WHEELS Jan 2016 The Future of Ford Australia.

[pottery beige]

oh noes

[barnz_xr8]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

Bingo

yeah when confronted with valid arguments you have to try and discredit him buy labelling him as some one that needs to have the last word, because only the powerful moderators like you self can have the last word.

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by tempted

$1.12 an hour. If that's not slave labour then I don't know what is...

It just highlights how badly the Australian consumer is getting reamed by paying first class prices for a product that is built by slave workers in a third world country.

It's bordering on criminal.

Oh dear, the old crock of directly comparing another countries economy to our own and whinging about things like labour costs.

Why do you think so many Australians go to Asia on holidays? Why do so many retire there? It's because we have a high cost of living and high wages, and comparably those countries have low cost of living and low wages for locals to suit that cost of living.
However you cannot in any way directly compare a factory worker here making $25+ an hour to a factory worker in Thailand making a few bucks an hour or less. From their point of view, your quoted wage per hour would, for them, be a good figure, a great job to aim for, because the cost of living is so much lower there.
It's a completely false comparison that is totally meaningless. You simply cannot directly compare the two.

Without calling it "slave labour", I do however want to know why the Ranger costs so much damn more than other twin cabs when most of them are spat out of similar factories all over Asia...I mean by the time you spec it to a half decent level you're looking at well over fifty grand, easily. No wonder the roads around here are chockers with things like Tritons...if you're badge blind it just makes sense to look elsewhere when Ford is demanding so much for a vehicle that others do equally well for far less moolah...and I'm afraid that smug adverts on TV saying Americanised crap like "It just looks like a truck should" to try and justify the price gap, won't win friends when people see the price tag.

Most car makers here need a healthy dose of realism...and they're getting it.

[eb2fairmont]

Like ya work and agree.

[SYZ]

Manufacturer sales figures have no impact on buyer decisions in my opinion. Just because GM sells more vehicles than Ford isn't gonna alter my decision to by an Ford XR8 over a Commodore SS.

I guess that sales figures concern the manufacturers, obviously, but I can't see the relatively small Aussie market share affecting the overall US and Asian production decisions. I'd imagine that GM and Ford will sell just as well—or as poorly—as their existing Asian/Mexican/Sth African/Polish etc peers do today.

And rather than wasting billions of taxpayer dollars propping up GM and Ford Australia recently, the government should've been subsidising this vehicle in its moment of dire stress way back when...

[olds]

Originally Posted by Windsor220

They are all closing for the same reason. None can consistently make money here.

Ford had already announced they were closing and said they didn't want any further government funding. Holden and especially Toyota would of happily continued with government funded support .

[Carrion]

I bought a Holden once..............

[CyberWasp]

Has anyone got any gossip as to what the 1500 employees and engineers that are remaining on, are working on now?
Everest is done and I bet they are not sitting idle. There must be something exciting in the works.

[wodahs]

holly tornado batman aint I just glad I sat here and read thru that multi directional crap of a thread and still got no where on well better post some thing so every one can come to check what the update post was and then have their whinge !

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by superyob

Agreed. But why are Commodore sales so much better than the Falcon???

Several reasons I can suggest and in no particular order:

Greater fan base so choose Holden only,

Commodore comes in ute, sedan, wagon and V8 models of all so more product diversity,

Holden still chases fleet markets more so then Ford, just look at state police fleets for eg.

Holden has historically received double the amount of grants vs Ford and were able to spend far more on the vehicles and thus had smaller ROI requirements,

The plan for exports (from VE onwards which never came to meet expectations or the levels set by VZ) meant Holden had a greater production volume to work with for cost amortisation, although the gfc and dumping of models by GM US cost Holden dearly in the end,

Holden has to replace a 2-3K/month seller with an imported car and hence has to keep the Commodore name as strong as possible to survive that change.

[XRtowcar]

My Dad is old enough to remember when you could buy a Galaxie or a Chev Belair.
He says the rot set in when they went to compact cars like Falcon and Kingswood.

[OzriderXR8]

Back in the day people bought a car which for most was the 2nd biggest purchase after their house.

They bought based on brand loyalty built on years of good, or bad, experiences. They also took pride in their cars and for many were an extension of their personality.

Now a car is a consumable, it is for us anyway.....I buy a car that will do everything that is required of it and is reliable and well supported. I replace it when the warranty expires. (the XR8 is a hobby car )

My last 2 new cars have been Hyundai's, why, because at the time of purchase they were as good as anything else in their category, they were competitively priced and the dealers bent over backwards to win my business. Top that of with a 5 year unlimited warranty and you have a winning package.

Holden, Ford, Toyota, Mitsubishi and most of the others had an air of superiority and basically a take it or leave it attitude.....and most only offered a 3 year warranty. Many are only now offering courtesy cars, Hyundai have always done this and include full roadside assistance if you service your car with them.

My wife's car is due for replacement, I've looked at the Mondeo, Hyundai I45, Mazda 6 and the new Kia Optima. The Mondeo is awesome, but very expensive, the Mazda is ordinary, the I45 does what it says on the tin. The Optima is very impressive, well priced and has a 7 year warranty.

Maybe Ford and Holden should be looking at the Korean business model.......

PS. Holden continues to market and build a huge following for the Commodore, what happens when they stop making it?

[Carrion]

Originally Posted by XRtowcar

My Dad is old enough to remember when you could buy a Galaxie or a Chev Belair.
He says the rot set in when they went to compact cars like Falcon and Kingswood.

My dad drove Belairs too. Good times, so much room in those cars.

[mik]

Originally Posted by MercurySilver

Im depressed
I just realized i drive an ugly fg turbo tampon

Me too mate, I just realized I have been driving an AU lemon for the last 11 years , I wish someone had told me before this !

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by OzriderXR8

.

Maybe Ford and Holden should be looking at the Korean business model.......

Mass registrations then having a huge so called "demo" sale 3 months later? (because each dealer needs 20 base model i30's don't they)

Ford have been there and realised its not profitable.

[OzriderXR8]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Mass registrations then having a huge so called "demo" sale 3 months later? (because each dealer needs 20 base model i30's don't they)

Ford have been there and realised its not profitable.

I'm sure every manufacturer has stupid ideas from time to time

Blindly following your competition would be crazy, looking at their marketing / offerings and picking the key factors that are costing you sales and doing something to counter them sounds like a pretty good plan.

Both my purchases were registered when I bought them, not pre registered.

[Bossxr8]

Hyundai work on razor thin margins apparently.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by tempted

Not defending Hyundai, but Ford are just as guilty of doing this. Large amounts of demos, dealer service loan cars and company vehicles are turned over all the time then sold as used vehicles.

True.
But the whole registering of Falcons and the end of the month/year in the name of sales bragging rights has long gone.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

True.
But the whole registering of Falcons and the end of the month/year in the name of sales bragging rights has long gone.

I dunno look at all the Ecoboost Falcons for sale with SFA KM on them, and only 1-2 years old

[Joe5619]

Originally Posted by OzriderXR8

PS. Holden continues to market and build a huge following for the Commodore, what happens when they stop making it?

The Commodore name plate is going nowhere (unlike Falcon). Holden will continue to sell Commodores after the local factory closes in 2017, they'll just be imported ones. This is why they are still investing in this name plant..

[Joe5619]

Ive said this 100 times before & I'll repeat it every time we get this same topic.. It will take Ford a generation (i.e. 10-15 years), before they recover from this. Big damage has been done to brand 'Ford' & this isn't fixed over night. They could be the cheapest things on the market & they still wouldn't sell. The brand is damaged in Australia & needs time to repair.


Resetting the business model like they have it the best move IMO. They just need to stick with it & continue to improve every area of the business. I just wish they'd get back into V8 supercars. This could be such a "feel good" news story for Ford & create some positive media for a change. And keep the last 5-6% of loyal customers happy.

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by paule11

Will be interesting top see what happens with car prices. When the dollar was parity or better Ford Australia announced stopping manufacturing in Australia, Now we are at 70 cents does not make sense to stop manufacturing

i think it was probably marginal at 70 cents before parity. It's unlikely to be more lucrative unless we go back to the bad old days of tariffs and protectionism.

[mitelsx2000]

Originally Posted by tempted

Not defending Hyundai, but Ford are just as guilty of doing this. Large amounts of demos, dealer service loan cars and company vehicles are turned over all the time then sold as used vehicles.

This has been a practice of car dealers for decades to meet thier targets from the car manufactures

[BLACKVE]

Originally Posted by superyob

Agreed. But why are Commodore sales so much better than the Falcon???

Range, wagon you can get a V8 ute and wagon etc...

Imagine if ford had a XR8 ute...... ford has a XR8 holden has SS SSV and Redline all in sedan wagon, ute plus Calais and caprice

apart from the ranger ford isn't selling, I think ford/dealers are part of the problem. Customer service is average.

Misses work fleet is all ford mainly rangers atm 6month wait

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Joe5619

Ive said this 100 times before & I'll repeat it every time we get this same topic.. It will take Ford a generation (i.e. 10-15 years), before they recover from this. Big damage has been done to brand 'Ford' & this isn't fixed over night. They could be the cheapest things on the market & they still wouldn't sell. The brand is damaged in Australia & needs time to repair.


Resetting the business model like they have it the best move IMO. They just need to stick with it & continue to improve every area of the business. I just wish they'd get back into V8 supercars. This could be such a "feel good" news story for Ford & create some positive media for a change. And keep the last 5-6% of loyal customers happy.

I tend to agree.

Take Cadillac for example. GM embarked on a major product revival in the early 2000's that had the company changing how the their models were presented to buyers, the styling, the suspension tuning, quality ect. Fast forward to 2016 and the Cadillac range is now highly regarded with vehicles like the ATS and CTS considered better in some ways than the BMW's and Audi's they were benchmarked against. And yet.............the sales are not meeting with expectations (except for the cash-cow Escalade) and American consumers still perceive Cadillac as a maker of sloppy, slow old mans cars.

So a 15 year product revival has netted critical acclaim but public adulation (and therefore sales) still allude them. Much like the Ford brand in Australia.

[mik]

customer loyalty is hard to get and very easily lost, with the huge diversity of car brands here ford has its work cut out for it.

[Sprintey]

We did our bit, bought RWD and AWD Aussie designed and built cars.

After cessation of Commodore in 2017, RWD passenger cars and the wagons or SUV's sprouted off them, will be more expensive. Coupe utilities will cease to exist. It is what it is.

Very interesting is the premium (mostly RWD) medium segment has gone stratospheric in yoy % sales increase, just as FWD non-premium medium cars fall down a hill. Ford are on the wrong side of this trade.

Mustang looks horn, good decision there.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by superyob

Agreed. But why are Commodore sales so much better than the Falcon???

So why are they closing in 2017??

Originally Posted by tempted

Not defending Hyundai, but Ford are just as guilty of doing this. Large amounts of demos, dealer service loan cars and company vehicles are turned over all the time then sold as used vehicles.

So perfect for the Ford buyer then.