Ford to shed 240 local jobs, cut production as demand slumps

[Brazen]

"buyers are moving into light-duty SUVs and small cars"

.....you mean like the Kuga and Focus which was supposed to be built here, schmuckos.

As for the wagon.. I would be in a FG XR instead of my Sportwagon if it exisited. I could see a full range approaching almost 50% of Falcons - like the Holden.

As for keeping the BFIII, it would have been good to see an extra 400 a month. Rear camera and EcoLPI would make it a fleet and government favourite and with absolutely no competition from anyone.

[jpd80]

I'm afraid that this is only the beginning of the bad news,
delaying the decision on the next product cycle until early
next year is strategically important for several reasons:

1) To see if new Terry, EcoLPI and Ecoboost stabilize sales
2) To determine if permanent die back in Falcon numbers are occurring
3) To see whether Ford's imported vehicles continue to grow sales


Ford swears Mondeo is a different sector to Falcon,they're lying and Mondeo S/W
replacing Falcon S/W proves it. By later this year I expect that Mondeo Ecoboost
will be gouging into Falcon sales by offering almost as much room as the FG but
with superior fuel economy and a bargain price to boot. Once upon a time,
Ford would have never let such a provocative car go in front of one of their potential
lifeline vehicles, I think there's been a fundamental shift in the corridors of FoA,
the allegiances seem to have shifted with the tide of public opinion, if no one is
buying your product, then you better change with the times or find another occupation...

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by jpd80

I'm afraid that this is only the beginning of the bad news, delaying the decision on
the next product cycle until early next year is strategically important for several reasons:
1) To see if new Terry, EcoLPI and Ecoboost stabilize sales
2) To determine if permanent die back in Falcon numbers are occurring
3) To see whether Ford's imported vehicles continue to grow sales


Ford swears Mondeo is a different sector to Falcon,they're lying and Mondeo S/W replacing Falcon S/W proves it.
By later this year I expect that Mondeo Ecoboost will be gouging into Falcon sales by offering almost as much room as
the FG but with superior fuel economy and a bargain price to boot.

After owning a Mondeo XR5 Turbo for nearly a year Id most certainly buy another over the Falcon.. The build quality is light years ahead as well as technology and leg room. All they need is to add a little more performance to the mondeo (give us the euro diesel / ecoboost) and it would be a good seller.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by stang65

So that means JACK it could have come from anywhere.

Yeah because Ford is in the business of auctioning off random people's stuff for no apparent reason. I think this reason might be more plausible:

Originally Posted by Sezzy

There is one other theory - having worked with steel and aluminium - it may be possible that they bought this stock when it was incredibly cheap and are now making a profit off it. Storage costs, etc. factor in to it as well, making it more viable to sell it than try to store it.

Originally Posted by Polyal

Anyone who believes its purely the markets fault needs to take off the blue glasses. I love Ford, I really, do, but they make it very hard on themselves.

I agree with everything you have said apart from the diesel in a Falcon. Ford can blame the market shift as much as they like, but the real culprit is Ford not shifting to meet the market.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by DASH GT

After owning a Mondeo XR5 Turbo for nearly a year Id most certainly buy another over the Falcon.. The build quality is light years ahead as well as technology and leg room. All they need is to add a little more performance to the mondeo (give us the euro diesel / ecoboost) and it would be a good seller.

You'll get your wish, the new EB 2.0 has more power and torque and more fuel economy.
Combined fuel economy improves by 20% to 7.5 l/100 km.

Falcon EcoLPI might get close on fuel costs but the CO2 is out the gate compared to EB Mondeo.

[Jesmol]

Its actually not that much steel. 400T is naff all in comparison to how much they buy. Holden did the same thing at the end of VZ, they sold nearly 10,000 Tonne though.

Its probably old coil grade's no longer used for older models . The **** end has also fallen out of the spares market, we've halved our sales of Holden and Toyota panels in 2.5 years.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by jpd80

You'll get your wish, the new EB 2.0 has more power and torque and more fuel economy.
Combined fuel economy improves by 20% to 7.5 l/100 km.

Falcon EcoLPI might get close on fuel costs but the CO2 is out the gate compared to EB Mondeo.

We dont get the high output econboost tho..

The europe market get the 170 kw version, we get the 149 kw version here..

Add the 170 kw version and xenons on Titanium and Ford might see another dollar from me. After the way they have treated me over the last 4 months they know what they can do!

[kaniSS]

Originally Posted by 350125GO

Yeah, damn Julia and her influence on the car buying public!

Well she's not helping with all her new taxes, green schemes and endless prices hikes.

Not to mention her alliance with the Greens who would love nothing more then shut all Car manufacturing down in Australia and around the world.

Yesterday a Shell Refinery moved offshore and shut it's doors.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Jesmol

Its actually not that much steel. 400T is naff all in comparison to how much they buy. Holden did the same thing at the end of VZ, they sold nearly 10,000 Tonne though.

Its probably old coil grade's no longer used for older models . The **** end has also fallen out of the spares market, we've halved our sales of Holden and Toyota panels in 2.5 years.

I was wondering about that, because we know Ford upgraded its steel grade from BF to FG. Makes sense if they need to offload stock that is useless to them.

[csv8]

Thats a lot of steel for sale??? why?? Falcon going??????

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by csv8

Thats a lot of steel for sale??? why?? Falcon going??????

LOL you must know Ford annual steel usage to be so worried?...with Diesel tez and LPG do you think they would sell off the steel needed?

The falcon is not going anywhere for the next 3-4 years unless the sales continue to fall for the rest of the year, seriously people the sky is not falling...its just a bit cloudy.

edit: actually even if sales do fall I would think FoA would run manufacturing until a decision was made.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by csv8

Thats a lot of steel for sale??? why?? Falcon going??????

Oh FFS did you read the posts?

Originally Posted by Jesmol

Its actually not that much steel. 400T is naff all in comparison to how much they buy. Holden did the same thing at the end of VZ, they sold nearly 10,000 Tonne though.

Its probably old coil grade's no longer used for older models . The **** end has also fallen out of the spares market, we've halved our sales of Holden and Toyota panels in 2.5 years.

[Franco Cozzo]

Ford caused their own problems, then they go and blame the market, too little, too late.

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by csv8

Thats a lot of steel for sale??? why?? Falcon going??????

Stupid post !!

Probably old grades no longer used ... they use 1,000's of tonnes per month .

[csv8]

just a small sample whats for sale, helluva alot more than 400tonnes. Description Closes Price

1 x 810 kg steel coil, Hot Rolled High Strength Steel (Type A Asset)
Lot No: 0001-570142 Quantity: 1
19/04/2011 4.45 PM AEST
AU$9
(1 bids)
BID NOW

1 x 472 kg steel coil, Hot Rolled High Strength Steel (Type A Asset)
Lot No: 0002-570142 Quantity: 1
19/04/2011 4.45 PM AEST
AU$9
(1 bids)
BID NOW

1 x 130 kg steel coil, Hot Rolled High Strength Steel (Type A Asset)
Lot No: 0003-570142 Quantity: 1
19/04/2011 4.45 PM AEST
AU$9
(1 bids)
BID NOW

1 x 1400 kg steel coil, Hot Rolled High Strength Steel (Type A Asset)
Lot No: 0004-570142 Quantity: 1
19/04/2011 4.45 PM AEST
AU$109
(2 bids)
BID NOW

1 x 4830 kg steel coil, General purpose (Type A Asset)
Lot No: 0005-570142 Quantity: 1
19/04/2011 4.45 PM AEST
AU$209
(2 bids)
BID NOW

1 x 7630 kg steel coil, General purpose (Type A Asset)
Lot No: 0006-570142 Quantity: 1
19/04/2011 4.45 PM AEST
AU$409
(3 bids)
BID NOW

1 x 7450 kg steel coil, Hot rolled draw (Type A Asset)
Lot No: 0007-570142 Quantity: 1
19/04/2011 4.45 PM AEST
AU$209
(2 bids)
BID NOW

1 x 7290 kg steel coil, Hot rolled draw (Type A Asset)
Lot No: 0008-570142 Quantity: 1
19/04/2011 4.45 PM AEST
AU$209
(2 bids)
BID NOW

1 x 8160 kg steel coil, Hot rolled draw (Type A Asset)
Lot No: 0009-570142 Quantity: 1
19/04/2011 4.45 PM AEST
AU$209
(2 bids)
BID
and theres alot more..I love the Falcon..but times are worrying for Falcons future.Ford need to be more pro-active on selling the car. Give dealers and service departments a big kick up the axxxx. Marketing needs new managment etc.. We all know this..but FOA seems oblivious on whats needed to sell Falcon..Holden sells dunnydores..why isn't a great car like the Falcon, selling??????????

[Polyal]

Why would you bother copying and pasting that, the link was there, your usually the link master.

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by csv8

just a small sample whats for sale, helluva alot more than BID

Rubbish - add it up and read the front page !!

[Road_Warrior]

This thread has gone from **** to LOL in 5 posts!

[Smoke Pursuit]

400 tonne of steel is only 10 truck loads.. Its not a big amount. I would say they are contracted to use a certain amount and have too much laying around, or this steel is old BF stuff that was left over from the wagons.

I wouldnt get too concerned, but they really need to pull their fingers out.. Bob Graziano your customer service is rubbish!!

[Jesmol]

1 Tonne = 1000Kg's for those who are unaware.

[Road_Warrior]

It works out to 200-220 cars. So one day's production. Big whoop, it's probably left over that they can't find a use for.

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

It works out to 200-220 cars. So one day's production. Big whoop, it's probably left over that they can't find a use for.

^^^^^^^ This .....

[mr smith]

I think we will see a copy of Mitsubishi over the coming years. Slowly reduce numbers and vehicle models, then its not much of a hit when the plant shuts. Product Development will stay for a while , proped up on govt money while the excuse people are not buying large cars (forget Ford are not building what people want) will be enought to justify the plant closure.

And to those who say Ford should keep it open, if it was your business what would you do (remember they are a US company and not Australian). Stay here with an out of date plant along with having to deal with issues arising from OHS, union, environmental etc or go to a state of the art plant with cheap labour that is becoming more and more educated and hungry for new vehicles?
I not saying this is good, in fact I feel a great sadness from the demise of manufacturing in Australia and belive it will be the end of the middle class. But I think this is fact and the direction they are heading.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by mr smith

And to those who say Ford should keep it open, if it was your business what would you do (remember they are a US company and not Australian).

I would invest in products to compete in segments were products sell well. Like the Kuga for starters.

Originally Posted by mr smith

Stay here with an out of date plant

How is the assembly plant out of date??

[V8 6I]

Reporter on C 9 News said they are not selling enough large cars like the FAIRLANE and the Territory.Where do they get their information from?

[PETE_XR6]

who was the reporter?? find out who she is and send her a tweet to set the record straight

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by Brazen

As for the wagon.. I would be in a FG XR instead of my Sportwagon if it exisited. I could see a full range approaching almost 50% of Falcons - like the Holden.

As for keeping the BFIII, it would have been good to see an extra 400 a month. Rear camera and EcoLPI would make it a fleet and government favourite and with absolutely no competition from anyone.

Without trying to turn this into another FG sportwagon thread.

If there was an FG XR6 EcoLPi sportwagon, then yep, even without cheap finance I would've bought new. Instead I pick up the used FG XR6 this weekend instead.

The only way you'd ever get me in a VE would be sportwagon V8. The pillars, ergonomics and electrical reliability not forgetting brand loyalty keep me away.

That EcoLPi engine looks the goods, shame about being 3-4 years late. Largely due to patent dispute from suppliers then the change from I6 > V6 > I6 caused by the parochial Marin Burela.

I wanted the most of the space/versatility of Territory without the running cost and true sedan-like performance and dynamics. Although Terri being the best roadholder of the breed made that sacrifice less.

As most have said. Ford offer some great products, but are years too late delivering them to market. For much of that I blame Tom Gorman. Now Falcon has it's most fearsome internal competitor in Mondeo ever.

Maybe the next Falcon could be hatch and sportwagon proposition only. Much the latest Audi. With Coupe to be Mustang!

[FG50T]

Poor decisions like cutting the Wagon, Fairlane and XR8 is the reason. If they had these cars and had the brains to make them successful cars like they should be able to they wouldn't be in this position. There's still great demand for these cars everyday. I see a ton of WM Caprices, VE Sportwagons and VE SS.2's on the road.

They gave up when they cut the wagon and Fairlane imo.

[ford man xf]

Originally Posted by Wretched

They may still top the charts in terms of sales but if you look at the data over the past decade, large car sales have dropped even with Holden having a bigger Commodore range (redline, Vseries, etc).

The segment won't disappear but Ford and Holden need to realise the change in market and move away from this being their bread and butter.

Holden have done this with the local production of the Cruze.
You only need to look at March sales figures for Ford, sales were up for the cars in their other segments.

Yes the LPG and I4T are missing, they may add some sales but no where near as many to justify Ford being a Falcon only company. They are good technologies but should have been here a long time ago. Too little too late and now they're paying for the incompetence shown. That's business.

The Falcon may be a good product but is it really what everyone wants/needs?

Exactly!

[johnny351]

20% aint that much at work today (toyota) we found out their cutting production by 50%