A substantial car industry was created in Australia in the 20th century through the opening of Australian plants by international manufacturers. The first major carmaker was Ford Australia and the first Australian-designed mass production car was manufactured by Holden in 1948. Australian manufacture of cars rose to a maximum of almost half a million in the 1970s (10th place in the World) and still exceeded 400,000 in 2004.[1] Australia was best known for the design and production of ‘large’ sized passenger vehicles.[2] By 2009 total production had fallen to around 175,000 and the Australian market was dominated by cars imported from Asia and Europe.
As of 2015, Australian-designed cars were manufactured by General Motorssubsidiary Holden, and Ford Australia, while Toyota Australia manufactured local variants of its international models, particularly the Camry. However, the Ford Australia engine and vehicle plants closed in October 2016 and the Holden and Toyota Australia factories closed in late 2017. These combined closures lest 40,000 workers jobless. Here is a link to an article about the employees and their transition to other jobs. https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/life/culture/article/2017/11/17/life-after-automotive-industry
Here is a timeline of Ford in Australia from www.abc.net.au
The last Australian-built Ford has rolled off the production line, bringing an end a decades-long history of car manufacturing in the country for the company.
About 600 workers have lost their jobs, in Broadmeadows and Geelong, two years after Ford first announced that its days in Australia were numbered.
Take a look back on Ford’s history in Australia.
First Ford sold in America
July 23, 1903
The Ford Model A, the original car produced by the company, was sold for the first time in the US in 1903.
It did not take long for the cars to make their way to Australia, with the first one imported the next year from Canada, to avoid non-Empire import taxes.
Ford unveils Model T
October 1, 1908
The first Model T was introduced in the United States in 1908.
Tarrant Motor and Engineering Co in Melbourne signed up to be the first of many agents selling the car in Australia the next year and by 1914 it had become the most popular selling car in Australia, with 1,142 sold.
In 1919, a Model T was used in a journey from Longreach to Darwin, to look for landing fields for the Great London to Australia air race, the mission led to the formation of QANTAS.
Australian ban on imports
August 10, 1917
In 1917, the Commonwealth banned the importation of luxury items, including car bodies, which meant they had to be built in Australia.
“In part the government said this prohibition would keep currency from being sent overseas during the war, and would free up space on cargo ships that was being wasted on bulky and unnecessary imports.
“But most of all [prime minister Billy] Hughes wanted to encourage Australia’s existing horse-drawn carriage manufacturers (and their 7,000 or so employees) to make car bodies instead.”
Ford Motor Company of Australia founded
March 31, 1925
The Ford Motor Company of Australia was formed, as a subsidiary of Ford in Canada, which had controlled imports into the country since 1905.
Geelong was announced as the location of the company’s headquarters as well as for its first manufacturing and production plant.
Assembly of the Model T began in a converted wool house in Geelong three months later in July, while a factory was built in Corio Bay.
By December the same year, the company was employing 820 workers.
In 1926, the company opened assembly plants in Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney and in 1930, another plant was opened in Fremantle.
Ford’s first Australian-designed ute sold
February 24, 1934
Australia’s first Ford ute, the Model 40, was designed by a 22-year-old South Australian-born designer named Lew Bandt, after Ford received a letter from a farmer’s wife in Gippsland, according to the National Motor Museum in South Australia.
“Why don’t you build people like us a vehicle to go to church in on Sunday, and which can carry our pigs to market on Monday?” the farmer asked.
The ute was released during the Great Depression, when banks were willing to provide loans to farmers for work vehicles only.
“Only 345 vehicles were produced in 1934 and were sold for 295 pounds,” according the the National Motor Museum.
“Demand soon increased and other marques quickly followed with the release of their own models.
“The use of Ford’s newly released side valve V8 engine struck a chord with Australia’s farming community and helped popularise the V8 into Australian culture.”
The Model 40 was the first of a number of V8s released by Ford in the 1930s, including the Model 48 and 78.
World War II effort, post-war expansion
September 3, 1939
In September 1939, then prime minister Robert Menzies announced Australia’s involvement in World War II.
For the duration of the war, Ford production facilities were converted for the war effort.
By 1940-41, the manufacturing sector made up for 25 per cent of employment, overtaking the rural sector, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Holden dominates the market
November 28, 1948
The transition to peace time manufacturing boomed after the war, as import restrictions from wartime remained in place, however Holden dominated over Ford.
On November 28, 1948, the first Holden — adapted from an American design, but almost entirely built in Australia — was launched in Adelaide.
In the late 1950s, after years of struggling to compete with Holden, Ford decided to adapt the US-designed Falcon.
In 1958 Ford announced a $37 million expansion, and work started on the Broadmeadows Car Assembly Plant, which opened in 1959.
A year later, in 1960, the first Falcon was produced here, marking a new era for Ford.
Ford Australia’s storage yard in Geelong in 1951. (State Library of Victoria: Wolfgang Sievers)
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Two employees constructing Fords in Geelong in 1951. (State Library of Victoria: Wolfgang Sievers)
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By 1962, the 100,000 Falcon was produced, and in 1966, the XR Falcon was named Wheels Car of the Year.
The same year, a $31 million expansion plan was announced by the company and capacity almost doubled from 50,000 to 90,000 units per year.
At the same time, assembly operations ceased in Fremantle, and the plant was used for rectifications only.
In 1963, a further $27 million expansion plan announced and the Ford Sales Company of Australia Limited was established.
XY Falcon released
October 1, 1970
In October 1970, the highly regarded XY Falcon was released.
The Falcon XY GTHO Phase 3 muscle car was thought to be the world’s fastest four-door production car at the time.
A year after it was released, Canadian Allan Moffat won his second consecutive Bathurst 500 in the popular car.
First Australian Falcon introduced
March 2, 1972
The Ford XA was the third generation of Falcon and while not the most popular, but it was the first to be designed and built in Australia.
Photo Essay: The Australian Falcon
The Falcon’s popularity only grew as they continued to do well on race track.
In October 1977, Moffat won his fourth race at Mount Panorama (now the Bathurst 1000) in an XC Falcon, with Colin Bond making it a 1-2 finish for Ford.
It led to the limited edition Falcon Cobra.
Falcons sales started catching up with Holden’s market domination and in 1982, the XE Falcon became Australia’s best-selling car with more than 84,000 units sold.
Falcon held the title through much of the 1980s.
In 1993, the Falcon was the top-selling vehicle in Australia — Ford was the number one in passenger car sales, and number two overall.
Ford’s Homebush factory closes
September 2, 1994
In 1994, New South Wales’ final car manufacturing plant, Ford’s Homebush factory was closed, and production of the locally made Ford Capri ceased.
Five years later, the company released the unpopular AU Falcon and the Brisbane assembly plant was closed.
Ford announces Geelong closure, cancels decision
July 18, 2007
In 2007, Ford announced it would close the Geelong engine plant in 2010.
Within 18 months those plans had been cancelled with a $21 million upgrade to the plant so the engines it produced would meet European standards.
The company invested in huge facility upgrades at Proving Ground and a research and development centre was opened in Geelong.
Ford announces end of Australian production
May 23, 2013
Ford Australia announced it would close its Australian manufacturing plants in October 2016, with the loss of hundreds of jobs.
Ford president Bob Graziano said approximately 1,200 workers would lose their jobs when the Broadmeadows and Geelong plants were shut down.
He made the announcement in Melbourne, after announcing that the company had lost $141 million over the past financial year — taking losses over the past five years to more than $600 million.
Automotive industry specialists said the decision would have significant ramifications for the wider manufacturing industry.
Support for sacked workers
June 1, 2013
Then prime minister Julia Gillard visited Geelong to announce a $16 million funding boost for sacked Ford workers, bringing the support for workers up to $66 million.
Ms Gillard visited the coal face of Australia’s collapsing car manufacturing industry to tell sacked Ford workers the boost would be injected into their assistance package, for things such as retraining.
The Victorian Government received $11 million of funding.
“I know that whilst you’re waking up in the middle of the night worrying about the future, there’s only so much that I can say or do now that will make a difference to that,” Ms Gillard said.
“I know there’s a lot of pressure on people’s shoulders, but there are some things we can do.
“I want you to feel a sense of support from your government, your community, your nation, at this time. And that’s why I’m here today.”
Job cuts brought forward in Geelong, Broadmeadows
February 7, 2014
Ford announced that 300 jobs would be cut at its manufacturing plants at Geelong and Broadmeadows in June 2014 — more than two years earlier than previously planned — because of falling demand.
AMWU spokesman Dave Smith said the cuts were not totally unexpected given the falling sales figures.
Then prime minister Tony Abbott said any job losses were deeply regrettable, but the important thing was to promote policies which would boost economic strength.
Ford Australia almost doubles losses in a year
May 13, 2014
Ford Australia revealed it made a full-year after-tax loss of $267 million in the 2013 financial year, much worse than the $141 million loss it reported for the previous financial year.
The result was dragged down by a one-off write-down of the company’s manufacturing assets and took the losses at the company to more than $800 million over six years.
Ford Australia ceases production
October 7, 2016
In October 2016, Ford became the first of Australia’s big three car makers to switch off the factory lights, after the demise of the local industry was announced in 2013.
The final vehicle, a blue XR6 Ford Falcon, rolled off the assembly line around lunchtime at a private event at Broadmeadows.
Of the 1,200 redundancies announced in 2013, about half have already left the company or have transitioned into product development and customer service departments.
Ford confirmed about 600 manufacturing workers lost their jobs with the end of production, while another 120 would stay on temporarily for the plant decommissioning process.
