Ford Australia Cuts 440 Jobs

[Dagabond]

Ford Australia cuts 440 jobs

By Tim Beissmann | July 17th, 2012

Ford Australia has axed 440 workers from its local operations and will scale back vehicle production by 30 per cent as it adjusts its business to account for diminishing demand for the struggling Ford Falcon large car.

Ford Australia says it will cut production from 209 vehicles per day to 148 in November to “more closely align production with current market demand”, in what the company says is a “direct response to changing customer preferences”.

Ford says up to 440 redundancies will be offered across the business, primarily from its manufacturing plants, including the engine plant in Geelong and the vehicle assembly plant in Broadmeadows.

Voluntary redundancies will be offered initially but Ford admits it may be forced to issue compulsory redundancies if the required number is not originally met.

Ford Australia president and CEO Bob Graziano admitted the job cuts were regrettable but insisted they were in the long-term interest of the company.

“We understand that, unfortunately, the impact on our employees will be significant, but implementing this structural change is essential to ensure the longer-term health of the business, which is important for our employees, our suppliers and the communities in which we operate,” Graziano said.

“All employees who take up the redundancy will receive a competitive redundancy package, including training and career counselling; and we will work closely with them and our union partners to help our employees make the transition successfully.”

Ford Australia admitted it was considering further job cuts last month when it announced its Broadmeadows and Geelong facilities would close for seven days during July to balance production with market demand.

The announcement comes just six months after Ford Australia announced a $103 million co-investment deal with the federal and Victorian governments, which Ford said would help fund updates to the Falcon and Territory in 2014 and guarantee the existence of its local operations until 2016.

Graziano says Ford Australia is unwavering in its commitment to continue building cars until that point.

“We are committed to the Ford brand and continuing to produce vehicles in Australia.”

The production adjustments will see Ford will increase the Territory’s share of production to almost 50 per cent to reflect the increasing popularity of the model.

The Territory outsold the Falcon sedan over the first six months of this year for the first time in history. Sales of the large SUV are up 52.5 per cent so far in 2012 to 7695 units – in stark contrast to the Falcon sedan, which is down 24.6 per cent to 6846 sales. Sales of the Falcon Ute have also slipped 10.5 per cent, down to 2957 vehicles.

Falcon sales will hit a new in 2012. Ford is currently on track to sell fewer than 15,000 large sedans for the year, which is around one-fifth of the 73,220 it delivered across Australia just nine years ago.

Falling Falcon sales are compounding the financial pain for Ford Australia. In May, the company reported it biggest deficit on record: a $290 million post-tax loss for 2011.

The latest job cuts come 14 months after Ford Australia shed 240 workers from its Broadmeadows and Geelong plants – again due to falling demand for its vehicles – with daily vehicle production at the time sliced from 260 cars to the current level of 209.

http://www.caradvice...-cuts-440-jobs/

[Ciaran]

Bugger eh

[PSYCHO XRT]

u know fords in trouble if the territory's out selling the almighty falcon.

[Mr_4.0]

Might be a good time for me to take my package.

[Pazzo]

Don't worry as some people on here think the Ecoboost 4 Falcon will help sales.

[f6mark]

Not good..

[FPV TRANNY]

A sign of the times.Buisness everwhere on the Gold Coast is suffering.

[Backmarker]

In regards to the Ecoboost Falcon, Ford needs to let the public know it exists. People like us know it exists, but even when looking for it on the Ford website, there is bugger-all. No fanfare to build excitement. No ads on TV or in magazines. More mention of the EcoLPi models. I saw one in the local Ford yard when I was there talking to mates. This was back when we didn't have a release date announced yet. It was already in the yards, but nobody knew. Parked up the back with no indication that it was anything other than a fleet 6 cylinder XT. My dealer mate said they got it earlier than they thought they would and just parked it. We know that if this was a Holden, everyone would know about it from the ads on TV promoting it as the saviour of the Aussie car industry. I thought that when you were on the ropes, you gave it every bit you had to get back on top. I believe this sort of slack effort helped put Ford behind Holden. The products are definitely better than Holdens. They just need to be promoted.

[Shyfrd]

THAT ^^ farkin!! Times 10!

The old man isn't sure about his job but not too worried if he loses it as he says he'll go to the mines. But I reckon he is a bit worried..fark even I'm worried lol. Just hope the blokes that are useless go first. Fingers crossed anyway..any Aussie company going down or collapsing altogether isn't good..

[ms700]

Everywhere I look, I see a friggin Camry Hybrid.

Ford should be pushing the $hit outta the ecoboost Falcon, I still havent seen one anywhere. Ok the Camry have been out longer, but all the fleet's are buying them for the pubes....