a great car…… not to mention the new Coyote V8…….
With Holden losing more exports by the minute they will be pure importer sooner than they think, well they almost are now a full Daewoo importer. Who would want to buy a car from Holden as they are now owned by the U.S. Government……..what a joke GM is.
As far as I am aware…. Australians haven’t stopped buying Falcons.
As it says in the article to do with the 4 Cylinder Falcon/Territory.. Ford is the only Local manufacturer which has actually increased its market share over the past year.. Thanks mainly due [I'd say] to the Awesome XR6-T
Sales of Holden Commodores have remained constant – even the Sportwagon is proving popular.
Therefore; if anything you would say that most people have stopped buying Aurion/Camry as Toyota share has steadily reduced/decreased.
2 litre 4 cyl Falcon ROFL seriously…who would fork over 35-odd grand minimum for a 4 cyl Falcon when the same outlay buys a decent mid sizer? And so are Holden if they are considering a 4 cyl Commodore. My guesstimate is that the buying public won’t buy it.
So the Focus is to be made in Asia is it?
Will be interesting to see if it cops the same uneducated hare-brained racist remarks in here as the also made-in-Asia Cruze.
My guess is that the usual double standards will apply…it’s got a Ford badge after all.
Roddy…well if thats true then nobody will buy a 3 litre Commode either as the 4 turbo will have the same if not more power and torque with a flat torque curve and better economy. Holden behind again!!
Imagine buying a Holden knowing the money is going straight to the U.S. Government!!! Hmmmm……..no thanks!!
Ford owes australain tax payers $80 000 000.
first they canned the export facon, now they can the local manafactured focus.
Next they’ll can their new motors then they’ll can the falcon/territory and import american sh&tboxes and stick falcon badges on them.
The sale slump in large cars means the falcon and territory simply aren’t viable anymore.
You can’t trust anything ford says, they just change it a few months latter.
Stop crapping to australians and give us the money back!
(and no I’m not a holden fan, I just think ford is a crap company)
RWD
“SamR……are you serious? Its a great move by Ford. Many people only buy a small car for the fuel economy but if they could buy a comfortable roomy great car to drive and have great fuel economy they would. ”
Private buyers have stopped buying the Falcon years ago, most sales are to corporate and Govt Fleets.
The Falcon and Commodore are too big, 9 to 10 litres/100km is crappy economy when fuel prices go up.
SamR…..that sthe Commodore you are thinking of……fleet special. Falcon sells less to fleets now and more to private buyers the base XT is only 3% of total FG sales, no profit in fleet sales…….better to sell less cars with more profit margin like the G6E…..GO FORD!!!!!
Holden’s cruze is built from scratch here, while Ford’s focus was to come in kit form then be assembled, you know what once again Ford has let Australia down, we don’t want a four in our big Aussie cars we want 6’s and 8’s that drink like 4’s and 6’s which Holden has and will diliver, ie with the AFM commy, the only petrol powered car on the market (yes no even a prius) that can do Sydney to Melbourne on a tank and the new DI 6’s that commy is getting that will drink less then a commy and flog Ford’s I6, lets not even start with what it will do with it’s 4. As for the Cruze, yes its not an Astra (that we all love and will miss), but its a bloody good car, that looks great and hell your paying $26k for the thing you can’t expect it to be like an Astra inside . . . FORD build the car . . . if Holden can, you can . . . Oh wait Falcon sales aren’t that of Commy and Focus fail to match Astra or Cruze . . . i can see why you don’t want to build it . .
Keep telling yourself that Andrew, if you say it enough times it just might come true…
Andrew Says:”ie with the AFM commy, the only petrol powered car on the market (yes no even a prius) that can do Sydney to Melbourne on a tank”
Not true, I know for a fact that a petrol powered Prado will get you from Melbourne to Sydney on a single tank, and the d4d diesel powered prado will get you there and back on a single tank!
But I don’t think that is a big deal, I’m sure there are other cars on the market that will do it too!
Andrew the Cruze maybe assembled here its not made here. its a Daewoo piece of crap…..not a patch on Focus. AFM is a joke……even the testers admitted it makes no difference. If it did they wouldnt have had to DECREASE the power and torque to use less fuel, its another Holden joke…..
The Cruze is a piece of crap is it?
Which review did you read that in?
Please supply the link…so we know you’re not just mouthing off.
Go Ford! They will be the first locally produced cars with small capacity direct injection engines. The ecoboost is amazing. Well done Ford!
Ross R Says:
July 24th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
“As far as I am aware…. Australians haven’t stopped buying Falcons.
As it says in the article to do with the 4 Cylinder Falcon/Territory.. Ford is the only Local manufacturer which has actually increased its market share over the past year.. Thanks mainly due [I'd say] to the Awesome XR6-T”
Ross, in July XR series recorded its best ever monthly sales. Also Falcon sedan was within a few units of Commodore sedan (wagon sales being the diff between the two).
i will be sticking with my BA XR6 for a long time and i wont be worrying about paying 2 bucks a litre in 5 years time.
That may be so Tomas79… but once again you forgot to mention the fact that the fuel tank in the Falcon/Commodore is less than half the size of the [180L] tank in the Prado.
For a person that demands others to back their statements with FACTS; you tend to omit them quite a lot… whenever it suits you just to make the story sound better… mind you you are a Toyota fan.
Andrew, even if the AFM Commodore could get down to 9 l/100 km with its 73 l tank it only has a range of 744km.
Falcon with its 68 l tank and 7.9 l/100 km (extra-urban) has a range of 860 km.
Stupid statement really Andrew. Didn’t think it through at all did you?
Andrew,
Quote from above…………… (This article)
“Industry Minister, Senator Kim Carr, both stressed that while Ford had been allocated Federal Government funding by the previous Liberal Government for the Focus project, none of this funding had been drawn by the company.”
Stick that up your pipe and smoke it smart a*se
Also on the Mitsubishi side of things,
The government did infact come out and announce they would persue legal action to recoup funds.
Mitsubishi had no problem with returning the funds and had every intent to do so. The government just jumped the gun to look tough.
What they showed is exactlly what I implied. The government will take action if funds have not been used for their purpose
Ill find a Quote for the Mitsubishi thing too if I get bored
Ross R, you seriously are a retard?!!
No sh!t the fuel tanks are that big? and your point is??
How old are you?? Because you certainly aren’t too bright!!
Tomas the “abusive dumb arse tool of a retard” is back!
Oh, well, at least the Cruze will be built in Australia, like Holden said.
No competition with australian small built cars then….hey?
DesignEng©™ Says:
“abusive dumb arse tool of a retard” is back!
I know, I noticed your posts on this, and other articles!!
Thomas, you know all I did was repeat the words that you had just used.
It’s only the low IQ people like yourself who resort to insults when you’re shown up.
DesignEng,
Getting petty are we??
Speaking of low IQed people, please back up your assertion and show me from the above posts, I have been “shown up”?
Tomas, you have been judged by your own posts, and failed.
As such, I won’t be responding, this has gone on far too long already.
DesignEng©™ Says:
July 25th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
“Tomas, you have been judged by your own posts, and failed.
As such, I won’t be responding, this has gone on far too long already.”
Obviously you are running away, with your tail between your legs, since were making insulting assertions, that you just don’t have the mental capacity to back up!! This is because we both know I haven’t been “shown up”!! And you were calling me Low IQed, LOL!!
Tomas79…..let it go as your like a dog with a bone and cant stop! I see your point and all in all its too minute to react and I know your better then that!
Tomas @ $65 an hour I’ve got far more important things to be doing.
And it was YOU who started with the insults, I just deflected them right back.
Naughtyius Maximus are you another falcadore fairy having a go at me?? The point is, there is nothing to “show up” on my original example!!
DesignEng, 65 bucks an hour?? is that all??
No wonder you can’t prove your BS about me beening “shown up”. Please, next time, if you can’t keep up, don’t but in!!
Thomas……………wake up as your too sensitive and tightly highly strung! I did say I can see your point and get over it which is hardly attacking you!
Smart move. Focus(pardon the pun) on your strengths – large cars and import the rest. Let some other Ford overseas plant carry the large cost and risk of. As an importer of small cars the risk is the carrying cost of the stock.
I can’t get my head around a Holden’s business case to produce small cars – at least with the large its Ford v Holden, with the small cars it’s Holden v Mazda,Nissan,VW, Mitsi,Hyundai,Subaru,Honda, Suzuki etc.
Mumble Duck Says:
Oh, well, at least the Cruze will be built in Australia, like Holden said.
No competition with australian small built cars then….hey?
Right up until it’s dumped for not being viable. It’s a joke 5 years out of date.
The article states the The Verve is the basis for the next Focus. The Verve concept was the basis for the new Fiesta not the Focus. The Focus/C Max are based on the Iosis MAX.
Obviously there are 2 of me on here!
Ford didn’t just lose focus now… it was lost a long time ago when their “focus” was on local and not a global trend, continuing the path of low tech American cars until the writing was on the wall. Both ford and holden has been woken up with a bucket of cold shower. Let’s see if they could now atleast focus on high efficiency automobiles from now on.
Congratulation to Rudd’s green policy, we will no longer have manufacturing and engineering in this country. Free trade is opening the doors for cheaper cars but we will no longer have the automotive industry here in Australia. Since 1985 Australia has been going backwards in manufacturing due to the removal of the tariff. Thanks Rudd we will all be “GREEN FARMERS”
direct injection,
the ve’s fuel tank may be stated at 73ltrs,but ask ANYBODY who’s got one,and run up the “very low fuel” warning light,the tank takes 80 ltrs.
your also comparing a 6 to a 8 cyl car,and the afm cost’s nothing extra(except a hp/nm drop)so why not.
cruze crap…maybe a you???it will be interesting to learn how its selling,my feedback is very well
J&H,
My Holden dealer source reckons that they are selling plenty fo Cruze’s.
He also admitted that most also are back in for warranty work within the first two weeks.
He’s hoping that the early quality problems are not an indication of on-going long term problems. (Actually he’s panicking about it).
The wheels magazine sitting next to must be telling lies about how they got thier AFM Calias from Melbourne to sydney on one tank.
oh and Tomas79,
stick a big enough fuel tank on somthing it will go anywhere, your also forgetting Prado has two of them, lets see it make it there on 73L’s of fuel.