Ford brought the shutters down on its Broadmeadows vehicle plant in Australia’s Victoria state after the last Falcon left the assembly line on Friday (7 October).
The plant was built in 1925 to build the legendary Model T – the company’s first mass production car.
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Ford also closed its nearby Geelong engine plant, resulting in the direct loss of around 1,200 jobs across both facilities. Many more will be lost in the component supply chain.
Ford announced its decision to end vehicle production in Australia in 2013. The move reflected rising competition from lower cost production centres in Asia [such as the assembly plants in Thailand which have supplied smaller Ford models to this region for years – ed] as well as the company’s struggle to find a market for the full-size Falcon sedan as demand shifted towards smaller sedans and recreational vehicles such as SUVs.
Australia’s last two large volume vehicle manufacturers, Toyota and GM, plan to close their assembly plants in 2017. Mitsubishi ended vehicle production there in 2008.
Ford will remain an importer and distributor in Australia and will retain its R&D centre which will support other vehicle manufacturing operations within its global network.
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