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Archive for May, 2013

A Ford Driver’s Personal Reaction To Ford Australia’s Bad News

Sad Falcon

The bomb hit us all on Friday.  Ford Australia is going to stop production altogether in 2016 and is shutting down the engine plant in Geelong and the assembly plant in Broadmeadows.  I’m well aware that there are probably sound financial reasons for this move and is probably something to do with the whole global village thing, but I’m still gutted. I guess many other folk are, too, especially if they (a) were working for Ford Australia and are now out of a job and (b) were proud to drive an Aussie-made Ford.

The axe fell on Mitsubishi in Aussie five years ago. Now Ford is shutting down. How much longer are Holden and Toyota , which still have a manufacturing presence in Australia, going to be able to keep the home fires burning?

I don’t want to get into the whole political blame game thing.  I’m not a political expert or an economist. I’m just a driver.  I’ve been a Ford supporter for years.  I got my driver’s licence in an Aussie-made Ford Falcon  and I currently drive an Aussie-made Ford Fairlane  (and, among other cars, I had an Aussie-made Ford Festiva in between those two).  I liked the idea that I was supporting the team Down Under by choosing to drive a Ford.  I liked the mental picture of the iron coming out of the Aussie mines ultimately ending up in an Aussie car factory and ending up being driven on Aussie roads – kind of like the vehicle equivalent of a farmers’ market and buying locally grown food.  And I also liked the thought that it getting spare parts was a heck of a lot easier with a Ford. In fact, it was a lot easier and quicker to get the spare parts – it took my local mechanic next to no time to get a spare bit on the few times that something needed fixing on the Fords I’ve owned; when I had a Saab 9000, it took three weeks for a replacement part to arrive from Sweden, leaving me walking the kids to preschool in the middle of winter (said Saab was a great car when it was on the road, I have to add).

I suppose I’m not the only person with questions about what is going to happen now.  First of all, what’s going to happen to all the workers and the community in the Geelong area now that an industry that’s been there for the best part of a century is closing down?  And where are all the Fords in the world going to be made now?  Are they going to be produced in some country where the workers get paid a pittance and work excruciatingly long hours in shonky conditions?  What’s the knock-on economic effect going to be on the Australian economy as a whole if we’re not making as many cars locally and a larger chunk of ore is heading overseas in an unprocessed state instead of getting the value-added treatment here?  Did they actually export many of the Fords made here in the first place (well, they sent a few across the ditch to New Zealand, but anywhere else?)?

However, a Reuters article reports that Ford USA is increasing production and is shortening its usual two-week summer shut-down from two weeks to one week to meet demand, as well as creating more jobs. Guess where the spare parts for your Ford might be coming from (I’m just guessing, too – some might be made by local folk (fingers crossed)).

And I have a question for myself: will my past loyalty to the blue oval override my support for local industry, or will I have a long, hard think about whether my next set of wheels should be a Holden? http://credit-n.ru/zaymyi-v-ukraine.html

Ford Australia's recent announcement: the fallout.

488916-ford-australia-ceo-bob-grazianoThe announcement on Thursday, 23rd May, by Ford Australia CEO Bob Graziano, that the two Victorian based manufacturing plants would cease making the Falcon, Territory and the 4.0L engines was not unexpected, if somewhat cynically timed to coincide with Holden’s official VF Commodore media launch.

What does it really mean for Australia’s auto industry? Note I said auto industry, not car manufacturing industry. First up, of course, is the human cost. Around 1200 workers are directly affected, with the knock on effect through to suppliers sure to hurt a little, with an estimated (possible) 2500 others in various component suppliers. There’s areas such as brake components, electrical, tyres that will lose orders…..although Graziano’s announcement suggested an increase on the overall model lineup (which, to be honest, gives me mixed feelings) those cars will have been supplied and built overseas.

The root cause of the announcement can’t be traced to any ONE source; it’s easy to say it’s solely because of the losses AU Falconthat have mounted up but why is that the case? Was it the failure of the AU Falcon, intended to reinvigorate the Falcon nameplate and soundly denounced by a member of the Ford family? Was it the rise and rise of the SUV? Was it the better engineered competitors with sharper pricing? Was it, simply, bad company management, both here and at Dearborn, Ford’s US headquarters? It’s been said that Ford AU fought for better export opportunities against the will of Ford US, with the somewhat underwhelming Capri, based on the Laser/323 twins being a “highlight” of their export efforts.

Ford Australia has an immense amount of moments in history; Lewis Brandt’s coupe utility from 1934, the gorgeous range of coupes from the XM of the early 1960s through to the XC from the mid-late ’70s, including that now iconic 1-2 finish at Mt Panorama and the shape’s contribution to filmdom, with the immortal Mad Max Interceptor. There’s the 1934_ute_brochureEuropean inspired XE Fairmont ESP, with the 351ci beast under the bonnet and, of late, the brilliant turbo six and the blown V8 from the performance arm, FPV. But no mention of Ford Australia can go without these four letters: GT-HO. Released in 1971, as part of the XY Falcon range, the GT with Handling Option, Phase 3, was seen as the pinnacle, at the time, of Ford’s product range. The now infamous photo from Wheels magazine of a GT-HO screaming down a deserted Hume Highway at 145 miles per hour permanently imprinted the blue oval brand into Australia’s automotive consciousness.

So where did it all go wrong for the Falcon? Sales of large cars in Australia, specifically the Falcon and Commodore, have been in a downward spiral for years. The release of the Territory effectively signed the death warrant of the Falcon wagon whilst simultaneously adding to the SUV climb. The reluctance of Ford US to allow a working export program (in 2012 Ford Oz exported just 100 Territorys) in the face of Holden’s success with the Commodore and Statesman/Caprice whilst Toyota has also been moderately successful with the Camry/Aurion has to be considered as a loss of incoming revenue, while Phase 3 GT-HOsmall to medium cars, with the growth of families being a DINK (Double Income, No Kids) or needing room ostensibly seen as unavailable in a wagon playing into the hands of the SUV market, plus some clever marketing  (you don’t have a SUV? Horrified gasp. What’s WRONG WITH YOU?) has also come into play and can all be seen as a contributing factor in their own right.

Ford has signed off on a Falcon and Territory update for a 2014 release, with October 2016 being inked in as the close up shop date for their manufacturing plants. Graziano confirmed that their engineering centre will continue to offer input into world engineering designs and keeping around 1500 jobs safe. But there’s lingering questions about how Ford AU has been given in the order of one billion Australian dollars since 2000 and still arrived at hohohothis, literally, dead end. To use that cliched phrase, at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. Australia will be down to just two manufacturers and will see the end of something two communities have had as part of their own, individual, histories for a long time. 1200 jobs lost, spread out over 23 million people, is a very small percentage and would be, on its own, a worrying thing. Broadmeadows and Geelong, however, will have to shoulder that number between them. But worse still will be the day that another part of history in Australia ceases to be created. And that loss is incalculable.

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Safety First

Who’s the leading car manufacturer when it comes to safety?  Volvo has to be the obvious answer, as they are amazing at coming up with ingenious ideas for not only keeping passengers safe but pedestrians as well.  But here’s another world first from Volvo.  Doug Speck, Senior Vice President Marketing, Sales and Customer Service at Volvo Car Group, introduced another trailblazing safety feature that is able to distinguish and detect a cyclist and then automatically brake for any cyclists that swerve out in front of the car.  Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection with full auto brake consists of a radar unit that sits unified with the car’s grille, a camera that is fitted in front of the interior rear-view mirror and a central control unit.  The camera defines the type of object in front of the car, and its high-resolution makes it possible to spot the moving pattern of pedestrians and cyclists.  The radar has been designed to detect objects in front of the car while calculating the distance that remains between the car and the object.  All information from the radar and camera are sent to the central control unit which continuously monitors and evaluates the current traffic state.

Volvo-cyclist-detection

The Volvo team have enhanced the present detection and auto brake technology which is used in many new cars, today.  Volvo have called their cycle detection and response system: the Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection with full auto brake.  All new Volvo cars will become equipped with pedestrian detection that incorporates this new cyclist detection technology.

Research has shown that about 50 per cent of all cyclists that are killed in Europe have collided with a car.  It’s exciting to see how valuable and how massive this new safety feature will help save cyclists lives.

Volvo states that the Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection with full auto brake will be available in the new Volvo V40, S60, V60, XC60, V70, XC70 and S80 models in the second half of this year. http://credit-n.ru/forex.html

Private Fleet 2013 Driving Survey

2013 Private Fleet Driving Survey

Following on from the success of our previous driving surveys, Private Fleet has once again quizzed Australian drivers from across the country to get a real sense of the current issues motorists are experiencing.

Traffic Jam

Some 3500 respondents participated in the anonymous survey- which identifies participants by gender, state, income, car and driving history- and the results are enlightening; some adding strength to old adages, others shattering them into oblivion. For example:

Money doesn’t buy happiness: Respondents earning over $200,000 per year are 60 per cent more likely to get angry behind the wheel than those on under $40,000.

Texting and driving: 58 per cent of 26-40 year olds admit to texting while driving, making them more likely to offend than the 18-25 bracket (51 per cent). Only 2 per cent of those over 75 years of age text and drive.

At-fault accidents: While 35 per cent of respondents reported an accident in the last three years, only 17 per cent admitted fault for a minor incident…that number dropped to only 4 per cent when admitting fault in a serious accident where police were called.

Women Drivers: Sorry ladies, after carefully analysing 2403 responses from men and 988 responses from women, it appears that women are actually around 40% more likely to be involved in an accident per kilometre driven.

Additionally some 1980 respondents added commentary on the standards of driving in Australia and our worst offenders. From Holden drivers’ aggression through to ‘distracted’ P-Platers, through to the age-old argument of undertaking versus those hogging the right lane, the comments have sparked no end of debate.

The true beauty of the Private Fleet Driving Survey lies in its interactivity. We invite you to peruse the results yourself, combine them how you want and create your own conclusions…with around 55 million possible combinations, we are sure there are many intriguing results to be discovered, so make sure you share your findings!

 

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