Ford Motor Company of Australia

"Go Further"

Ford Motor Company of Australia
Type	Subsidiary of Ford Motor Company of the United States
Founded	1925
Founder(s)	Henry Ford
Headquarters	Campbellfield, Victoria
Key people	Robert Graziano CEO
Website	www.ford.com.au

Ford Australia is the Australian subsidiary of United States-based automaker Ford Motor Company that was founded in Geelong, Victoria, in 1925 as an outpost of Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited. At that time, Ford Canada was a separate company from Ford USA. Henry Ford had granted the manufacturing rights to Ford in British Empire (later Commonwealth) countries (excepting the UK) to Canadian investors.

Its first products were Model Ts assembled from complete knock-down (CKD) kits provided by Ford of Canada. Nevertheless, it is best known in more recent times for having produced the Falcon, originally a U.S. model introduced in Australia in 1960, but adapted to Australian requirements and road conditions. Since the release of the XA model in 1972, Falcons have been fully Australian designed. It also produces a four-wheel-drive model called theTerritory.

Ford Australia is the only Australian car manufacturer which designs and manufactures its own unique high-volume engines.

In May 2013 Ford Australia announced that it would stop making cars after 88 years due to soaring manufacturing costs and plummeting sales. The carmaker released its annual financial report, which showed a loss of A$141m dollars (£90m/$136m) after tax for the 2012 financial year. That follows a loss of A$290m in 2011 and a total loss of A$600m over the past five years. As a result 1,200 staff will lose their jobs.

Ford factory in Norlane, Victoria, 1957

History

Ford Model T parked outside the Geelong Library at its launch in Australia in 1925

On March 31, 1925, Ford announced that Geelong, was to be the Australian headquarters. The first Australian-built Ford was a Model T that came off an improvised production line in a disused Geelong woolstore in June 1925, while work started on a factory in the nearby suburb of Norlane. In 1928 the factory switched to the Model A and was followed by the Ford V8 in 1932.
In 1934 the company released the world's first coupe utility. The inventor was Ford engineer Louis (Lewis) Bandt. During the Depression, banks would not extend credit to farmers to purchase passenger cars- in the belief they were unnecessary luxuries. However, they would lend money for the purchase of "working" vehicles. The coupe utility fulfilled the need of farmers to have a workhorse which could also be used "to take the wife to church on Sunday and to the market on Monday".
In 1956 the company bought a large tract of land in the northern Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows, and in July 1961 announced that the new Melbourne factory would become the company headquarters.

The Ford Australia plant under construction in Geelong, 1926

On the 23 May 2013, Ford announced that its factories in Geelong and Broadmeadows would be closed down in October 2016. Approximately 1,200 employees are expected to be made redundant.

Sites

Stamping plant at Geelong

Ford has two main factories, both in Victoria: located in the Geelong suburb of Norlane and the northern Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows. The Ford Discovery Centre, a museum of the history of the Ford Motor Company in Australia was also located in Geelong, but now has been closed, the site is now been occupied by Deakin University.
Ford has also designated as one of five (worldwide) full service Regional Product Development Centre, specifically for the Asia Pacific and African regions. Products launched so far include the Ford Ikon and Fiesta in India and the Ford Bantam ute and Ikon (a sedan version of the Fiesta) in South Africa, and has also developed the new Ranger.

Models produced

Ford Australia started by assembling Model Ts. As Ford introduced new models, these were assembled in Australia. During World War II, Ford Australia ceased producing cars to commence military production to support the war effort.
After World War II, Ford recommenced assembly of imported Ford models. Initially, they assembled the UK sourced Pilot, then a range of British cars, including the Prefect, Consul, Zephyr and Zodiac. Ford also assembled the Canadian Ford V8.

Hatchback

The Laser was produced in Ford's plant at Homebush in Sydney, from 1981 until September 1994 when the plant closed, after which they were fully imported from Japan. The Laser was replaced by the European Ford Focus in 2002. It is currently offered in sedan and hatchback variants with a 2.0L engine, which is one of the market leaders in sales. The Fiesta, a global Ford product, has also been offered since 2004.

Mid-size

Mid-size cars assembled in Australia included the Ford Anglia, Escort and Cortina from the UK. These were adapted for the Australian market: for example, from 1972, the Cortina was available with the option of either a 3.3-litre or 4.1-litre 6-cylinder engine, and the Escort could be offered across the range with the Cortina's 2.0L motor. In 1977, lack of capacity meant that the Cortina wagon was in fact assembled in Renault's (now long since closed) Australian factory in Heidelberg, Victoria.
The Cortina's replacement, the Mazda 626-based Telstar, was initially assembled in Australia. In 1989 the Telstar sedan was replaced by the locally assembled Ford Corsair which was basically a rebadged and respecced Nissan Pintara. When Nissan shut down its Australian manufacturing operations in 1992 the Telstar nameplate was reintroduced, and as before it was a rebadged and respecced Mazda 626. In 1995 the Telstar was dropped in favour of the Mondeo, imported from Belgium.
Ford Australia dropped the Mondeo in 2001, arguing at the time that the segment of the market in which it competed was in decline, but 2007, it announced that it would introduce the new Mk IV model in Australia.

Large family car

The North American Ford Falcon was assembled in Australia in 1960. The Australian and American product lines separated during the mid-1960s when the US Ford product proved inconsistent with Australian desires and requirements; In fact the initial Falcon required extensive re-engineering beyond standard right hand drive adaptation for Australian conditions. Since its initial offerings the Falcon has proven to be Ford Australia's most popular car.
Ford has manufactured over three million units since 1960, and has topped the sales charts on many occasions. Currently the Falcon lineup is offered in sedan and utility body styles, however in the past panel vans, station wagons, and hardtops were offered. Falcons have dominated the ranks of taxis in Australia and New Zealand, along with sister car, the Ford Fairlane, and have been widely used as police cars, especially in performance variants.
Production of the Falcon will cease with the closure of the Broadmeadows and Geelong plants sometime between now and October 2016.

SUV

Since 2004, the Ford Territory has been built on the same production line as the Falcon. The Territory (technically a crossover) has regularly been the most popular SUV in Australia since its release.

Current Passenger Cars

(As of June 2014)

1. Ford Fiesta
2. Ford Focus
3. Ford Mondeo
4. Ford Kuga
5. Ford Ecosport
6. Ford Territory
7. Ford Falcon

See also: Ford Performance Vehicles and Tickford Vehicle Engineering

Current Commercial Vehicles

1. Ford Transit
2. Ford Falcon Ute
3. Ford Ranger

Go to Ford
Last updated on 8 July 2014 at 06:48.