In case you’re wondering, the blue Ford you see above is the Ford Falcon. This Australia made and designed Falcon is a full-sized sedan that’s built in Ford’s facility in Broadmeadows, Australia. It also Ford’s final car produced in the factory, signifying the end of the Blue Oval’s domestic manufacturing in Down Under.
In this unfortunate exercise, about 600 employees lost their job after the closure. However, its engineers and designers were sparred from the axe after being relocated to their R&D centre. This blue Falcon will be the last ever unit after 56 years and with over 3.5 million units sold. However, it will not be sold but be kept by Ford as a memento to remind themselves of the journey.
Its arch rival, the Holden Commodore, doesn’t fare any better. Holden, a subsidiary of General Motors, will shut its plant by end of 2017. Holden just rolled out of the last of the locally assembled Holden Cruze hatchback in Adelaide, the same day that last blue Ford Falcon left the factory. Toyota also plans to close shop (Altona plant) sometime next year.
From now on, Ford Australia will be importing cars from Thailand. The reason for the plant’s closure is evidently caused by the dwindling of sales and increasing production cost. Ford is not the only sufferer of this phenomenon.
This grim reality serves many other markets, especially our own automotive industry, as a reminder of what could potentially happen if they become complacent. Perhaps it was too late for the Blue Oval to realise that they should have sold the Falcon and Commodore beyond the borders of Down Under, eh?
