End of the line for Ford Australia

At least 1200 jobs and Falcon nameplate to go, FPV and V8 racing now in limbo, as Ford pulls out from manufacturing in Australia

By GoAuto’s MIKE COSTELLO

FORD has announced it will shut the doors on its Australian motor vehicle manufacturing operations from October 2016.

Ford has been producing cars in Australia since 1925, when it opened its first plant in Geelong. Since 1960, it has produced the iconic Falcon in

The facelifted Falcon and Territory models due in 2014 – for which Ford received state and federal government payments of $43 million in early 2012 – will still launch as planned.

The company has no plans to further downsize its plants before they close, but will react if demand shrinks further.

The job losses – identified as 650 in Melbourne and 510 in Geelong – apply only to manufacturing, with Ford’s You Yangs testing facility, plus its sales and marketing divisions, to remain.

Ford Australia president and CEO Bob Graziano this morning informed workers of the decision – said to be taken by its US parent just hours earlier – which will result in 1200 job losses from its vehicle assembly plant at Broadmeadows in 

the outer-Melbourne suburb of Campbellfield – also the home of the Falcon-based Territory SUV since 2004.

Mr Graziano told media today that Australia’s increasingly fragmented new-vehicle market – which has some 365 models from 65 brands competing for

of Melbourne, and at its engine plant in Geelong.

Many more jobs are expected to be lost in the supply chain and related industries.

The company also today posted a $141 million loss for 2012, which follows a $290 million loss in 2011 and brings total losses over the past five years to $600 million.

1.1 million sales – made it impossible to get the necessary scale required to make cars here profitably.

He also revealed that its decision to pull out of vehicle manufacturing will see the 53-year-oldFalconbadgeretired.

Ford’s 1000-strong Australian design and engineering centre – one of a handful of global “centres of excellence” – will also continue to contribute to global Ford projects.

In total, about 1500 staff will remain beyond 2016.

While Ford will look to redeploy staff where possible, Mr Graziano said that “realistically, we believe those opportunities will be limited”.

Full entitlements will be made to all those losing their job.

The decision, according to Mr Graziano, was ultimately reached this week as a final resort, and comes only after every other option – including additional government funding and vehicle exports – was considered and costed.

Mr Graziano said the cost of making a car here was double that of Ford’s costs in Europe and nearly four times as high as in Asia. Even after making some aggressive

 “We also modelled some pretty aggressive assumptions – almost twice what you would normally see – about government support and labour costs, some of which we did not think would be palatable to any government or taxpayer, but we didn’t want to leave any stone unturned.

“Even with these assumptions, the business case simply didn't stack up, leading us to the conclusion that manufacturing is not viable for Ford in Australia in the long term.”

Mr Graziano defended Ford’s government funding in recent times – of which last year’s $43m payment was just one–stating that “for every dollar the government has given, Ford has returned six dollars to the economy” through jobs, contracts with suppliers and taxes.

Ford claims that, despite its withdrawal from local manufacturing, its commitment to Australia “remains strong”, with its model range to grow by 30 per cent by 2016.

Summernats taking on Malaysia

DBC2’s Tom Hughes Summernat’s update:

It’s been a big year for the Summernats, the largest automotive lifestyle festival in the southern hemisphere, with over 100,000 people and 1,767 entrants attending Summernats 26 and a Guinness World Record for the largest simultaneous burnout ever staged. 643,000 Australians tuned in to ONE HD to watch the annual national broadcast, and thousands more enjoyed regular repeats on Speed TV.

Today in Kuala Lumpur Andy Lopez, co-owner of the Summernats, signed a joint venture with leading Malaysian motorsport promoter JPM Motorsports to stage a Summernats Exhibition Event at the 2013 Malaysian GT at Sepang on 15/16 June, the first step towards a stand-alone Summernats festival in Malaysia.

JPM Motorsports are the promoters of the Malaysian leg of the popular Japanese SuperGT series (www.supergt.com.my). Mr JP Chin, founder and chairman of JPM said “When Andy visited us recently he was impressed with the way we organised SuperGT and offered us an opportunity to do a Summernats Malaysia”.

The Summernats Exhibition will feature more than 50 Malaysian owned muscle cars, Japanese GT and domestic vehicles, custom and road bikes, some judged events and an image gallery of Summernats champions past and present.

“The Super GT, Malaysia and Summernats seems like one of the most unlikely partnerships you could imagine, but Malaysia has an enthusiastic and growing muscle car scene.” Lopez says. “The first bloke we talked to after the announcement was straight onto me about his ‘72 Torana GTR. Then I met a bunch of Holden fans who were sledging me because I drive a GTP.

“The motoring media, sponsors, public and even the chairman of the Japanese GT Series were really excited by the footage we played at today’s announcement. It’s great to see such a positive reaction in Malaysia to what we’re planning to do here.”

The Malaysian Summernats will include Japanese domestic vehicles, custom bikes and street bikes to make it an authentic Asian horsepower festival. There are no plans to include bikes in the Australia Summernats. “The Nats in Australia has always been, and always will be, only about modified cars,” said Lopez.

Entrants vying for Summernats 27 Grand Champion, Burnout Master, and Tuff Street Champion at the event in January next year will also have the chance to go to the Malaysian Super GT in 2014.

Lopez says “The Malaysians will see some great muscle cars on display and motorbike burnouts at this year’s Malaysian exhibition, but we can’t wait to some Aussie burnout masters ripping it up in front of 40,000 people at Sepang next year. That will blow their mind.”

Summernats 27 will be held at Exhibition Park in Canberra from the 2nd – 5th January, 2014. For more information visit the website at www.summernats.com.au

Can't get your backside trackside?

Live stream brings Rennsport festival to you.
From Sydney to Stuttgart: Porsche enthusiasts worldwide can enjoy this weekend’s Porsche Rennsport Australia Motor Racing Festival. Live.

The all-Porsche event, to be held on May 25-26 at Sydney Motorsport Park, will be streamed live over the internet, allowing the Rennsport celebration to be viewed across the globe as it happens.

Available for viewing at www.rennsportlive.com.au, the live stream will cover the two days of the Rennsport festival, which will be headlined by the third round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia championship.

In a format that has attracted the likes of V8 Supercars drivers Alex Davison, Lee Holdsworth and Tim Slade, Carrera Cup will feature two co-driver Pro-Am endurance races for the first time in the category’s history.

While some of Australia’s top driving talents are in attendance, true to form, iconic Porsches will be high on the list of main attractions. The 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning Porsche 936/81 Spyder and the 2006 American Le Mans Series LMP2 champion RS Sypder will be present, flanked by a collection of impressive Porsches with strong Australian heritage.

Fans will also be treated to the second round of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia presented by Pirelli series, Historic Porsche racing (Group S/Group N), Sports Cars and Regularity.

To see the Porsche Rennsport Australia Motor Racing Festival live over the May 25-26 weekend and the race schedule visit www.rennsportlive.com.au

Alan Jackson to headline 15th Anniversary Deni Ute Muster

Singer-songwriter Alan Jackson

Here at the Deni Ute Muster we are gearing up for our biggest year yet! With 15 amazing years under our belt we are throwing a huge party to celebrate. Our 15th anniversary present to you is the one and only Alan Jackson!

‘To host country music sensation Alan Jackson in Deniliquin at our 15th Anniversary event is a huge coup for the Deni Ute Muster’ said Karla Notley Marketing Manager

Early bird tickets have been extended until Friday 24 May unless sold out prior.

‘Early bird tickets are currently $150 normally $180 for adults but are selling fast. Early bird tickets are limited and are sure to sell out before this date.’ Karla said.

Alan Jackson is one of the most successful and respected singer-songwriters in music. He’s in the elite company of Lennon and McCartney among artists who’ve written and recorded more than 20 US #1 hits. He’s sold nearly 60 million albums worldwide, and has scored nearly 40 Top 10 hits in Australia, with 15 #1s including “Good Time,” “It’s Five O’clock Somewhere,” “Little Bitty” and “I’ll Go On Loving You” – each spent a month at the top of the Australian music charts.

“I’d always heard great things about Australia, and everybody was right – it’s a beautiful country and the people were really nice,” Jackson said. “I really enjoyed it, and I’m glad to be going back to play for the folks down under who love country music.”

Jackson has sold nearly 60 million albums worldwide, topped the country singles charts 35 times, and scored more than 50 Top-10 hits. He has written or co-written 24 of his 35 #1 hit singles. Jackson is an 18-time ACM Award winner, a 16-time CMA Award recipient, and a two-time Grammy-winning artist whose song writing has earned him the prestigious ASCAP Founders Award and an induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame as a 2011 Songwriter/Artist inductee.

We have added two huge new highlights to the program this year including a Quickshear competition and lawn mower racing. The all-time favourites are back including the Australian National Circle Work Championships, bull ride spectacular, tractor pull, the blue singlet count and so much more.

Camping is once again included in the ticket price and kids under 13 are FREE!

Celebrate our 15th birthday with country music sensation Alan Jackson!

Purchase your early bird tickets now at www.deniutemuster.com.au or http://www.ticketek.com

‘Here at Muster HQ we are so excited about our huge anniversary event and we can’t wait to share the October long weekend with our patrons who have helped us create the best festival in Australia’ Karla said. Just as many industry observers are predicting that in 2022 car sales in China will top 35 million units annually; the U.S. Public Research Interest Group (PIRG) is saying that America’s love affair with the car is cooling.

Boom or bust? It all depends on where you live

Just as many industry observers are predicting that in 2022 car sales in China will top 35 million units annually, the U.S. Public Research Interest Group (PIRG) is saying that America’s love affair with the car is cooling.Their data indicates that while all demographics are participating in this shift, it’s the Millennials who are driving it.

They are the ones moving into urban areas where car ownership is more of a negative than a positive.

Furthermore, the study says that if this trend continues it will be one of the most significant shifts in American lifestyle in over 100 years.

While some are saying that the trend is a one off generated by the GFC and rising fuel prices, the research indicates that it is a long term shift and reflects a massive change in the nation’s youngest generation of motorists.

It found;
• Motorists 16 – 34 logged 23% fewer miles behind the wheel in 2009 than the same age group recorded in 2001. Also, unlike previous generations who couldn’t wait to get their licenses, this group is not rushing to do so instead they are opting to use public transport more often.
• Across all demographics, Americans of driving age who were licensed fell to only 86% in 2011 – a 30 year low. 19 years ago it was 90%.
• The number of cars owned by Americans is also dropping.
• For years there have been more cars than licensed drivers and that is down too, by 4% compared to 2006.

According to one chief economist, younger people aren’t buying cars because they are suffering financially. He added: “If and when the economy recovers, they will buy cars at the same rate as other generations.”

Other analysts believe the trend to inner city living by U.S. Millennials (a trend that is being mirrored globally) will continue which will mean that local governments and state and private authorities will need to rethink their urban transportation policies.

This trend is being recognised by some OEMs who have responded by moving into car sharing services as a substitute to owning a car, hoping that when the Millennials marry and move to the suburbs their brands will be top-of-mind which will be reflected in sales. Only time will tell.