Ford to slash 350 jobs

[sandmanls1]

From the Age.

FORD is set to cut up to 15% of its manufacturing workforce in Australia, with hundreds of jobs to go at its Geelong and Broadmeadows plants later this year, as a slowing economy and high petrol prices hit sales of big cars.

News of Ford's cutbacks emerged after multinational Cadbury-Schweppes yesterday announced hundreds of local job losses, and as other leading Australian companies reported falling profits and worsening conditions across the economy.

Ford spokeswoman Sinead McAlary confirmed last night that the company was planning to cut production and shed workers in response to falling demand for its six-cylinder cars, and in anticipation of a further deterioration in the economy.

"We expect the market to soften further from this month onwards," she said.

The Ford job losses, expected to number between 300 and 350, are to start from mid-November. They will be in addition to 600 jobs to go when Ford's Geelong engine plant closes in 2010.

Unions warned the latest move could have a serious flow-on effect on the local car parts industry, threatening more jobs.

The Ford plan is the latest in a series of blows to the local car industry. In June, Holden said it would stop making four-cylinder engines at Fishermans Bend in Melbourne by the end of next year, affecting about 500 jobs.

Last week, the Bracks review of the automotive industry recommended a halving in tariffs on imported cars to 5% by 2010, despite fears of more job losses.

Ms McAlary said production at Ford would be cut by 20% to 25% - implying a reduction of up to 18,000 vehicles from the 73,000 cars the company made in Australia last year - as part of a strategic response to the problems facing the industry.

She said the cuts would be spread across the company's three locally built models, the Falcon, Falcon Ute and Territory.

Ford has been hit by stagnating sales of its Australian six-cylinder models, as high petrol prices and other forces have prompted a shift in consumer tastes to smaller and imported cars - including Ford imports such as the Focus

The locally built Territory has been additionally affected as the model has aged, with sales dropping to just 1028 last month, down from 1555 in July last year.

The new model Falcon, launched earlier this year, has achieved higher sales and market share than the previous model, but remains well behind rival Holden Commodore in the sales race, and both are competing for a shrinking large-car market.

But Ms McAlary said Ford was set up for a "really good future" in Australia, with production of the four-cylinder Focus to start by 2011, adding about 40,000 cars to annual output and making Ford the only local maker with a small car in its line-up.

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union state secretary Steve Dargavel said the Ford job losses would flow through to component suppliers. He called for a freeze of car tariffs at 10% if Australia was to maintain an automotive industry. "To deliver that we call on Kevin Rudd to announce that the tariffs of 10% (on cars), which is already among the lowest in the world, will not be further reduced."

AMWU vehicle division federal secretary Ian Jones said the Falcon had been selling "very well at the moment" but Ford were "taking hits" from the performance of the Territory. "The industry is in a difficult situation at the moment," he said.

Federal Industry Minister Kim Carr said Ford's announcement was probably related to a drop in new car purchases by companies for their fleets.

"The Government is paying close attention to the recommendations of the Bracks automotive review and will issue our response shortly," Senator Carr said in a statement.

"The Government is optimistic that the future of the automotive industry will be bright if the right investment decisions are made now."

A Victorian Government spokesman said any job losses would be regrettable and the Government was talking with Ford and other makers about production cuts. But he said Toyota's decision to build the hybrid Camry in Melbourne indicated a "robust" industry

[birdman941]

In my opinion,
you should not let Toyota build anything in Australia.
Our Gvt. here in the states made the same mistake.
It will eventully hobble or kill Ford and GM/Holden.
Don't make the same mistake the US made.

[LTDHO]

Ford hasn't exactly helped the cause. It seems they don't care for the consumer, sale died, demand died and job's lost.

Blah blah blah, I can't believe FoMoCo are blaming the fuel prices for their lame excuse for running a motor company. What a cop out!

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by birdman941

In my opinion,
you should not let Toyota build anything in Australia.
Our Gvt. here in the states made the same mistake.
It will eventully hobble or kill Ford and GM/Holden.
Don't make the same mistake the US made.

What are you talking about? Toyota have been manufacturing here in OZ for a long time.
The problem has nothing to do with Toyota (unfortunately as I am not a fan of Toyota at all) it has to do with Ford's lack of insight into the market, lack of adjustment to the changing market.
With the high cost of labor and materials in this country it is a wonder they can keep manufacturing for a profit. Time will tell.

[4Vman]

Great time to cut tarrifs.... The car companies only directly employ about 15% of the total wider automotive industry workforce....

[|||]

Originally Posted by sandmanls1

From the Age.

The locally built Territory has been additionally affected as the model has aged, with sales dropping to just 1028 last month, down from 1555 in July last year.


AMWU vehicle division federal secretary Ian Jones said the Falcon had been selling "very well at the moment" but Ford were "taking hits" from the performance of the Territory. "The industry is in a difficult situation at the moment," he said.

so they didnt bother updating the territory & now they're laying off workers because its not selling?

youve gotta wonder how ford survived this long with planning like that.

[DanielXR8]

If I hear one more spokesman for Ford pin their hopes on the Aussie built Focus. I swear I will go down to Broadmeadows and throttle them.

A competitive small car in engineering, won’t fix Ford Australia’s, attitude to build quality and customer service. It also won’t fix one of the most appalling dealer networks of any brand in Australia. Time for them to accept they need a kick up the for their performance, the public have given it to them and it’s time to get serious about fixing the company by tackling with real urgency and passion. the ingrained and fundamental problems it has had as a company for decades.

This should happen before they even dare entertain the idea that another small car in a highly competitive market can make any real difference to Ford Australia’s long term future.

Frankly they need to grow up and accept, that right now a lot of people in Australia won’t consider a Ford and its time they fixed the reasons for that. A new Falcon or a new Focus won’t magically fix that for them.

[Whitey-AMG]

It's simply a sign of the times.......people's buying patterns have changed

FORD need to be proactive now and get on with the job of better marketing and focus on their potential volume sellers.

The 6 Cylinder car market has been in decline for a long time now and the fact that the VE was released years before the FG didn't help. In fact , the last sales figures showed the VE STILL AHEAD in sales. Those companies / business individuals that were going to novate lease 6 cylinder cars etc have already done so with the VE. The FG was doomed from the beginning........a great car released at a difficult time...........and considering the bulk of FORD AUS investment went into this car...........well..........it was inevitable that they'd have to cut their losses.

Sad news for those hard working families.............

[bathurst77]

Originally Posted by birdman941

In my opinion,
you should not let Toyota build anything in Australia.
Our Gvt. here in the states made the same mistake.
It will eventully hobble or kill Ford and GM/Holden.
Don't make the same mistake the US made.

WTF???
How sacking all Toyotas local workforce and importing Camrys/Avalons from somewhere in Asia helps Ford's workers is beyond me. :

Ford and GM-H are no different to Toyota. Foreign owned companies with local workforce. Why is it OK for two American companys build cars in Australia and not a Japanese company?

Its up to Ford and GM to build cars people want to buy, market them properly, and the dealers to sell and service them properly.
They are failing at quite a few of these steps.

Falcon marketing is pitiful and the dealers have reputation for being shockers.

One of the things they cite is the fall in Territory sales. In a growing segment.
Ford should have facelifted and upgraded the Territory by now. Ford built a great Territory, then seem to have left it to whither on the vine. ITs stila good car, but it needs a freshen up.

Read the Terri forums and they full of people who have 3 and 4 year old Territorys which they are happy with but its time to buy a new car. many of these are walking away from Ford simply because if they gunna spend 40-50K they want something NEW and different. And the territory is the same as what they have.

similarly many buyers now see Territory as an "old car" when Klugar etc have all had new models in last few years.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Its a sign of the times and fords arrogance towards its customer base...

The amount of clients i have that have moved away from the Ford product in the last 18 months is huge! They arent worried about fuel consumption or any of that crap either.

As for Territory sales dipping, people arent going to upgrade their current Territory when a new one is identical to their 4 year old one!

[sandmanls1]

re the territory go and look at a Mazda CX9 and see how it compares to the Ghia AWD etc. Ford have a great range, thier marketing and customer serivce sucks.. Top line management need to spend some time out at the coal face ie the dealers... The FG kills the VE.

[csv8]

Is this Ford Speak for "we are killing off the Falcon in 2010 and only having 4 cylinder cars from 2010 ? "

[Hally]

In terms of the locally built Focus, I keep hearing that they are planning to build 40,000 a year. Is the intent with this car to export it? I can't see sales going from say 15,000 units a year to 40,000. Also, will it be a new model or just the current version with a possible face lift?

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by Hally

In terms of the locally built Focus, I keep hearing that they are planning to build 40,000 a year. Is the intent with this car to export it? I can't see sales going from say 15,000 units a year to 40,000. Also, will it be a new model or just the current version with a possible face lift?

Supposedly exports in both RHD and LHD.

All new C2 Focus - supposed to look something like this :

http://www.rpmdaily.com/images/2008-Focus-E.jpg

[Hunter]

Ford: "What trees? I cannot see the trees - there's a forrest but I cannot see the trees!"

Failure to read the writing on the wall and now the workers cop the axe. Nice.

If Steve Ballmer were doing a presentation for Ford Aus it would probably be something like his 'developers' speech only it would be 'dealers dealers dealers dealers dealers'.

For those who don't know what I am referring to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMU0tzLwhbE

[Hally]

Thanks Barraxr8.

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

Great time to cut tarrifs.... The car companies only directly employ about 15% of the total wider automotive industry workforce....

Keeping the tariffs certainly has worked hasn't it?
It is time these inefficient organisations become more accountable for their actions.
The FG may be a good car, even a great car but it is what the BA should have been. Territory was the only car they built that the public wanted, they did the hard yards but haven't bothered to update it so of course it is going to suffer in sales when all of its competitors offer more incentives to upgrade.

The dealer network is pitiful at best, rude and arrogant with a hint of boganism is away to describe most of them. The network needs an overhaul to get the customers back in, get some people in there that have knowledge of the products they're selling.

So now it is up to Ford to what the future will hold. Will they be another Mitsubishi or will they learn from this and clean up the mess? Innovate?

[mik]

you cannot blame them for cutting workers, lets face it manufacturing is about making a dollar in the end , not many car company`s would be making good sales across the board at the moment, with the greenies , the media predicting world doom and politicians sabotaging our local manufacturing it can only end in cutting back, regardless wether ford is or gm is US owned, they are and have been supporting our economy for year`s, once the car companies pack up shop and start importing all vehicles, many of those transport companies, machine shop`s, part suppliers courier`s that have been making a dollar from the industry will disappear i suspect, the manufacturing wheels have been slowly falling off in this country for some time, the tariff cut`s may be more wheel nuts coming off sadly.

[sleekism]

Originally Posted by bathurst77

WTF???
How sacking all Toyotas local workforce and importing Camrys/Avalons from somewhere in Asia helps Ford's workers is beyond me. :

Ford and GM-H are no different to Toyota. Foreign owned companies with local workforce. Why is it OK for two American companys build cars in Australia and not a Japanese company?

Its up to Ford and GM to build cars people want to buy, market them properly, and the dealers to sell and service them properly.
They are failing at quite a few of these steps.

Falcon marketing is pitiful and the dealers have reputation for being shockers.

One of the things they cite is the fall in Territory sales. In a growing segment.
Ford should have facelifted and upgraded the Territory by now. Ford built a great Territory, then seem to have left it to whither on the vine. ITs stila good car, but it needs a freshen up.

Read the Terri forums and they full of people who have 3 and 4 year old Territorys which they are happy with but its time to buy a new car. many of these are walking away from Ford simply because if they gunna spend 40-50K they want something NEW and different. And the territory is the same as what they have.

similarly many buyers now see Territory as an "old car" when Klugar etc have all had new models in last few years.

Does anybody else notice that things went decidedly south ever since Geoff Polites left as President of Ford Australia and left it ti that moron Tom Gorman.

Under Polites we had a highly succesful Falcon that was nearly outselling the Commodore, the rise of a new cult car-the XR6 Turbo, the replacemnt of Tickford with FPV and the Territory program which not only smashed the Holden Adventra but saved Ford Australia. He was also chasing exports just before he left.

Tom Gorman did not understand. Ford is not Toyota. You can't skimp on products and expect it to sell. Ford and Holden have to spend money to make money. Given Fords poor reputation, poor resale and poor marketing the FG Falcon had to be able to sell itself. It had to be groundbreaking.

[JPFS1]

Originally Posted by csv8

Is this Ford Speak for "we are killing off the Falcon in 2010 and only having 4 cylinder cars from 2010 ? "

Not at all.

[4Vman]

Originally Posted by Wretched

Keeping the tariffs certainly has worked hasn't it?
It is time these inefficient organisations become more accountable for their actions.
The FG may be a good car, even a great car but it is what the BA should have been. Territory was the only car they built that the public wanted, they did the hard yards but haven't bothered to update it so of course it is going to suffer in sales when all of its competitors offer more incentives to upgrade.

The dealer network is pitiful at best, rude and arrogant with a hint of boganism is away to describe most of them. The network needs an overhaul to get the customers back in, get some people in there that have knowledge of the products they're selling.

So now it is up to Ford to what the future will hold. Will they be another Mitsubishi or will they learn from this and clean up the mess? Innovate?

Cutting them at the moment certainly wont improve the situation either.

I havent been to every Ford dealer (like you must have?) so i can't comment on their overall performance.....

The Australian car industry is as efficient as the IR environment and our sales potential will let it be...

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

Cutting them at the moment certainly wont improve the situation either.

I havent been to every Ford dealer (like you must have?) so i can't comment on their overall performance.....

The Australian car industry is as efficient as the IR environment and our sales potential will let it be...

I haven't been to every Ford dealer so I guess I was overreacting there, I have been to about 7 or 8 here in Melbourne and 1 in Brisbane.
All experiences have been poor to average at best. Prior to the release of the BA the service was a lot better. I think the success of the BA brought in some bad attitudes.

Well maybe we need to look at ways to see how to make this industry a lot more efficient from the government to the dealers. To see whether it is worth saving.

[InfernoSR]

Why can Australians buy a Pontiac thats commodore based, cheaper than a commodore? why are their imported large cars and "SUV's" cheaper than Australian built cars? it comes down to BS taxes in the wrong places and for the wrong things... if Ford Aus could make their Falcons ALOT cheaper and import taxes adjusted properly... we would sell more locally bought cars... as there wouldnt be as much transportation costs... a truck cant deliver cars across australia... but imports still need to be shipped in on container freighters... THEN trucked across Aust...

Governments suck atm...

[DanielXR8]

Originally Posted by sleekism

Does anybody else notice that things went decidedly south ever since Geoff Polites left as President of Ford Australia and left it ti that moron Tom Gorman.

Under Polites we had a highly succesful Falcon that was nearly outselling the Commodore, the rise of a new cult car-the XR6 Turbo, the replacemnt of Tickford with FPV and the Territory program which not only smashed the Holden Adventra but saved Ford Australia. He was also chasing exports just before he left.

Tom Gorman did not understand. Ford is not Toyota. You can't skimp on products and expect it to sell. Ford and Holden have to spend money to make money. Given Fords poor reputation, poor resale and poor marketing the FG Falcon had to be able to sell itself. It had to be groundbreaking.

Thats true sleekism, but ironically I think the success Polites had was the final straw for Ford. People flocked back to the brand only to be reminded of things like Ford build quality, the need for far too many cars to have warranty work, the complete and total lack of customer service from Ford and one of the worst dealers networks in the country when it comes to sales and service. Wow what a great new car experience.

The net result. You sold them a BA Falcon or TS Terri, but they learn't their lesson after that and avoided Ford next time around. I suspect there are lots of folks who got burnt by Ford for the last and final time in the last five years or so.

Dan

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Wretched

The FG may be a good car, even a great car but it is what the BA should have been. Territory was the only car they built that the public wanted, they did the hard yards but haven't bothered to update it so of course it is going to suffer in sales when all of its competitors offer more incentives to upgrade.

The BA did well, and outsold the Commodore a few times, and production was going 6 days a week. The territory was a good car and took sales away from the sedan and the wagon. Ford sold more aussie built cars in Oz the Holden did. Unfortunatly fuel prices made the Ford and Holden take a hit in sales. You could see fuel prices were a big factor, the amount of increased orders for the LPG Falcon was amazing back in 06 (prob would have increased again but I left at the start of 07).

[whales]

A Blind man can see that fuel prices were going to go through the roof with the usual economic cycle which happens every few years and the yanks in Iraq etc. Ford should have by now facelifted the Terri. and had Diesels in both the Falcon and Terri. they also needed to upgade the Falcon Egas with the liquid injection and then they could've had a 5 star safe and full size car which is cheaper to run than a 4 cylinder car .
I know what everybody is going to say it's not worth it with the current 6 cylinder engine not being used anymore but surely it could be easily adapted to suit the new V6 when it comes out and anyway they should have done it years ago, unfortunatly Ford seem to have their head well and truly buried in the sand.

As for marketing I can't remember the last time I saw a Falcon ad on TV or for that matter any Ford vehicle Ad.

My 2cents worth

[sleekism]

Originally Posted by DanielXR8

Thats true sleekism, but ironically I think the success Polites had was the final straw for Ford. People flocked back to the brand only to be reminded of things like Ford build quality, the need for far too many cars to have warranty work, the complete and total lack of customer service from Ford and one of the worst dealers networks in the country when it comes to sales and service. Wow what a great new car experience.

The net result. You sold them a BA Falcon or TS Terri, but they learn't their lesson after that and avoided Ford next time around. I suspect there are lots of folks who got burnt by Ford for the last and final time in the last five years or so.

Dan

Does Ford realise how shocking a lot of their dealers are?? In my experience you either get a rude and pushy salesman or one who knows absolutely nothing about his product.

When I go next door to Mazda I get treated extremely well. They even let me test drive a MX5 despite the fact I am a P-plater and wear thongs. They are building a brand.

The sad thing is if I wasn't a Ford enthusiast I probably wouldn't buy a Ford

[Carby]

Originally Posted by sleekism

Does Ford realise how shocking a lot of their dealers are?? In my experience you either get a rude and pushy salesman or one who knows absolutely nothing about his product.

When I go next door to Mazda I get treated extremely well. They even let me test drive a MX5 despite the fact I am a P-plater and wear thongs. They are building a brand.

The sad thing is if I wasn't a Ford enthusiast I probably wouldn't buy a Ford

It's just not Ford dealerships - I have a friend who has a Honda and has had it back 6 times for the same problem still not fixed. Finally took it to a recommended mechanic and he identified the problem first time - so he now he is the maintenance man on the Honda.

Also from what I see, I reckon running a service department would be very tough. There are so many di*kheads about who abuse the car or do outrageous mods and when something goes wrong still want Ford to fix it for them - no wonder they are suspicious of some component failures on client cars.

[T3ts50]

They must be getting desperate for sales. I have had 2 phone calls this week about a new Falcon ute. One call from head office and another from a dealer very keen to get me to test drive. I told them I will be looking to buy in October, both have said they will call back then.

[KBBossedXR]

Ford are going down hill because of the way they treat there customers before and after sale and also what they have to offer.

Fair enough i am in SA but when the BA/BF were released they were on the road every where as for the FG i have hardly seen one.

Some will say its the price of Fuel i disagree as a customer that wants a 4 door sedan with a V8 will still buy it no matter whether the price of Fuel is a $1.50 a litre or $1.70. If you want the car you will buy it as long as the whole package is right and unfortunately in my opinion that is some thing Ford strugle with big time.