Ford casting plant to keep producing brake rotors

[Road_Warrior]

No doubt the negatards here will find some way to turn this into a doomsday scenario.

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...257A520028CDC7

FORD Australia will continue to produce brake rotors at its Geelong casting plant, despite the sale by Bosch of its global brake business in April.

US private equity group KPS Capital Partners – which bought the Bosch brake components business and renamed it Chassis Brakes International – has decided to retain the arrangement to source rotor castings from Ford.

Bosch Chassis Systems Australia had entered into an arrangement with Ford in 2010 to manufacture brake rotor castings at Geelong, just 12 months after the casting plant had been put up for sale.

Ford Australia public affairs director Sinead Phipps said no sale is “on the radar at the moment”.

Ms Phipps told GoAuto the company has “had no change to our contracts or anything like that … we are continuing to produce rotors, it is definitely all systems go”.

CBI Australia director of sales and marketing Kevin Bergman confirmed the continued parts supply from Ford’s ‘Automotive Manufacturing Operations’ (AMO) in Geelong to CBI’s facility in the Melbourne suburb of Bentleigh East, where they are machined.

“The creation of Chassis Brakes International through the sale of Bosch Chassis Systems to KPS means that it is business as usual for CBI’s customers and suppliers,” he said.

“CBI will continue the established relationship with AMO as per our current supply agreement.”

Bosch stated its intention to restructure its global brake operations in 2009 – well before the deal with Ford Australia was struck – and now focuses its brake components business on brake boosters and control systems.

Robert Bosch Australia declined to comment on the matter.

The deal between Bosch Chassis Systems Australia and Ford Australia signed in April was for the manufacture of up to one million brake rotors at the Geelong casting plant as part of a $20 million investment that was part-funded by the Victorian government.

The casting plant was upgraded to increase production capacity and reduce its environmental impact, with the creation of 50 new jobs – taking the total to 150 – and boosting production levels from 30 per cent to almost full capacity.

GoAuto understands that under the terms of the contract Ford would continue to supply brake rotor castings for three years but this has not been confirmed.

“We have an ongoing contract with (CBI) at this stage,” said Ms Phipps. “There is no change to that.”

However, in the face of declining Falcon sales, the introduction of an imported EcoBoost four-cylinder engine for the large sedan and the fact that 72 per cent of Territory customers opt for the imported diesel engine are no doubt putting pressure on the casting plant, which produces engine blocks for the venerable straight-six.

Ms Phipps said this has been taken into account as part of Ford Australia’s production slowdown – and subsequent 440 job cuts – announced last month.

“That is all packaged into that, so we have the right number of employees down there to manage the number of engines produced.”

She said there has been no change to Ford Australia’s position that it is possible to update the Falcon and Territory’s straight-six petrol engine to meet the Euro 5 emissions standard – which will become mandatory in Australia in 2016 – but that the changes will require a lot of human and financial capital.

“We are looking at what that means in the post-2016 timeframe,” said Ms Phipps.

The upgrade to Ford’s casting plant included several environmental improvements, including a daily 5100kWh energy consumption decrease by reducing furnace idle times, increasing the use of recycled rainwater to 77,000 litres per week, increasing the use of recycled shredded metal from 32 per cent to 70 per cent, and eliminating sand sent to landfill to zero by selling the surplus to cement manufacturers.

Good to see they are still keeping alternative business on the boil instead of hitting the "too hard" button and close the plant. I wonder what else they could make there in lieu of I6 engine blocks? Truck brake drums? Cast iron axle and brake parts for trains?

[jpd80]

I heard that Bosch wanted to sign for five years but Ford would only go three..
Don't get me wrong, it's a great contract and good money spinner for an underused plant,
I'm just wondering about the length of the contract and just what Ford is planning..
Do they use that income windfall as a source for funding some new infrastructure?

However, in the face of declining Falcon sales, the introduction of an imported EcoBoost four-cylinder engine for
the large sedan and the fact that 72 per cent of Territory customers opt for the imported diesel engine
are no doubt putting pressure on the casting plant, which produces engine blocks for the venerable straight-six.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by jpd80

I heard that Bosch wanted to sign for five years but Ford would only go three..
Don't get me wrong, it's a great contract and good money spinner for an underused plant,
I'm just wondering about the length of the contract and just what Ford is planning..
Do they use that income windfall as a source for funding some new infrastructure?

I guess in a modern car with greater use of cast (and forged) alloy parts, the need for a car maker to have a dedicated cast iron foundry is becoming less and less. Especially if Ford moves to corporate engines across the board. But diversifying the work is one good way to keep it running as a going concern, if they wanted to sell it off later.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

I guess in a modern car with greater use of cast (and forged) alloy parts, the need for a car maker to have a dedicated cast iron foundry is becoming less and less. Especially if Ford moves to corporate engines across the board. But diversifying the work is one good way to keep it running as a going concern, if they wanted to sell it off later.

Mind you, CGI blocks hold a lot of promise, especially if places like China can get tooling costs down.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by jpd80

I heard that Bosch wanted to sign for five years but Ford would only go three..
Don't get me wrong, it's a great contract and good money spinner for an underused plant,
I'm just wondering about the length of the contract and just what Ford is planning..
Do they use that income windfall as a source for funding some new infrastructure?

Bosch wanted a 10 year contract, Ford said they will only supply till 2016, exactly the same year they will more than likely stop production of I6's and hence shut or sell the casting plant.

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Bosch wanted a 10 year contract, Ford said they will only supply till 2016, exactly the same year they will more than likely stop production of I6's and hence shut or sell the casting plant.

Or gear it up to build V6's and I4's

[Bossxr8]

They wouldn't be cast iron blocks though would they. Could do crank and rods though, although thats not enough work to keep it going.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Nikked

Or gear it up to build V6's and I4's

Highly unlikely, they simply wouldn't be able to compete with the economies of scale offered by high-volume engine plants in the US and Mexico.

The casting plant would be better off used for those sorts of ancillary parts like brake rotors, suspension uprights, brake calipers, and crossmembers. Which would keep the plant busy if it was all for fitment to a locally made vehicle or vehicles exported to countries in our region.

[Rodge]

Are the Brembo rotors for FPV's made there ?

[lockieoc]

Not that I'm aware of Rodge, I think they come from Brembo's Asia plant.

[ebxr8240]

Originally Posted by lockieoc

Not that I'm aware of Rodge, I think they come from Brembo's Asia plant.

Oh so they're made cheaper ??? Aha...

[lockieoc]

Yeah I know Brembo spent a fortune on their China plant, from what Ive heard its a very nice facility. I think you fill find its Ford taking advantage of the Brembo name tag and jacking up the price.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

They wouldn't be cast iron blocks though would they. Could do crank and rods though, although thats not enough work to keep it going.

What blocks do the I-4 diesels use, cast iron or CGI?

IIRC, I-3 Eb uses Cast iron, perhaps a new 1.3 I-4 Ecoboost with 160 hp/200 lbft....120 Kw/270 nm?

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by jpd80

What blocks do the I-4 diesels use, cast iron or CGI?

IIRC, I-3 Eb uses Cast iron, perhaps a new 1.3 I-4 Ecoboost with 160 hp/200 lbft....120 Kw/270 nm?

I'm pretty sure they have alloy blocks, at least the 1.6 diesel does.

[FPV GTHO]

Give the direction of the industry, they should try and cast turbo housings.

[Pub247]

have Ford figured out how to cast rotors that dont warp yet?

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by FPV GTHO

Give the direction of the industry, they should try and cast turbo housings.

Or parts for other car makers, Nissan have proven you can manufacture components here for export into a global parts supply chain, this is what they are doing right now with cast alloy parts for the Nissan Leaf.