Vale Ford

[Sttew]

After 91 years in Geelong, Ford has finally ceased production in Australia ending a long history of car manufacturing in the country for the company. While we know Ford will now import vehicles and has vowed to continue R&D in this country it is the end of an era for the company, particularly in Geelong.

What do we think this will mean for the Geelong Football Club?
What will it mean for you? I've only owned one Ford and the memories were not great; it was a lemon

 

[Seeds]

How many billions would it have saved taxpayers if the decision was made 30 years ago instead of now. cant say I'm not happy it's finally going. But yeah not great for our club or the town though. Hopefully some other industries start thriving in its place and this help.

 

[Seeds]

In saying that all four cars I have owned have been fords and that's partly due to the link with the club. Ford may be a company created by a nazi sympathsizer and there cars are often lemons that die in front of your house for no reason, or get deliberately rammed by someone high on drugs cos he doesn't like fords or their upholstery completely falls apart after 6 years, or their wheels fall off for no reason whilst driving round a corner or their power shift technology freezes but they are geelong.

Boy Ive got to stop buying fords.

 

[Spazz Cat]

Sad for me. My dad worked at ford at both the factory and the proving ground.
Loved going to Ford Xmas parties and all ford days as a kid.
My mate, his brother and his dad all work there.
I know there will be ignorant people out there saying this a good thing and will save a lot of money while being ok with the Billions of dollars our governments waste year after year in unnecessary bureaucracy, dodgy grants etc, and also forgetting how vulnerable a country is that can't actually make anything.

 

[Spazz Cat]

In saying that all four cars I have owned have been fords and that's partly due to the link with the club. Ford may be a company created by a nazi sympathsizer and there cars are often lemons that die in front of your house for no reason, or get deliberately rammed by someone high on drugs cos he doesn't like fords or their upholstery completely falls apart after 6 years, or their wheels fall off for no reason whilst driving round a corner or their power shift technology freezes but they are geelong.

Boy Ive got to stop buying fords.

I've found all Ford straight six engines have been nearly bullet proof for me.
AU was the best (and also ugliest) car I ever had. Also had an XD and XF that were grouse.
Like all cars gotta do your wheel bearings so they don't fall off.
Door handles and seals, roof lining fuked up on all of them, but that's just a Ford thing.
Best thing no one wants to steal and joyride them cause there not a Commadore.

 

[LifeSpan-Void]

Yep, both my falcons have had virtually indestructible engines whether I looked after them or not. It was always a shame Ford couldn't build a car around them to save themselves, the inline 6 is a mechanical marvel.

 

[Trek]

Have only owned Falcons and bleed blue until I die. Fair to say this day feels like a mistake and most certainly one that could have been avoided. For all the flaws of the product, it's something I'll always cherish.

Amazed at the range of complaints above, worst I've had is a cracked head and the replacing the usual perishable parts.

 

[Catdog]

Ford = Blue & white

Cats = Blue & White

Something will be missing now.

 

[Jimmy Yamazaki]

The Barra strait 6 engine in the XR6 Turbo and f6 is one of the best motors Australia has ever made. Too bad it was made at the end and not earlier, there is nothing like this in the USA and they would have killed it there.

They made that shitty AU and they never recovered from it.

 

[leorex]

they say if you put the Falcon engine in the current Commodore you will end up with one of the best cars in the world

I am surprised its more expensive to build cars here than in Europe
sure Ford will stick as our sponsor it is good for them

 

[dazbroncos]

Glad to see Ford stick with the club.

Sad to see the manufacturing part of the company die not only in Geelong but the industry as a whole. Being outside the country and then returning home sporadically, the sense of entitlement in the population seems to be running at an all time high - but the willingness to do much to get it seems disproportionate.

I know that in the US manufacturers and unions here had to conceed on many fronts to get production back in the US again.

Im not sure if the same happened there or not.

Regardless, the people displaced from employment as a result of Tariff, trade and political BS have my empathy and best wishes for the future.

Go Catters

 

[Seeds]

I've found all Ford straight six engines have been nearly bullet proof for me.
AU was the best (and also ugliest) car I ever had. Also had an XD and XF that were grouse.
Like all cars gotta do your wheel bearings so they don't fall off.
Door handles and seals, roof lining fuked up on all of them, but that's just a Ford thing.
Best thing no one wants to steal and joyride them cause there not a Commadore.

My luck with fords might have something more to do with buying fords from dodgy second hand car dealers and not inspecting them properly myself than the cars themselves.

 

[Seeds]

Glad to see Ford stick with the club.

Sad to see the manufacturing part of the company die not only in Geelong but the industry as a whole. Being outside the country and then returning home sporadically, the sense of entitlement in the population seems to be running at an all time high - but the willingness to do much to get it seems disproportionate.

I know that in the US manufacturers and unions here had to conceed on many fronts to get production back in the US again.

Im not sure if the same happened there or not.

Regardless, the people displaced from employment as a result of Tariff, trade and political BS have my empathy and best wishes for the future.

Go Catters

Tax payers were estimated to be paying over 40,000 dollars to every single car worker because that's how uncompetitive the industry was. That cost people their standard of living and forced closures of other tradeable good industries who had no government support because they had to deal with inflated exchange rates due to the car protection. And removing tariffs is not bs. It makes everyone better off in the long win. It's non zero sum gain for all of society.

 

[Turbocat]

Can we move this of the main board its a political discussion .. not rel to footy....
dazbroncos catempire

 

[The Unforgiven]

The Barra strait 6 engine in the XR6 Turbo and f6 is one of the best motors Australia has ever made. Too bad it was made at the end and not earlier, there is nothing like this in the USA and they would have killed it there.

They made that shitty AU and they never recovered from it.

The AU was very reliable. Ford got a bad rep because of mainly the way it looked, but it had no bearing on the decision to close the factory. Otherwise I agree, the Turbo motors are bloody brilliant.

 

[The Unforgiven]

Tax payers were estimated to be paying over 40,000 dollars to every single car worker because that's how uncompetitive the industry was. That cost people their standard of living and forced closures of other tradeable good industries who had no government support because they had to deal with inflated exchange rates due to the car protection. And removing tariffs is not bs. It makes everyone better off in the long win. It's non zero sum gain for all of society.

The decision to close the factory and in general, the decline of Australian vehicle manufacturers is a crying shame. Obviously there was no other choice in the end, but perhaps just let people have it out here for a bit, to reminisce about the good times themselves and their families had working/owning a Ford.

There may be Ford workers here, amongst us now, who have been told many times that their job and industry was untenable. Yesterday may have been their last day at work, with some perhaps not even having a new job to go to. The sanctimonious finger-pointings are perhaps unnecessary at this moment in time.

 

[Spazz Cat]

The AU was very reliable. Ford got a bad rep because of mainly the way it looked, but it had no bearing on the decision to close the factory. Otherwise I agree, the Turbo motors are bloody brilliant.

Yeah very reliable. Heard of taxis doing over a million Ks without being opened up.
Unfortunately they were so goddamn ugly that when they went to export them to the US no one would buy them.
Yeah turbo 6's have been unreal since the BA.

 

[The Unforgiven]

Yeah very reliable. Heard of taxis doing over a million Ks without being opened up.
Unfortunately they were so goddamn ugly that when they went to export them to the US no one would buy them.
Yeah turbo 6's have been unreal since the BA.

When the Yanks exported that hideous looking Taurus in the late 90s, we in Australia thought we could out do them on the ugly stakes. I think we almost nailed it.

 

[Jimmy Yamazaki]

The AU was very reliable. Ford got a bad rep because of mainly the way it looked, but it had no bearing on the decision to close the factory. Otherwise I agree, the Turbo motors are bloody brilliant.

Yup was so ugly, especially the xr6/xr8 not sure what ford where thinking.

 

[Spazz Cat]

Tax payers were estimated to be paying over 40,000 dollars to every single car worker because that's how uncompetitive the industry was. That cost people their standard of living and forced closures of other tradeable good industries who had no government support because they had to deal with inflated exchange rates due to the car protection. And removing tariffs is not bs. It makes everyone better off in the long win. It's non zero sum gain for all of society.

Valid points. I don't wanna get to deep but not sure how much of a gain it is removing tariffs and relying on Asia to make everything for us.
Germany kept tariffs and their standard of living is quite high.
Would be different if the government encouraged setting up higher skilled manufacturing that would be competitive with our wage demands but they don't at all. They almost discourage it.
Most of our good ideas go overseas.
Once our minerals aren't as valuable we will be a country that exports and makes nothing, imports everything, and after also selling off our best agricultural land we will have to basically import our own food that is grown here.
Our short sightedness will cost us in the long run.

 

[The Unforgiven]

Yup was so ugly, especially the xr6/xr8 not sure what ford where thinking.

Personally I quite liked the look of the AU Falcon. The XR range especially. I know I was in the minority there.

 

[InnocentBystandr]

While I understand the economic reality of removing the subsidy of the local manufacturing industry, I get annoyed by inconsistencies and inequities.
Point 1, sure - don't subsidise inefficient industries (Ford, Holden, Toyota); so why subsidise a ship building industry in SA to save a couple of federal seats?
Point 2, FTAs a great - but why do Thai built vehicles attract no tariff in Australia, but Australian built Rangers and Territorys attract 100% tariffs in Thailand?
Point 3, Australian labour is expensive, but that's because we expect a decent standard of living and work/life balance for our workers. Add OH&S and other policies (E&D etc) which are community expectations, and that impacts the cost of labour. Slavery is a lot cheaper, but we don't accept that here (and that's a good thing!)
Point 4, Countries are setting up tax-free areas to encourage manufacturing (South Africa, Mexico among others) where the parent company pays little or no tax, but the country benefits because the local employees pay local tax. Australia has a policy no to do this.

So, my concern is where do all those that used to work in the manufacturing industry no find gainful employment. Sure Ford is maintaining it's R&D and its Design and Testing capability, but how many factory workers will be re-trained as engineers and designers? This is not just an Australian problem, but is mirrored in the UK, US, Germany, Japan where the intellectual work is healthy, but the 'black-hand' work is exported to China, SE Asia, India and South and central America.

Off the soap-box now, and looking forward to the draft.

 

[JD Tomahawk]

I got slammed for this awhile back but I want to see a new sponsor on our guernseys. Ford obviously been a huge part of the cattery but I'm dirty on them. They've screwed many Geelong people and cat supporters by closing including a family's member of mine who was their for a long time and was very proud to be a working class ford employee. Maybe there is another Geelong based company who bleeds blue and white that we can team up with.

Edit: I just think it's time for us to move on and build a working relationship with people who want to be a part of Geelong still

Edit edit: We're not like Melbourne and that's a good thing, not everything should be business.

 

[Boxhead_31]

Glad to see Ford stick with the club.

Sad to see the manufacturing part of the company die not only in Geelong but the industry as a whole. Being outside the country and then returning home sporadically, the sense of entitlement in the population seems to be running at an all time high - but the willingness to do much to get it seems disproportionate.

I know that in the US manufacturers and unions here had to conceed on many fronts to get production back in the US again.

Im not sure if the same happened there or not.

Regardless, the people displaced from employment as a result of Tariff, trade and political BS have my empathy and best wishes for the future.

Go Catters

Have seen first hand the entitlement that is in the workforce.

A local major employer had been performing poorly due to outside economic forces and went to the workforce and asked them to take a 10% pay cut to keep them going. The workforce voted no, so the company gave them a 100% pay reduction when they closed. I asked a few of the former employees why they didn't vote to take the reduction and to a person, they said "why should we give something up to help them"

 

[Spazz Cat]

Have seen first hand the entitlement that is in the workforce.

A local major employer had been performing poorly due to outside economic forces and went to the workforce and asked them to take a 10% pay cut to keep them going. The workforce voted no, so the company gave them a 100% pay reduction when they closed. I asked a few of the former employees why they didn't vote to take the reduction and to a person, they said "why should we give something up to help them"

Was the CEO, management etc also taking a 10% pay cut?
One place where I worked said the couldn't give us a promised pay rise or they'd go broke.
What the CEO did was give management and favourite girls from the office extra job titles to justify their pay rise and bonuses.
We all decided to leave then all of a sudden got our pay rises and it turned out the business was quite viable all along.
It's easy to say people should take a paycut. I know if I had to take a 10% cut I'd need to leave and find another job.