Govermant to try to help Falcon

[Struggo]

http://www.carpoint.com.au/news/2013...NEVCJk5uZT0xNQ

Falcon sedan sales dropped to record lows in July and August below 600, but lifted in September to 846. There have been 12 recent production down days to cope with the slowing demand, although no more are scheduled for 2013.

Graziano says Ford remains committed to a $103 million “freshening” of the Falcon and Territory in 2014.

“I think we did about 2300 vehicles (Falcon sedan and ute and Territory) off the platform last month, which wasn’t a bad go for a month,” he said. “We are very focussed on getting that freshening out there and seeing where we go from there."

He said he understood why there was scepticism about whether Ford would operate its Broadmeadows assembly line and Geelong engine plant all the way out to October 2016.

“People want guarantees and what we continue to say is that is the intent – to go to the end of October 2016.

“And people say ‘you are not being specific and you’re not guaranteeing and you are not committing’. We are just trying to be honest.

“But right now we are focussed on that freshening and taking it to October 2016, and that hasn’t changed from May.”

[tweeked]

Clever politics. I bet he will come out syaing it was too late to save local manufacturing, but we have saved the engineering!!!! (which wasn't going to go anyway)

Average joe will think they did something, and it won't cost them much at all.

[GCRXR6]

Originally Posted by JG34JA

Iron Ore Spot price $110.75/tonne
Coal Spot Price $82.46USD per metric Ton
Auto Import in form of Mazda3 @ 1410kg and $15,000 imported: $10,638 per ton

Facepalm for not value adding: priceless.

Don't tell us you're expecting a Mazda 3 for around $120 a tonne ....

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by Struggo

http://www.carpoint.com.au/news/2013...NEVCJk5uZT0xNQ

What a pack of lying ****s. I haven’t checked recently, but the problem a few months ago was NO STOCK. Went to a HUGE Ford dealer, acres of cars, and not a single new Falcon on the lot. Dealers NOT interested in negotiating, just “put in an order and pay your deposit.”
Maybe I am just getting (even more) cynical and paranoid, but it appears to me that having decided (a LONG time ago) to wind up production in Australia, Ford has slowly strangled the Falcon to death.

Otherwise, isn’t it rather convenient that their decision to stop manufacturing in Australia coincides perfectly with the demise of the Falcon (& Territory)?
I get that making cars in Australia isn’t profitable, that’s why they did NOT go ahead with the Focus or Ranger. but the Falcon isn’t made anywhere else, so it had to die.

[Cuyper]

Originally Posted by wildrider

correct me if i'm wrong but I've played around with a few commodores (gulp!!) and i'm pretty sure if you pop the interior light bulb holder out on the VR/VS there is a ford logo on them

Indeed, and if you pop the same light out of a Falcon it has a Holden part number on them... It's just a shared part with both. Lots of parts are near identical between the older Falcons and Commodores. I knew a guy that wouldn't get into a Commodore because he said the steering racks fail and they are dangerous. He was a little surprised when we pulled the racks out of a Commodore and Falcon and saw they were made in the same factory and only very very slightly different in shape but identical on the inside. Back in those days most parts in both of them were made for Holden and Ford by the same companies so pretty much everything is the same part/material in a different shape.

[bobthebilda]

Originally Posted by JG34JA

Iron Ore Spot price $110.75/tonne
Coal Spot Price $82.46USD per metric Ton
Auto Import in form of Mazda3 @ 1410kg and $15,000 imported: $10,638 per ton

Facepalm for not value adding: priceless.

Incorrect way to look at it. Firstly the car lands here at circa $15000, and sells for $21000. Out of the $6000 difference, $5000 of that immediately lands in the pockets of Australian governmenuts / businesses or individuals. Last time i checked, not a great deal of Japanese or Korean industry has wooden factories or is run on pedal power. For every 1 tonne of steel that goes into a car, hundreds more go into making the infrastructure. Same with the way it's all powered.

When Toyota or Mazda sell a car back to Australia, it more than likely has Australian steel in it, but so does the other circa 95% of their production that doesn't come back to Australia .