Ford announces $20m upgrade to Geelong casting plant

[JPFS1]

Ford announces $20m upgrade to Geelong casting plant
April 14th, 2010

BREAKING NEWS A $20 million environmental and technical upgrade to Ford's Geelong Casting Plant will increase the size of its workforce by 50 per cent and ensure vital automotive manufacturing skills remain in Australia.
The upgrade will create 50 new jobs at the plant, and secure the employment of 100 existing plant employees.

This morning's announcement will also provide piece of mind for hundreds of workers in Ford's supporting and supplier industries across Geelong.

Production work that was potentially headed to China will now take place in Geelong.

Ford Australia president and chief executive officer Marin Burela made the announcement at the Geelong Casting Plant this morning and was flanked by Victorian Premier John Brumby, Federal Minister for Industry Senator Kim Carr, Geelong Mayor John Mitchell and a host of local MPs.

The Federal Government has committed $11.8m to the project while the State Government has also contributed financially. However Mr Brumby refused to say how much money the Victorian Government has chipped in.

Workers at the plant have already expressed relief that today's announcement secures their employment into the future.

The investment to ‘green’ the Geelong Casting Plant comes on top of the $230 million investment in sustainability initiatives for Falcon and Territory announced last year, part of Ford’s ten year, $1.8 billion investment in local operations and ongoing commitment to Australian manufacturing.

Mr Burela said the company was leading the industry in finding new, innovative ways to extend its business through collaboration with partners across the sector.

“Our $20 million investment is great news for local jobs, great news for the environment, great news for the automotive sector and great news for Ford Australia,” Mr Burela said in a press release.

“It keeps in Australia work that could otherwise have gone to Chinese manufacturers, which is a fantastic testament to the skills and productivity of our workforce.

“It is vital that automotive manufacturing skills remain in Australia for the viability and strength of the entire sector, and we’re very pleased the Australian and Victorian Governments have recognised this through their support.”

Under an agreement with global components supplier Bosch the upgraded plant will be a centre of excellence for brake rotor casting.

The plant will manufacture around 1 million brake components annually for Bosch Chassis Systems Australia.

The plant will also manufacture engine blocks for Ford’s new Euro IV compliant I6 petrol engine for FG Falcon and the new Territory diesel and petrol variants.

“Our I6 engine continues to be the cornerstone of our success in Australia and its evolution over the last 50 years is testament to the engineering ingenuity we have at Ford Australia,” Mr Burela said.

“Its upgrade to Euro IV emissions standards proves that it is possible to enjoy the benefits of a large car along with improved fuel economy and reduced emissions.”

The casting plant upgrade will benefit the environment through:

• An electricity efficiency gain of more than 5,100 kW hours a day, obtained by reducing furnace idle times;

• Increased use of recycled stormwater to 77,000 litres a week, or 3.7 million litres a year – around 20 per cent of all water used at the Plant will be from recycled stormwater, up from the current 5 per cent;

• Increased use of recycled shredded metal, increasing from 32 per cent to 70 per cent – 67 tonnes of metal a day will be recycled, or almost 15,000 tonnes a year; and

• Sand reclamation to increase to almost 100 per cent by selling around 138 tonnes of surplus sand each week for cement production, reducing sand landfill requirements to zero.

The Casting Plant upgrade will be undertaken continuously over the next 36 months.

[Road_Warrior]

The investment to ‘green’ the Geelong Casting Plant comes on top of the $230 million investment in sustainability initiatives for Falcon and Territory announced last year, part of Ford’s ten year, $1.8 billion investment in local operations and ongoing commitment to Australian manufacturing.

Blam.

[Wretched]

Interesting but no real concrete details of how long the I6 will last.
I was really hoping to hear something about an export program to go with it.
This is good news in saying that though.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Wretched

Interesting but no real concrete details of how long the I6 will last.
I was really hoping to hear something about an export program to go with it.
This is good news in saying that though.

I would suggest that the second engine line (diesel motor) is being introduced to cover the eventual departure of the I6.

[Polyal]

Yes the I6 is looking like it might be phased out..I will cry but if thats what it takes.

At the end of the day its about having jobs locally and a car in which we can be proud of.

[Joe5619]

Does that mean the Diesel engine will be built here?? What is the point on manufacting the engine block here(what is the engine block anyway), shipping it oversea to be built & then the engine shipped back??

I'd still like to see diesel in Falcon.. Could this be the start??

I4, Diesel V6 & V8 only??

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by Joe5619

Does that mean the Diesel engine will be built here?? What is the point on manufacting the engine block here(what is the engine block anyway), shipping it oversea to be built & then the engine shipped back??

I'd still like to see diesel in Falcon.. Could this be the start??

I4, Diesel V6 & V8 only??

I think it would be assembled here and take up the slack from the I6 loss, or, they export it.

I think its great that they are being so flexible.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Joe5619

Does that mean the Diesel engine will be built here?? What is the point on manufacting the engine block here(what is the engine block anyway), shipping it oversea to be built & then the engine shipped back??

I'd still like to see diesel in Falcon.. Could this be the start??

I4, Diesel V6 & V8 only??

Production of the oil burner here could certainly open up opportunities for the engine in other locally made cars. It would also need economies of scale to make it viable. Which would mean either more local applications, or an export program.

But casting the bare block and heads here, shipping them overseas to be built out and then shipped back here is a stupid way of doing things and I would like to think that they would not go down this route.

Not having the I6 in the local production plan certainly accords with a post-2015 world where the future Falcon will almost definitely use the global V6.

[Brazen]

Wow great news, if the I6 does die they must have an idea for something to replace it at Geelong otherwise they wouldnt be putting the money in,

[XR Martin]

Im guessing if the blocks are cast here, theres a good chance it will also be assembled here also.

[Luke Plaizier]

Brakes cast by Ford? Nice.

Is this Rotors, Calipers or Both?

Bosch brakes? So are the current PBR systems actually Bosch? I didn't release that before if so. I wonder if they'll make big diameter bastards to compete with Brembo?

I'm guessing this means there'll be Ford made brakes on Holdens and Toyotas now! Awesome! They need the headline 'Ford to help increase the Australian Made Content of the Holden Commodore...."


Lukeyson

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by Luke Plaizier

Brakes cast by Ford? Nice.

Is this Rotors, Calipers or Both?

Bosch brakes? So are the current PBR systems actually Bosch? I didn't release that before if so. I wonder if they'll make big diameter bastards to compete with Brembo?

Bosch bought out PBR.

[Brazen]

If they are casting the diesel blocks here, could this mean that Territory diesel is not using the LandRover unit? Rather an adapted I6?

[Luke Plaizier]

Hah. Drive confirmed my Ford Parts on Holdens comment. http://news.drive.com.au/drive/motor...0414-scev.html

And that while the V6 Diesel blocks will be made here, the other parts will be imported, and assembled here.

I wonder how similar the Diesel 2.7 V6 is to the Ecoboost 3.5? Could this also mean that we might see the Diesel engine cast with 3.0 Litre internals too?

This gives us reason now as for why the Diesel Territory was postponed. I'm still hoping a for a Falcon Diesel now too - it would certainly go some way to assisting assembly-line capacity.

[irlewy86]

Wow Ford is casting 2 engines, do we cast other engines here in Australia?

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by Luke Plaizier

Hah. Drive confirmed my Ford Parts on Holdens comment. http://news.drive.com.au/drive/motor...0414-scev.html

And that while the V6 Diesel blocks will be made here, the other parts will be imported, and assembled here.

I wonder how similar the Diesel 2.7 V6 is to the Ecoboost 3.5? Could this also mean that we might see the Diesel engine cast with 3.0 Litre internals too?

This gives us reason now as for why the Diesel Territory was postponed. I'm still hoping a for a Falcon Diesel now too - it would certainly go some way to assisting assembly-line capacity.

Assembling the diesel here certainly makes me think that Ford AU is taking diesel very seriously and I wouldnt be suprised if at least the Falcon ute might get it. Either way its really good news.

[Chilliman]

Originally Posted by Brazen

Assembling the diesel here certainly makes me think that Ford AU is taking diesel very seriously and I wouldnt be suprised if at least the Falcon ute might get it. Either way its really good news.

I'd love to see a diesel ute - I'd definately lay down my hard earned for one

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Luke Plaizier

I wonder how similar the Diesel 2.7 V6 is to the Ecoboost 3.5? Could this also mean that we might see the Diesel engine cast with 3.0 Litre internals too?

Completely different engine family bro.

However local production of the 2.7 opens the door for FoA to do its own R&D on modifications to that engine.

[mcnamg]

Drivel also states that the the diesel will be assembled here from imported parts.

[dannyhilton]

Finally, some positive news. I hope the media actually listen to it. Quite interested in their "10 year plan that begun last year."

[EgoFG]

Whatever happened to the I6 e-gas China export deal ?

[Stoney!]

With nothing in the article mentioning the type of diesel, and this being the first time we have heard about it being made in Australia, is their any chance they could have designed a diesel variant of the Inline 6 engine with all the government funding they have recieved.

It would seem like a silly move considering they might be moving toward smaller engine bays in the future for V6's. But then on the other hand they have their own engine to modify which may not have been much of a task for them either.

Stoney!

[Paxton]

Originally Posted by Stoney!

With nothing in the article mentioning the type of diesel, and this being the first time we have heard about it being made in Australia, is their any chance they could have designed a diesel variant of the Inline 6 engine with all the government funding they have recieved.

Geoff Polites did. There were a few running around, but the cost versus volume saw them killed off.

I think the boys in Geelong who thought they'd be out of work in July this year have something to celebrate now. The Diesel is a V6. If Geelong can manufacture V6 engines, then they can manufacture Petrol V6 engines, should the I6 get the boot.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Paxton

Geoff Polites did. There were a few running around

O rly.

Tell me more...what sort of a grunt monster that engine would have been.

[Gobes32]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

O rly.

Tell me more...what sort of a grunt monster that engine would have been.

Might be the next GT-HO engine ( ooops, can of worms.....)

[Paxton]

Originally Posted by Gobes32

Might be the next GT-HO engine ( ooops, can of worms.....)

Nah, we all know that is a V10 that runs on Whale Oil.

How was the news taken at Geelong this morning Gobes32?

[gazza414]

I've been thru the Ford Casting Plant in recent years..absolutely 3rd world quality control and reject rate

Its lucky to be operating at all.

[madmelon]

Originally Posted by Paxton

Geoff Polites did. There were a few running around, but the cost versus volume saw them killed off.

I think the boys in Geelong who thought they'd be out of work in July this year have something to celebrate now. The Diesel is a V6. If Geelong can manufacture V6 engines, then they can manufacture Petrol V6 engines, should the I6 get the boot.

Only if they're cast iron- Geelong is an iron casting plant, not an aluminium casting plant.

[Paxton]

Originally Posted by madmelon

Only if they're cast iron- Geelong is an iron casting plant, not an aluminium casting plant.

Last I heard, the Diesel was CGI - Compacted Graphite Iron, not Cast Iron, which is different again. If they're casting the Diesel locally, then something's gotta give.

Road_Warrior - I don't know a lot about it, except for the fact that it was a torque monster, but reliability could have been an issue. Who wouldn't want a 4.0 based Diesel, however? Look at the torque a Petrol one puts out.

[Gobes32]

Ford Geelong does have an Aluminium Casting plant............