The dark side Ford slows production - Part 1

[Moderators]

This is a continuation thread, the old thread is 146800

[Ausmartin1]

"Steve Colquhoun
March 8, 2011 - 12:25PM
FORD has temporarily shut down its car manufacturing operations for two days a week to address falling demand for its locally made Falcon and Territory models.
The car maker will ramp up to its full five-day cycle again on March 28 as it prepares to build an updated model of its Territory SUV, which will feature a more fuel-efficient diesel engine variant that customers have been requesting for years.
Ford spokeswoman Sinead McAlary said the down-time — which will primarily affect the Broadmeadows assembly plant — was necessary ‘‘to balance out our inventories’’."

My take on this is it's a worry for the Australian manufacturing sector, Fords hopes rest on Diesel ?
Seen the Diesel price lately eeek and the new 4 Cyl Falcon.
Even though the Ecoboost is very interesting technology, how it goes long term in durability is the question along with buyers cringe factor that it is a 4 Cyl. - unkown.

If Ford takes the easy route and just brings us the FWD Tortus :spew:from the USA, it will make it so much harder for the remaining car manufactures Holden and Toyota. (Way to go USA Ford with globalisation, keep this crap up
& soon all we will able to afford is chinese made death traps! )

I would much prefer a healther profitable local auto indusrty where every one including us local consumers benefit!:)
After all the local Australians have shown the world a thing or two with even the many NA wishing badly they could have some of our real Aussie local cars!
Now that's irony in Detroit.
:rofl:

[defective]

Small cars arent small anymore Xjas. Something like a Lancer now is bigger internally (and externally) than a VB Commodore was. Unless you are planning on entering a drift comp lacking rwd shouldnt hurt you :)
i parked next to a new corolla in my ef at bunnings today, and the corolla dwarfed my car, maybe not in length, but definitly height, it sat like a small suv.

ok, mine is lowered a fair bit, but to see the corollas door handles at my eye level was a surprise.

[Plenty]

Small cars may have grown in size but they still don't provide enough room for two baby seats and still leave room for an adult in the back.
The internal size of our Aussie sedans in irreplaceable!

[keith reed]

I have no interest in ford, none of their cars do anything for me. That also applies for any other car maker other than GM ( I include Holden obviously ) and I am not fussed about a lot of their products. However I do have a concern that workers might lose their jobs. For a person who has been assembling cars for a number of years it could be very difficult to find another job.

[Ghia351]

Actually production is back to 5 days.

[Statowh]

no demand for new cabs of as yet :thumbsup:

[The-V8-Power]

This news doesn't sound good at all for the Blue Boys at all and also for the Australian car industry. I hope the new Territory does well for them so they can keep making cars here.

Ford Australia set to axe 240 jobs. (http://news.drive.com.au/drive/motor-news/ford-to-axe-240-jobs-after-falcon-slump-20110414-1df7m.html)

[Pickles]

NO good news for Ford at all these days.
I say Falcon is finished after2015. I mean WHAT is Ford Aus doing to extend the life of it....a 4 cyl "ecoboost"?.......PLEASE....this will NOT wash with the traditional Falcon buyer....nor will a diesel.....and the "new" Territory will not save them either.
They have an "opportunity" with the new Focus, Ford's 1st "World" car.....I say Ford Aus....will simply be incapable of promoting this car too.....so, what is their furure...what have they got to offer....I say Zilch.....Wouldn't be buying any shares in this company, that's for sure!
And, I reckon it's good-bye FPV too.....no Falcon, no FPV.........On current Falcon sales.....how can they continue to make it?
Cheers, Pickles.

[Speedy Gonzales]

Falcon always had the advantage with the dedicated lpg, especially with fuel prices being high, I cant get why they cant market this as a volume seller, get families in large cars that are cheap to run, instead, they are letting opportunity go by.

Power and torque can be made on lpg and diesel, more so than petrol.

GMH dropped the ball over 10 years ago with a hybrid Commodore, built the proto but didnt put it into production and thats why the US gov now own GM.

[Spoolin]

Geez I'm sick of reading thread containing Commodore sells X and Falcon on X why not sell more to mums and dads. When are you going to realise it's not mums n dads buying commodores and falcons, it's fleet sales sustaining both vehicles.

If I remember correctly, if you remove all fleet sales from the equation the Mazda 3 is just about to lead the bunch for sales of a single model.

Sure, be narrow minded imbiciles having a dig at Ford slowing production...I gues the 240 odd workers laid off today plus their families feel fantastic!

[Plenty]

Geez I'm sick of reading thread containing Commodore sells X and Falcon on X why not sell more to mums and dads. When are you going to realise it's not mums n dads buying commodores and falcons, it's fleet sales sustaining both vehicles.

If I remember correctly, if you remove all fleet sales from the equation the Mazda 3 is just about to lead the bunch for sales of a single model.

Sure, be narrow minded imbiciles having a dig at Ford slowing production...I gues the 240 odd workers laid off today plus their families feel fantastic!

Geez mate i think the general consensus of this site is one of sorrow that one of our local mades are going down the gurgler!

This is a Holden based forum but we still appreciate cars of differing brands.
If Ford put more effort into marketing the Falcon and selling cars instead of shunning the people in the yards they may find themselves in a different spot right now!

[Evman]

Geez I'm sick of reading thread containing Commodore sells X and Falcon on X why not sell more to mums and dads. When are you going to realise it's not mums n dads buying commodores and falcons, it's fleet sales sustaining both vehicles.

So don't read it FFS. There are hundreds of thread I don't bother reading. I don't go into every single one complaining about it :jerk:

[muzza]

Well, I dont think its about that at all - gloating about Ford's struggles - it's more the watching of a train wreck, albeit a slow one but one that many of us can see coming. Not good for local jobs or design.
Much as we love our big sedans, sure we bitch about their faults, but for this country they are great for big driving- but they aren't what MOST buyers are needing now in cities. Slowly but surely sales fall as buyers look to other models and sizes to fulfil their modern motoring needs yet the local manufacturers have not moved anywhere near quickly enough to adapt what they make.
But in catch-22, they cannot justify design and tooling for local only models to compete in low volumes. Thats why there is no Falcon Wagon or Fairlane.

As volumes sink, and exports don't happen (not helped by high Au$) it is inevitable. Enjoy the Falcon now, it'll be a US design Taurus soon. Commodore may have a few more years to go due to exports but it's heading the same way.

[planetdavo]

Geez I'm sick of reading thread containing Commodore sells X and Falcon on X why not sell more to mums and dads. When are you going to realise it's not mums n dads buying commodores and falcons, it's fleet sales sustaining both vehicles.

If I remember correctly, if you remove all fleet sales from the equation the Mazda 3 is just about to lead the bunch for sales of a single model.

Sure, be narrow minded imbiciles having a dig at Ford slowing production...I gues the 240 odd workers laid off today plus their families feel fantastic!

Anyone else see the irony of an apparent Ford fan calling some forum people "narrow minded imbiciles", and wants us to think of the laid off employees pain, yet he drives an imported BMW? :confused:

[Jag530G]

Falcon always had the advantage with the dedicated lpg, especially with fuel prices being high, I cant get why they cant market this as a volume seller, get families in large cars that are cheap to run, instead, they are letting opportunity go by.

Power and torque can be made on lpg and diesel, more so than petrol.

GMH dropped the ball over 10 years ago with a hybrid Commodore, built the proto but didnt put it into production and thats why the US gov now own GM.

The new Ford LPG motor looks pretty bloody good really, I hope it does well for Ford but I happen to think the die is cast as far as the future of the Falcon is concerned, I don't think Ford Oz can be saved, the jobs announcement just reinforces the smell of death irrespective of the real reasons behind it. The Firfax papers have got it in for Ford Oz in particular, basically Fairfax is chasing the ambulance.

As for the ECOmmodore you mention, it wasn't a case of GMH dropping the ball, they never picked the ball up in the first place. The ECOmmodore was simply a marketing exercise partly for the 2000 Olympics, of which Holden was major sponser. The ECOmmodore was certainly no advance for GM on what they had learnt with the EV1.

The truth is the ECOmmodre was a bit of a "curate's egg" as far as hybrids go; good in parts. It was front wheel drive using a Vectra Family II 2.0L 4cyl plus an electric motor strangly hooked up to a 5 speed manual! I can't think of a hybrid that isn't a normal Auto or Continuous Variable Transmission (CVT). The best part of the ECOmmodore, technology wise, were the CSIRO developed super capacitors to help boost power supply for acceleration.

Few people realise this but the ECOmmodore used the Monaro bodyshell (meaning lower roof and the Monaro bootlid which gave better airflow separation and consequently a lower CdA) but converted to four doors. See link for picture, pay close attention to the "C" pillar, note no sedan style plastic covering strip between the pillar and the rear quarter panel, it's all one piece, like the Monaro: http://www.netcarshow.com/holden/2000-ecommodore_concept/800x600/wallpaper_03.htm.

Essentially in styling terms the ECOmmodore was Holden's Merc CLS 4 door coupe seven years early. I sometimes wonder if (in better circumstances for Holden) that low roof sedan in the style of the CLS could be used as the SV6, SS, SSV and HSV car and a high roof sedan as a Omega, Berlina and Calais. Or maybe be a bit more adventurous and do a low roof CLS style short wheel base car for the entire Commodore sedan range and do a high roof long wheel base car for the Caprice.

Cheers, Matthew

[Spoolin]

Anyone else see the irony of an apparent Ford fan calling some forum people "narrow minded imbiciles", and wants us to think of the laid off employees pain, yet he drives an imported BMW? :confused:

Seriously Dave, you are a complete and utter freaking idiot! I've had four brand new Commodores in a row I've also had one brand new Falcon all in the last 10 years, I think I've done my fair share to help the local industry!

Good bit of research you've done by looking at my current ride... May I add my brand new FPV will be delivered next week :flipoff:

So how many brand new Australian built cars have you had in the last ten years? Just you Monaro? Pull your head in for once!

[planetdavo]

You should be very careful calling people "imbiciles" and "freaking idiots" on this forum Spoolin. Might want to start booking yourself a holiday if the mods happen to read it...
Bar those aggressive posts, you do usually become extremely defensive when anything is said about your favourite local blue brand on this red forum. People weren't attacking your brand fella, so you should take a chill pill, quickly, and calm down.
If Falcon hits the heap Ford only have themselves to blame, not the Holden fans on the blue screen...

[Spoolin]

Give it a rest Dave..Go run behind mummys skirt for being called and imbicile in public :flipoff:
I'm sure it's comforting to you that you cry foul and run to a moderator, stop inciting certain behaviour before you retreat to the safety of a moderator.

You want to have a dig at me for driving a BMW and not a Ford? What do you expect in return when you are corrected?

[planetdavo]

Give it a rest Dave..Go run behind mummys skirt for being called and imbicile in public :flipoff:
I'm sure it's comforting to you that you cry foul and run to a moderator, stop inciting certain behaviour before you retreat to the safety of a moderator.

You want to have a dig at me for driving a BMW and not a Ford? What do you expect in return when you are corrected?

So you are buying another Ford after all, and you are continuing to spit the dummy into the bath water over Holden fans thoughts on Falcon's dire health in Australia.
So, what are you actually on this Holden forum for again? :confused:

[Spoolin]

Seriously Dave, back off!
According to you, I shouldn't be on, Datsun forums, Mazda forums, Holden forums, Motorbike forums, finacial member of predominately Holden car club all because I don't exhibit the one eyed paranoia you do or the fact I don't like to classified like yourself :goodjob:
I have more than one interest :)
More than happy to continue this via PM, I'll also shoot you my number if you wish to call me to discuss the meaning of life :confused:

[planetdavo]

One PM sent, and one only. Being a member of multiple brand forums doesn't automatically mean you don't aim to antagonise members on all those too. You once said that you find Ford forums "boring". Wonder why.