Lot of gnashing of teeth and hand-wringing in Oz this week: Ford will cease car production in 2016 and kill off the venerable Ford Falcon.
Dwindling domestic demand for a thirsty V6 3-box sedan they say. Who'd've thought it? ;-) And few export markets for it either.
Also high, uncompetitive Aussie labour rates - way more than double the wages of the Ford assembly employees in their Thailand factory, for example.
State and Federal Government subsidies and handouts have kept Ford alive in Oz for years, and now all that taxpayer money has gone in vain...
Holden launch the new Commodore next week... might give them a new lease of life? Or maybe they'll be next on the chopping block.
Best-seller in Oz in 2012: the Mazda 3.
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I would have thought that. comparing sector with sector, any Aussie labour rate would be around double the Thai rate. Motor industry is not unique in this.
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I thought of posting on this but wondered whether it would be of interest on a UK forum.
I live in Melbourne and the local press is full of hand wringing and complaints, the fact remains that Aussies don't want these 3 box saloons. The Falcon is available as a 4.0l V6 or a 5.0l V8 or recently a 2.0l ecoboost I4 which no one buys despite the fact its reported to be a very fine car to drive.
What I notice is that somehow these behemoths conspire to have less rear legroom than my VW Golf which makes them uncomfortable taxis. Then there's the interior "ambiance" which is akin to a 1990s Ford. The Mondeo eclipses this car on almost every level.
There are import tariffs on cars still but the strong dollar lessens the impact of these, local talk radio imagines that raising these tariffs will somehow protect jobs but this lack of competition has brought the Australian car industry to this point.
A new Holden Commodore was launched the same day, championed in the press but to my eyes it looks like a mere facelift and it's reportedly the last of its line too. Smallest engine is a 3.0l V6, no I4 or diesel option, crazy IMHO.
The costs are claimed to be 2x Europe and 4x Thailand btw.
Last edited by: idle_chatterer on Sun 26 May 13 at 13:53
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Idle,
How do second hand prices stack up compared to the UK?
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>> Idle,
>>
>> How do second hand prices stack up compared to the UK?
>>
Prices hold up very well, typically a 1 year old car (at a dealer) might be retailed at a 10% discount, often they want near-enough list price, I've no idea how they sell them at this price or who too. People seem to hold on to their cars longer but despite this second hand prices are a lot higher - maybe 50% of list at 5 years old / 50K miles for just about anything, bangers go for big money e.g. a 10 y/o Golf IV with 100K miles at GBP 5,000.
The Falcon, Commodore and locally built Camry all suffer slightly worse depreciation due to their issuance as fleet cars.
Back to the demise of the Falcon, it's the tradies and bogans who'll be most aggrieved, the Falcon ute is a popular conveyance in these market sectors. This will leave the Holden Commodore as the only remaining option for them to 'hoon' about in. Once into the country you'll often see the tyre marks from hooning on the roads, the Falcon/Commodore utes are supposedly particularly good since they're RWD, powerful and when empty have little weight over the driven wheels.
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OMG! No more falcons? The ockers will be crushing their tinnies of Tooheys in frustration!
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 26 May 13 at 15:07
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The cessation of Falcon production will have an impact in the UK actually. Quite a few funeral directors use them as hearses/limos.
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Thats a dying market anyway.
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>> Thats a dying market anyway.
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That's a rather grave observation.
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People have been dying to make these puns possible.
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I could do some undertaking on the motorway in one of those. Or go for a burn up.
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"I could do some undertaking on the motorway in one of those. Or go for a burn up."
No doubt that would end in the day of judgement and you be taken down.
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We must undertake to stop killing threads with these puns.
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I always knew that working for Ford would turn out to be a dead end job.
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promotion is dead mens shoes.
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Ford - Car production to cease in Australia - Meldrew
