Holdens had enough...

[ozpont]

.. seems it was the script written a few years back as one Holden by Design staffers told us how much farmout work was going to certain Asian countries...just to keep the doors open at Fishermans Bend.... how the GTO/Pontiac contribution began to fail with the GFC... continued wage demands.. continued decrease in market share as imports were dumped on our shores with the A$ being its best ever... . this is NO place for a vehicle manufacturer.. Not when Carbon tax.. a decreased economic outlook was looming.. a then Feral Federal Government that just wanted to cling to power no matter what is cost.. .. and no change of government.. even the worlds best financial experts. (that we cant afford to employ) could and will not make things as good as 2000-2007 again for god knows how long...
The cheap cars we have today are primarily good enough for most folk.. and those out there with well established jobs and higher incomes could buy from a HUGE variety of better luxury cars.. including currently..... a great Australian Ford Falcon and the best ever Commodore. with its current Chevrolet SS export deal going OK..... but those buyers & opportunities are getting too thin on the ground to support our industries costs.


Compared to the costs of the nation.. that we import MORE vehicles from then anywhere.. our costs are almost double.. our labor costs around 50 times..   NO that is NOT China...
     Thailand is that nation.. emerging in the last decade..to become the "Detroit of Asia".... as a centrally located perfect economy to implant global production facilities .. GM and Toyota  are there big time.. as is Ford, along with BMW, Chrysler, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Toyota, Isuzu, Honda and Nissan all have an established presence in that country.
      Australia signed off on a Free Trade Agreement for the benefit of Automotive components.. that had its effects fully realized about 2 years back.       Can anybody here compete with $1 to $1.20c PER HOUR... wages....which is the typical hourly rate for a SKILLED Thailand auto worker... Why would any company continue to employ or set up base in Australia without assistance.. Thailand's Government gives it......      And.. why.. would any Government.. not realize whats happening.. Why would they continue with industry killing stuff like Carbon Tax.. just to name ONE stupid move...!


        On the other hand.. Elizabeth.. the western Adelaide city.... already a city with massively high record youth unemployment & its social problems.. will struggle to maintain its values.. much like Wollongong has with the minerals downturn of late... and Newcastle did in when BHP moved out... Various areas effected by the closures already in Victoria have not seen or expect.. any light..
       And politically.. we will now get a bucket load of commentators yelling its fine as "Australians don't want whats being made so its Holdens Fault"...& "you can' prop up private industry with tax payers money " (ie then why did the government spend BILLIONS on the carbon tax sprooking & rebates etc..) - those sprooking it will be mostly paid by the public pulse armchair experts.... will now get what they want indirectlly.. NO LOCAL production.. No local trained engineering generations coming though......so they can import it all and .. hope.. somebody out there will keep working to pay enough tax to pay for the wages of those who don't or increasingly now.. can't...

[ozpont]

.. there is a pattern to all this .. isn't there..!!!.....and it does not involve existing Australian facilities .... which goes to show how BAD.. our labor and industry costs must internationally truly are...... when a company can build up from scratch new plants.. retool.. in other parts of the world.....  WAKE UP AUSTRALIA..  Even Kelloggs announced its plant closure in Australia last week to move it to Thailand.. along with 900 Canadian Jobs..

again.. in the end.. this has to have some type of "full circle effect"..   .


[size=18]Ford plans to add thousands of jobs, 3 plants and 23 vehicles[/color=red][/size=18]

Dave Guilford TwitterRSS feed
Automotive News | December 12, 2013 - 3:00 pm EST
 

DETROIT -- A confident Ford Motor Co. said today that it plans to add 5,000 U.S. jobs in 2014, open two plants in Asia Pacific and one in South America, and launch 23 vehicles globally.

“Next year, we are embarking on our most ambitious global launch year ever to meet customer demand for our products around the world,” Raj Nair, group vice president for Ford global product development, said in a statement.

Ford plans 16 launches in North America. They include the Ford Mustang, Ford Transit Connect, Ford Transit and Lincoln MKC.

“We saw unprecedented growth in the United States this year, especially in the midsize and utility segments,” Joe Hinrichs, Ford president of the Americas, said in the statement. “With the addition of 16 new products to our showroom, including Ford Mustang, our momentum continues.”

Hinrichs said Ford has learned from the problems it had with launches this year. It has taken steps including adding launch engineers at Ford factories to help suppliers gear up.

“We’re focusing a lot of energy getting ready for these launches,” he said.

Kansas City expansion

Production of the all-new Transit will begin in the second quarter of 2014 at Ford’s newly retooled Kansas City Assembly Plant. Ford is investing $1.1 billion to retool and expand the facility.

Ford will add more than 2,000 jobs at the Kansas City plant -- more than 1,000 of them new hires -- to support high demand for Ford F-150 plus production of the Transit family of commercial vehicles starting next summer, the company said.

Dave Schoch, president of Ford Asia Pacific, said new capacity in that region will allow Ford to “take another significant step in the implementation of our Asia Pacific growth plan.”

To support its new products, Ford will open three plants -- two in Asia Pacific and one in South America.

Next year, Ford plans to open the Changan Ford Assembly Plant No. 3 and Changan Transmission Plant in Chongqing, China, as well as the Camacari Engine Plant in Brazil. The Chongqing assembly plant will increase the company’s production capacity in China by 300,000 units next year.

“This is the fastest and most aggressive manufacturing expansion the company has undergone in 50 years,” said John Fleming, executive vice president of Ford global manufacturing. “The last time Ford was growing like this, Dwight D. Eisenhower was the U.S. president.”

Global expansion

To fuel this growth, Ford plans to hire more than 6,000 employees in Asia next year, the vast majority of them hourly employees. In the United States, Ford expects to create more than 5,000 jobs, including 3,300 salaried positions, the largest hiring initiative since 2000. In the past two years, the company has created more than 14,000 jobs in North America.

More than 80 percent of the new salaried jobs will be technical professionals who work in product development, manufacturing, quality and IT, a company statement said.

Ford also will offer two additional EcoBoost engines next year -- a new 2.3-liter engine and another for which Ford did not release details. Also, Ford’s 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine offered in the Ford Fiesta goes on sale in North America for the first time.

[69DirtyRat]

Interesting read!