another 440 jobs to go at Ford

[Jason[98.EL]]

http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories...id=772582&vId=

another link to geelong addy

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/...8011_news.html

just heard on sky news ford are currently in talks with the union and workers about cutting 440 jobs split between the Geelong and broady plants

they are saying that it will be a 50/50 split

hope all our mates here on aff are not in the firing line

[Polyal]

Things will progressively get worse before they turn around. Good luck to those involved. If they are tradies then I would be hitting up mining hire companies pronto.

There is good and bad on the horizon, the sad fact is that all industries dont stay the same forever. I just hope those effected get the support they need.

[Brazen]

Depressing news, good luck to all those affected.

[turbodewd]

Personally, Im convinced Ford could have done an ad campaign for the EcoLPI.

Cheaper to fill than a Mazda, more powerful, just as 'green'.

Feel the Difference?

I feel indifference from Ford AU marketing department!

[Pepscobra]

just heard this on the radio news.
Not good at all; best wishes to the people/families affected.
Unfortunately sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better.

[CAMS290]

Sign of the times, not just the automotive industry.

[Murph-51]

My thoughts and best wishes to all those affected, the country slowly but surely continues to slide.......
Think the unemployment rate will hit 5.7% quicker than what they estimate

[Resurrection]

At the rate they are going, the Falcon will be lucky to survive until 2016 when the run of the FG is planned to end.

[SpoolMan]

There hoping voluntary redundancies will take up most of those numbers, in the past they haven't had to much trouble with voluntary taking the offer first.

[Jason[98.EL]]

another artical this one confirms the job cuts

http://www.bayfm.com.au/index.php/ne...bs-get-the-axe

my thoughts go out to all involved

[Shonky.]

Originally Posted by SpoolMan

There hoping voluntary redundancies will take up most of those numbers, in the past they haven't had to much trouble with voluntary taking the offer first.

would be a good outcome


best of luck to all those screwing together our favourite car, love your work!

[Gobes32]

It's a sign of the economy I guess. Seems like so long ago since there was a good news announcement.

[fordposter]

Anther article about the job cuts:
http://www.caradvice.com.au/182102/f...cuts-440-jobs/

Scaling back on vehicle production by 30% - what a massive cut! Thats 209 vehicles a day to 148!

[WPR1]

Sack the advertising department - they are useless!!!

Ford have the best range of cars they have ever had they need to tell people about it. Look at the great Jeep ads and their sales have increased 137%!!!!!!

Come on Ford advertising!

[BroadyFord]

Ah! The annual mass-sacking and "rebalancing" - usually occurs around about this time of year.

Ford must be down to less than 1000 manufacturing staff after this, correct me if I'm wrong?

That's 1,480 jobs gone since 2008 on my calculations.

[RASER]

Originally Posted by Brazen

Depressing news, good luck to all those affected.

Indeed.

Sorry for the older workers, they have almost zero chance to find work out north.

They will never recover from this, the name is now totally bashed, bit like the Magna/380 job, [mind u Mitsubishi have done real well with just importing, as did Nissan before them] the Asians have flooded the market with perhaps better suited and much cheaper vehicles, THE MARKET HAS SPOKEN.

FoA, just pull the pin now, your flogging a more than dead horse, less than 150 cars a day cannot and will not work, billions outlay for this tiny return is insane.

This is just the slow build up to shutting down totally, they know it, we know it.

The ONLY save i see is slash the price by a massive amount, to say $29,999 driveaway [or less], $40k is laalaa land for the average punter.

So now we will have a 2 horse race, BigT[tm.F/O] v The General slogging it out, i think the lion brand will blink first, Toyota for the win.

And then...car manufacture in Australia....TheEnd!

[RASER]

Originally Posted by WPR1

Sack the advertising department - they are useless!!!

Look at the great Jeep ads and their sales have increased 137%!!!!!!

One word

SUV's

F150.F150.F150.F150.F150.F150.F150.F150.F150....

[BroadyFord]

^^ Yep 148 cars per day is just woeful.

Ford manufacturing in Australia is DEAD! NOTHING can sugarcoat this which ever way you look at it.

[Cobramad]

FoA will survive, as an importer of vehicles, unfortunately..
Its a damn shame as they are building their best local vehicles ever.

[Quicksand]

The writing is on the wall. Things have to get worse before they get better? The only thing worse at this stage is shutting down local production, which likely isn't far away. Surely the most diehard Holden fan is starting to get shaken by this. Lets see how hard Holden push without their main rival driving them.

Buy up these Falcon's people and enjoy them while you can. Very sad indeed, sorry to the workers out there impacted by this.

[RASER]

Originally Posted by Cobramad

FoA will survive, as an importer of vehicles, unfortunately..
Its a damn shame as they are building their best local vehicles ever.

+1

Of course they will, FoA will always be here, now i see NOTHING standing in the way of importing the F150! US$23K! in USA

[Jason[98.EL]]

bay fm have got a copy of the e-mail sent to employees this morning

Originally Posted by Bay-FM

Ford’s decision to shed 440 jobs from it’s Geelong and Melbourne plants was announced in an email to its staff this morning. Here is the full text of that email:

Employee Communication

July 17 2012

Team,

This morning we are sharing with you the difficult, but necessary decision to reduce our production and employee numbers to allow us to more closely align production with current market demand.

Production will change from 209 vehicles per day to 148 vehicles per day in November this year, in a direct response to changing customer preferences, which continue to drive an industry-wide decline in the sale of large vehicles. It is important to understand that this is not a Falcon or a Ford problem – sales across the large car segment are down 25% compared to the same time last year, which is the continuation of a decade-long decline.

As a result of the reduced production, we will be offering up to 440 redundancies across the business. While the employee reductions will primarily be from manufacturing, there will also be efficiencies across other areas of the company as well. Redundancies will be offered on a voluntary basis first but, if we don’t reach the required numbers, a compulsory redundancy program may follow.

We understand that, unfortunately, the impact on our entire team will be significant, however implementing this structural change is essential to ensure the health of our business long-term, which is important for our employees, our suppliers and the communities in which we operate.

All employees who take up the redundancy will receive a competitive redundancy package, including training and career counselling. We will work closely with them and our union partners to help our employees make the transition successfully. We trust you will treat your fellow colleagues with dignity and respect as we move throughout this process.

Although the total number of vehicles will decrease, we will continue to manufacture a more profitable mix of vehicles in order to maximise returns in each segment. One key element of the production changes is to increase Territory’s share of production to almost 50 per cent of total daily vehicles. This will allow the company to capitalise on its continued popularity and increasing SUV sales.

We are also moving ahead with our recently announced plans to invest a further $103 million across our Falcon and Territory vehicle lines, which will come to market in 2014, and remain committed to the Ford brand and continuing to produce vehicles in Australia.

You may well question how this announcement conflicts with our recent communication about improved vehicle sales during June. The reality is that, despite achieving our highest Falcon sales in eight months, sales are still down on prior years. In recent months, we have been balancing our production levels with market demand by implementing a number of down days each month. We have, in fact, also announced a further four down days in August as we move towards this structural change. This is not an efficient manner in which to run our business and it creates uncertainty for our own team and our suppliers.

We are sharing this news today with our union partners, Government contacts and the media. A copy of the media release is attached below for your information. We expect it will generate significant media attention over the next 24-48 hours and we appreciate that this will add to the affect this announcement will have on you. We ask that, as much as possible, you remain focused on helping us to continue to build our brand as we move through this process. If you have any questions or concerns, please speak to your manager or HR representative.

Thank you for all you continue to do for our business even during tough times like this.

Bob

[Polyal]

I find it disappointing the people feel it necessary to forward internal stuff publicly.

[Jason[98.EL]]

Originally Posted by Polyal

I find it disappointing the people feel it necessary to forward internal stuff publicly.

Ford released the e-mail to the media at the 11am media release

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by BroadyFord

^^ Yep 148 cars per day is just woeful.

Ford manufacturing in Australia is DEAD! NOTHING can sugarcoat this which ever way you look at it.

You must be overjoyed with this news eh? Because the only time you surface on this forum is for topics of this nature with the same sort of posts.

[Joe5619]

Originally Posted by BroadyFord

^^ Yep 148 cars per day is just woeful.

Ford manufacturing in Australia is DEAD! NOTHING can sugarcoat this which ever way you look at it.

That is just a silly comment. With all the down days, 148-ish (on average over 5 days) is what Ford has been building for over 6-12 months. The number of cars ACTUALLY being built wont change in November. The remaining workers will go back to 5 days per week, each & every month. With one very good change, more territories will come out the factory & sell Falcons will come out the factory. This is a good thing if you ask me!! It will mean, less discounting on Falcons as they wont have to move as many & profits on Territories is better than Falcon too..

[SpoolMan]

Can we keep the posts about the thread topic (job losses) there is no need to branch this thread into running commentary on things that are not related, use PM for that.
Posts well be deleted.

[Fiesta_Man69]

Unfortunately you can't post a record loss without job cuts. I agree with others: almost zero advertising for the ecoboost and lpi - the buying public (outside Ford fans) doesn't know these cars exist. And I agree: Ford Aus will be import only soon, especially with Commodore sales drying up the government will pull alot if not all of it's subsidies that are keeping the Falcon/Commodore afloat (or on life support)....

It's a shame that it's the innocent workers taking the brunt of this and not incompetent management.

[dimka100]

So 148 cars a day x 20 working days a month (on average) x 12 months is about 35.5K cars a year. So that means that Ford must be projecting to sell:

Falcon Sedan - 12,000 cars (1000 monthly average)
Falcon Ute - 6,000 cars (500 monthly average)
Territory - 17,500 cars (1450 monthly average)

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by Fiesta_Man69

Unfortunately you can't post a record loss without job cuts. I agree with others: almost zero advertising for the ecoboost and lpi - the buying public (outside Ford fans) doesn't know these cars exist. And I agree: Ford Aus will be import only soon, especially with Commodore sales drying up the government will pull alot if not all of it's subsidies that are keeping the Falcon/Commodore afloat (or on life support)....

It's a shame that it's the innocent workers taking the brunt of this and not incompetent management.

While I can undertand your thoughts this isn't just a Falcon only issue it's a large car segment problem. I'm led to believe that even if Ford trippled it's marketing just on Falcon it would not triple let alone double sales, or even create a 50% increase. The belief is that Australians don't want to buy large car sedans as much as any other segment, proof being the 25% decline this year for the large car segment. It might not be good news for Falcon and it's horrible news for the workers however I don't think Australian production is doomed just yet as the commitment to 2016 has been repeated again today. And whatever you think of management, they are looking at continued production here first, whatever vehicle that may be and then come the other options. If a new vehicle type is built here after 2016 hiring new workers won't be too hard, just hopefully it happens.

One point, if today Campbellfield ran at maximum plant production it would build more Falcons then the Australian market is buying of Commodores, Aurions/Camry's, Accords, Maximas, and any other large car combined. This is the real problem and sadly Ford marketing has no chance of reversing this because Holden and Toyota are not increasing their large car sales either.