Ford to close up shop in Australia?

[TonyJZX]

labor is in a no win situation there

what can they honestly do to stop the death of manuafacturing here

they dont want to admit it so they will row that boat until september

i watched the toyota megafactories video and apparently 70% of camrys made here are for export... for whatever reason toyota can make it happen by not ford

[Jim]

Ford Aus have not been allowed to export, I wonder if this was an issue?

That was absolutely the issue. Ford USA doesn't want competition from its own regional division.

[E30is]

in general manufacturing is dead because it costs so much to build here mostly because of high wages. wages are unlikely to go backward anytime soon.

[TJ]

Ford dont want Ford selling cars?

[9triton]

in general manufacturing is dead because it costs so much to build here mostly because of high wages. wages are unlikely to go backward anytime soon.

yeah - but germany france etc they can make cars and sell them

the secret is volume - australia doesnt have it


oh and niche brands that can command higher prices

[<---cop]

U.a.w.

[9triton]

i watched the toyota megafactories video and apparently 70% of camrys made here are for export... for whatever reason toyota can make it happen by not ford

and i guesss that devlopmnet costs are borne by toyota japan - and we are makeing the product as designed by corporate toyota- just take the design and make.( oh and add a couple of aussie'isms like aussie flag cup holders )

and amortising that over 10million camys - versus 20,00 falcons ...


for falcons and coomodores to compete you need to be updating the cars yearly to keep up with overseas latest features / gadgets /safety/ whatever- so if you dont you end up being perceived as old car very quickly - and people vote with their wallets

so for ford /holden to keep up means spending big on R&d -and trying to get it back .

volume is the key

[Captain_Slow]

and i guesss that devlopmnet costs are borne by toyota japan - and we are makeing the product as designed by corporate toyota- just take the design and make.( oh and add a couple of aussie'isms like aussie flag cup holders )

and amortising that over 10million camys - versus 20,00 falcons ...

for falcons and coomodores to compete you need to be updating the cars yearly to keep up with overseas latest features / gadgets /safety/ whatever- so if you dont you end up being perceived as old car very quickly - and people vote with their wallets

so for ford /holden to keep up means spending big on R&d -and trying to get it back .

volume is the key

And this is why the next generation of local made Holdens will be straight off the GM shelf. There might be scope to develop a local body variant like the Cruze hatch, but that's about it.

[Ratty]

labor is in a no win situation there

what can they honestly do to stop the death of manuafacturing here

they dont want to admit it so they will row that boat until september

i watched the toyota megafactories video and apparently 70% of camrys made here are for export... for whatever reason toyota can make it happen by not ford

http://www.news.com.au/business/comp...-1226581358433

Yeah thats working well for them...

[Terribleone]

I drove a FG XR6T today and yeah its not the most refined car around but bang for buck its great. Big, comfy, reliable and quick. Ill certainly miss them when theyre no longer available. I didnt read all the articles, what will the Falcon be replaced with?

[E30is]

yeah - but germany france etc they can make cars and sell them

the secret is volume - australia doesnt have it


oh and niche brands that can command higher prices

exactly, we dont do anything the chinese, indians, koreans etc cant do. the manufacturing industry needs to do something the others cant if it wants to survive

[Captiva Fan]

exactly, we dont do anything the chinese, indians, koreans etc cant do.

The Chinese are yet to do anything but copy someone else's stuff.
The Indians won't do anything without someone else having signed a form in quadruplicate; anything approaching "change" in a product or process there must be an absolute nightmare.
Koreans ... dunno, they seem to need others in order to design anything (eg. Holden).
There's definitely a value-add hole involving smarts/ingenuity in our corner of the world; we just ain't doing much about leveraging it.

[Falc&Send]

Can't understand why Gillard has not been hung out to dry for that statement. Perhaps it is so ridiculous that noone believes she actually said it.

What do you think she was going to say - "Thanks for coming cunts, don't let the door hit you on the arse on the way out"? She has to make sympathetic noises. Everyone is so used to her telling BS anyway thst no one is surprised by anything she says anymore. More than a fair chance Labour won't be in power in a few months time anyway so why not talk it up and promise stuff that you have a snowflake's chance in hell of ever acheiving.

[Jim]

Ford dont want Ford selling cars?

No, they don't. The reason is it is cheaper to make world cars they already have such as the godawful Taurus, the godawful explorer and the mondeo they already have in worldwide markets. Not the falcon, territory and ute they would have to market and support worldwide. It's not that there is no place in the world for the falcon, it is because they have already committed to US Domestic cars on the world stage.
Not to mention ford USA is as parochial as they come and won't accept any new thing from anywhere but within the USA.

[Captiva Fan]

Doesn't matter that Ford can make a profit building & selling Falcons, and therefore meeting customer expectation and getting customer loyalty and repeat custom; more important that Taurus is same-size and can be built for less.