Car industry prepares for Ford Australia exit

[Geez Louise]

Oh ok...so this thread is now about how much people earn?? Round and round the threads go...and so...these are the days of our lives.

[GT0132]

Originally Posted by roberts

the sooner the baby boomers are told the next generation is not going to buy there $80,000 house for $800,000 just because they fell like they deserve a lavish and comftable retirment. Prices and our currency will drop, but the standard of living will go up. Imagine your wife being able to stay home to raise your children rather than being institusinalised into the schools system from 6 months old, having time on saturday and sunday to enjoy life, all of a sudden you dont need 2 cars or 2 car ports, you dont need a whashing machine or dryer or dishwasher. Your children learn to live with less and go outside and play sport not facebook, and if these olymipics are anything to go by, the australians needed alot more sport and a whole lot less facebook the last couple of years, tall poopy will always be our curse.

I would build a ford in australia for $1 a day if everything else was inpropution.

I agree entirely with your ideas about one income and home life like it was in the 60's and 70's but those days have gone unfortunately. We're in a new world.

[neptune blue]

Originally Posted by Polyal

While it is also no excuse I could imagine an issue with "doom and gloom" is that moral lowers and people just begin to not care.

Its still not good enough, and perhaps workers have to much protection these days, but you can imagine your enthusiasm being beaten.

Cant companies simply state that if your leave is higher than say x% without good reasons then you are shown the door?

Have you ever tried to sack an under performing worker that is a member of a union at a car company it is near impossible
I was at Holden in SA when I guy taking a car for a test drive on the track crashed it
the speed limit on the track is 60KM from memory but this car was a write off.
clearly the person driving the car had grossly exceeded the safety speed limit and efforts were made to dismiss him

the union argued that he could not be going faster than 30KM per hour becasue the airbag did not deploy

there are alot of hard working people in this world but they carry the ones that dont deserve to be employed

[roberts]

Originally Posted by Agile

Have only read the thread to this point and what rings true here is that the ford product is far superior to holden yet they out sell by two to one. Watch tv over the weekend and saw not one ford add. Holden and toyota adds everywhere. WTF ? Only sign of ford was on the Geelong jumpers.

very true, but than nissan never advertise and have been doing well for years.

cant wait for bathurst when fords gone, does it means that the race wont need to be run because holden are the only ones showing up? mabey they will put a ford badge on the VE like toyota do with camrys in nascar

[neptune blue]

will they will use an import like they did in the eighties ?

[EASYBOSS]

Mustangs at Bathurst

[XWGT]

Originally Posted by neptune blue

Have you ever tried to sack an under performing worker that is a member of a union at a car company it is near impossible
I was at Holden in SA when I guy taking a car for a test drive on the track crashed it
the speed limit on the track is 60KM from memory but this car was a write off.
clearly the person driving the car had grossly exceeded the safety speed limit and efforts were made to dismiss him

the union argued that he could not be going faster than 30KM per hour becasue the airbag did not deploy

there are alot of hard working people in this world but they carry the ones that dont deserve to be employed

Sorry I just have to ask..........so which was faulty..........the airbag or the speedo?

[BroadyFord]

Article in Herald Sun now saying that Ford's cessation of local manufacturing will be reinforced by new emissions standards coming online in 2016 making the Falcon and Territory "redundant".

[BroadyFord]

Third article (from Herald Sun) with a few more points:

http://bit.ly/OrGZmc

[in_xcess]

Love all this blame and shame.

It's Thailand's fault. It's the carbon tax. It's hippies in Byron Bay... waa, waa, waaa.

Like traditional media and newspapers, Ford failed to change it business model in changing times (or had the foresight to do it). It has never recovered from the production of a crap built, good looking Falcon in the EA and a well built but ugly Falcon in the AU. Never!

In the decade/s after that the market was inundated with cheap, imported cars of every shape and size... but Ford just kept on with Falcon as its 'hero' and a rag tag band of 'best supporting actors'.

It only has itself to blame. I'll die bleeding blue but it doesn't change the fact that if FORD goes belly up in Australia it was self-inflicted. As the article says, Ford's doing the 'Mitsubishi shuffle...'.

In the end Deadborn runs the show and it ain't as local a product as we'd like to think.

Remortgage the house and buy the new GT Panther post-October. Put it in climate-controlled storage and use it as a retirement investment.

[XWGT]

Hang on these articles are all based on one persons comments.

While I accept he can make informed comment I dont think he has technically proven that Euro 5 is unacheivable for Ford AUS.

Whether they wish to is a different story

[au2000]

either way with the media speculation growing now is the time for ford to put the story to rest if they can..
& the issue is the longer ford do not reply the stronger the belief will be that 2016 is the end for manufacturing at broadmeadows...
this then feeds on the public & gives a negative image of the company etc....

[KIWI-1]

Originally Posted by GT0132

Maybe , but there's no guarantee , espcecially when you consider housing booms in recent times have been fueled largely by overseas investment, particularly from Asia. Local affordability has had little do do with it

So we buy our cars from Asia, they need to invest the money we are giving them, so they by houses in Australia, so we need wage rises to afford the houses that they bought with the money we gave them, but we cant afford them because... sigh.

The Yanks reckon poverty across the planet will be virtually eliminated by 2030 so this will all be irrelevant then.

http://www.freep.com/article/2012072...y-gone-by-2030

[Ford PR]

Hi Ford Forum members, we too saw the Financial Review article and heard the ABC program of this morning and we'd like to clarify several points made in the report. Firstly, we can assure you that as announced in January of this year, we are investing a further $103 million in clean technology and additional upgrades across our locally manufactured Falcon and Territory which will take us through to at least the end of 2016. Nothing has changed and we are committed to progressing the plan. We'd also like to clarify the information as stated by "Andrew" the caller who identified himself as a Ford employee. Ford Australia, frequently exchanges staff across its operations in the region as well as globally. This is a widely-known long-term practice in auto manufacturing - there is nothing new. We are investing in factories within the region, the latest being in China - which has been heavily publicised and we continue to share our Australian engineering and manufacturing expertise with other Ford outlets in the region. This knowledge sharing is reciprical - in keeping with our One Ford philosophy.

[flappist]

Thank you Ford PR

Now all you doom and gloomers, if you are a FORD supporter then get out and help Ford sell cars.

This is AUSTRALIAN FORD FORUMS

[Benjamin Smith]

Ford PR should hang around the forums a bit more and listen to what some people are saying, mainly to do with the marketing side of things

[flappist]

Re-opened as requested.

To clarify my personal position:

Ford is a car manufacturer. I believe that they will make what ever vehicle designs they can as long as they sell.

They have committed to the end of 2016.

THEY HAVE NOT SAID 2016 is the end.

In 1984 the last Ford Falcon V8s ever to be made were sold. How did that work out?

If you are a Falcon enthusiast you can help convince Ford to continue making Falcons.

Buy one (or more) if you can afford it.
Even if you can't afford one.....
Tell everyone you know to buy one.
Tell everyone you know just how good they are.
Tell people you don't know how good they are.
Tell them about EB4.
Tell them about EcoLPi.
Tell them about I6 & T6.
Tell them about F6, GS & GT.
Tell them about the great interiors.
Tell them about the stylish exteriors.
Tell them about the ZF and T6060.
Tell them about the heritage.
Tell them about comfort.
Tell them about the practicality.
Tell them about bloody everything.

A single rain drop is not a flood.
A few rain drops are not a flood.
A flood is a LOT of raindrops.

So lets start a Ford Falcon flood.
Just go out and wet something........

[Gobes32]

Great post Flappist.

[Nikked]

It would be better if ford forumers didn't put up articals by clueless "Journos"...

[Buntz]

Originally Posted by Ford PR

Hi Ford Forum members, we too saw the Financial Review article and heard the ABC program of this morning and we'd like to clarify several points made in the report. Firstly, we can assure you that as announced in January of this year, we are investing a further $103 million in clean technology and additional upgrades across our locally manufactured Falcon and Territory which will take us through to at least the end of 2016. Nothing has changed and we are committed to progressing the plan.

I really appreciate Ford officially being involved in our forums, and showing dedication to it's customers/fans. Thank You very much.

But I think it's because Ford has been manufacturing here for so long, and how engraved it is in our culture... it's a popular and very concerning topic. Very few Australians are left who could even remember a time when Ford wasn't manufacturing here.

So if Ford does have plans post 2016 in Australia. Perhaps it's time to consider unveiling the plans for the future? Or perhaps look at actively combating the vicious Australian Media with positive bones for them to chew on, so they can stop hurting the companies reputation?

But anyway. Thanks again to Ford for being actively involved with the fan base.

Originally Posted by flappist

If you are a Falcon enthusiast you can help convince Ford to continue making Falcons.

Buy one (or more) if you can afford it.
Even if you can't afford one.....
Tell everyone you know to buy one.
Tell everyone you know just how good they are.
Tell people you don't know how good they are.
Tell them about EB4.
Tell them about EcoLPi.
Tell them about I6 & T6.
Tell them about F6, GS & GT.
Tell them about the great interiors.
Tell them about the stylish exteriors.
Tell them about the ZF and T6060.
Tell them about the heritage.
Tell them about comfort.
Tell them about the practicality.
Tell them about bloody everything.

I do all that already. I'm Fords hardest working, most underpaid (I get zilch obviously) advertiser. If I can get a die-hard Skyline devotee to sit down and pay attention to the praise I give Falcon. I should probably look into selling premium collectors ice to Eskimos.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by flappist

Re-opened as requested.

To clarify my personal position:

Ford is a car manufacturer. I believe that they will make what ever vehicle designs they can as long as they sell.

They have committed to the end of 2016.

THEY HAVE NOT SAID 2016 is the end.

In 1984 the last Ford Falcon V8s ever to be made were sold. How did that work out?

If you are a Falcon enthusiast you can help convince Ford to continue making Falcons.

Buy one (or more) if you can afford it.
Even if you can't afford one.....
Tell everyone you know to buy one.
Tell everyone you know just how good they are.
Tell people you don't know how good they are.
Tell them about EB4.
Tell them about EcoLPi.
Tell them about I6 & T6.
Tell them about F6, GS & GT.
Tell them about the great interiors.
Tell them about the stylish exteriors.
Tell them about the ZF and T6060.
Tell them about the heritage.
Tell them about comfort.
Tell them about the practicality.
Tell them about bloody everything.

A single rain drop is not a flood.
A few rain drops are not a flood.
A flood is a LOT of raindrops.

So lets start a Ford Falcon flood.
Just go out and wet something........

FALCON 2012?

We should run a forum competition, make a Falcon ad, the best three win some prize money, then its up to everyone here with a Facebook/Twitter/Google+ account to spread the video across the internet to their friends and so on so fourth.

We've got enough members here who have FGs, I reckon we'd easily have every model covered, from Ecoboost 4 to Miami.

I'll chuck in $20 to the prize pool

Ford can do all the walking fingers they want, lets show them real marketing.

/motivational speech

[stevz]

Originally Posted by Ford PR

Hi Ford Forum members, we too saw the Financial Review article and heard the ABC program of this morning and we'd like to clarify several points made in the report. Firstly, we can assure you that as announced in January of this year, we are investing a further $103 million in clean technology and additional upgrades across our locally manufactured Falcon and Territory which will take us through to at least the end of 2016. Nothing has changed and we are committed to progressing the plan. We'd also like to clarify the information as stated by "Andrew" the caller who identified himself as a Ford employee. Ford Australia, frequently exchanges staff across its operations in the region as well as globally. This is a widely-known long-term practice in auto manufacturing - there is nothing new. We are investing in factories within the region, the latest being in China - which has been heavily publicised and we continue to share our Australian engineering and manufacturing expertise with other Ford outlets in the region. This knowledge sharing is reciprical - in keeping with our One Ford philosophy.

Spoken like a true Spin Doctor. I'm sorry, but this doesn't tell us anything we don't already know, nor does it do anything to reassure us of the long term future of Ford in Australia.

I know I will get flamed for this but I'm just telling it the way I see it.

[Nikked]

50 years of Falcon, looking Ford to the future

[Cobalt Blue]

Post 2016 it is clear that Ford will still be selling vehicles in Australia, regardless of whether it continues to manufacture vehicles here. The way Fairfax, the publisher of the Australian Financial Review, is travelling, I can't be sure that they will be selling newspapers in 2016. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

[GK]

Originally Posted by Gobes32

I would happily work for minimum wage ($15-16 an hour) if house prices were not so high.

I hear you.

And fuel prices. And electricity prices. And council rates. And gas. And registration. And, and, and!

GK

[Jim Goose]

Just last week at work i took notice of something in our carpark just for our section... there is on average 35cars parked there every day.

2 are AU wagons.
5 are BA series sedans.
3 are FG series sedans.
Not one commodore in sight.

That isnt a bad percentage of Falcons!
And at least 3 (including myself) love their Falcon and think its the best thing they have ever bought (new or 2nd hand)

[Buntz]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

FALCON 2012?

We should run a forum competition, make a Falcon ad, the best three win some prize money, then its up to everyone here with a Facebook/Twitter/Google+ account to spread the video across the internet to their friends and so on so fourth.

We've got enough members here who have FGs, I reckon we'd easily have every model covered, from Ecoboost 4 to Miami.

I'll chuck in $20 to the prize pool

Ford can do all the walking fingers they want, lets show them real marketing.

/motivational speech

Not sure if you're being sarcastic. But I think you are on to something there. I support your post.

[csv8]

FORD PR please explain why the Falcon isn't being advertised ????

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by csv8

FORD PR please explain why the Falcon isn't being advertised ????

Indeed, please explain. Stop fannying around with BookFace, Twatter and MyTube and start advertising the Ecoboost Falcon in goddamn mainstream media already.

[Vormund]

Originally Posted by csv8

FORD PR please explain why the Falcon isn't being advertised ????

Yup.

On another note, it's good to see my local council (Salisbury, which Holden's plant is in) is buying EcoLPI Falcon utes.