Ford packs it in

[Bribie G]

End of the car industry in Australia, Holden next then curtains.

 

[Yob]

LINKY

 

[treefiddy]

After receiving a bunch of govt. handouts?

Good riddance. I hope their sales post closure suffer.

 

[JDW81]

I'm surprised they've lasted this long.

Feel sorry for all the folks losing jobs though.

 

[Bribie G]

They probably will suffer because their models are unimpressive. Same thing happened to Mistsubishi and Nissan. They were kept alive by handouts but were on the way out anyway due to their dreadful range of models. Anyone for a 380 or a Nissan Tiida ?

Fast forward and look at a company like Hyundai with their impressive i-range, a model for every niche. Ford has little comparable to offer and all imported anyway. Fiesta and Focus. End of story.

Edit: the current Mondeo actually has virtually the same wheelbase as the falcon, actually a tad more and with its front wheel drive config, is as roomy as a Falcon inside. Next door's got one, I keep thinking it's a falcon anyway whenever I see him driving in.

 

[QldKev]

Not good for Australian jobs, and I love my V8 commodore, but when are the Ford / Holden idiots going to stop building fat overweight cars and go back to sleeker well designed family cars. The "HSV sports car" weights near on 2 tonnes! Get the cars of MacDonalds diets and get them back to 1300kg like the VL was.

I know this is about Ford closing, but Holden isn't that far behind also closing their doors.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

The Falcon will live on in the styling of the new commodore.

Seems like every good looking Commode is a rip off looks-wise of the Falcon release before it (BA-VE, FG-VF, even the decision to make the commodore a large VFACTS segment car in 1988). h34r:

Seriously, it's bad news, but we all like the Aussie dollar and the cheap imports and cheap holidays. These industries cannot survive in this sort of environment. Having said that, Ford Australia's business nouse since the EL has been rubbish and this is partially the fruit of that.

 

[Yob]

methinks we are heading down a rough road again, Im in the building industry and are feeling it pretty hard, loads of redundancies made over the last few months which Ive somehow managed to bullet dodge... not sure for how much longer if things dont pick up though.

Really feel for some of those guys who have had those jobs since leaving school 20+ years ago and will be almost impossible to retrain.

What does this mean for the touring cars? Doesnt it have to be manufactured here to compete?

 

[Econwatson]

Wow, that's terrible news for a lot of people in Geelong. With the refinery closing there as well it looks like Geelong has been suffering a lot recently.

What will happen to Australian specific vehicles like the Falcon Ute? Will they still produce them?

 

[OzPaleAle]

Wonder what happens to the V8 Supercar teams or will they still be producing the Falcon just overseas?

 

[Dave70]

After the GTHO, everything else Ford made was garbage.

 

[treefiddy]

After the GTHO, everything else Ford made was garbage.

If this were a forum about Jack Daniels you'd have a hard time convincing me that you weren't actually Lemmy.

If he knew how to use a computer also, I guess.

 

[Bribie G]

We don't even make shoe polish in Australia any more. If China decided to ban its export there would be a lot of scruffy shoes appearing in the CBDs

 

[Liam_snorkel]

What's the bet Tony Abbott blames it on the carbon tax.

 

[tanukibrewer]

Sad to say its the Aussie trend in the last decade or so!Sold or selling off everything and anything that aint is going broke.Sad for Aussie workers.
Will buy a carton of Coopers on the weekend and do my bit.

 

[Dave70]

What's the bet Tony Abbott blames it on the carbon tax.

I think that's a long bow to draw, even for him.

Clearly refugees are to blame.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

"stop the cars"

 

[joshF]

When foreign countries import our livestock and farm produce/vegetables for a lower price than what we pay.... a blind man on a galloping horse can see there's something pretty fucked with the way our country is being run.

seriously..... we have this running the show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpUUt2QpacU

why am i not suprised.

 

[dicko]

Saw an ad on tv last night stating that the "new2013 Commodore" has now got a 5 star ANCAP safety.

No wonder these Aus manufacturers are on the skids. Hayundai and many others have had this rating for a few years now.....maybe just a bit too late to play catch up.

 

[JDW81]

a blind man on a galloping horse can see there's something pretty fucked with the way our country is being run.

seriously..... we have this running the show:

While I don't agree with a lot of the decisions made by the current government I don't think that Ford closing down can be blamed on them. Ford have been on the way down in Australia for years, and it was only a matter of time. Decision would have probably been the same no matter who was running the country.

And you can't tell me you've never tripped whilst walking. I know I have, does that make me out to be a joke as well?