Ford Readies Layoff Plan for Australia Plant, Launches Performance Models
Job cuts are needed because not enough workers have opted for a voluntary redundancy plan offered as the automaker moves toward ending manufacturing in 2016.
The slow death of the Australian auto-manufacturing industry continues next week with Ford set to lay off up to 250 workers.
The job losses will be imposed on workers because a voluntary-redundancy program failed to attract sufficient numbers, The Age newspaper in Melbourne reports
Ford plans to cut 300 workers – a third of its workforce in the state of Victoria – in order to match production with falling demand. Only 50 workers opted for the voluntary-redundancy package.
A survey late last year by the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union found 96% of employees wanted to stay with Ford until it ends local production in 2016.
The layoffs come as the automaker has seen falling demand for its locally produced vehicles. Deliveries of the Ford Falcon, Falcon Ute and Territory slid from 54,087 units in 2009 to 29,550 last year.
The AMWU tells the newspaper Ford workers will learn early next week whether they are affected by the forced exits, set to be phased in between June and December.
A Ford Australia spokesman says the automaker is doing everything it can to assist the workers.
“Out of respect to the workers, we have nothing more to say about these redundancies announced in February,” he tells The Age.
The spokesman says he doesn’t expect further job losses beyond the 300 already announced, as Ford is expecting a sharp jump in sales with the release of the updated Falcon and Territory variants in November.
Meantime, Ford officially launches its final-ever Ford Performance Vehicle models, the limited-edition FPV GT F sedan and Pursuit Ute.
The most powerful GT sedan ever produced by Ford Australia, the FPV GT F is powered by a 470-hp supercharged 5.0L V8 engine. The GT F’s output was specifically chosen as a reference to the iconic 351 cu.-in. (5.8L) V-8s that powered the original Falcon GTs.
The final FPV Ute is powered by a (422-hp version of the same engine in the GT F.
“Our goal was to create the best vehicle we could; a vehicle that pays respect to Ford GTs of old yet celebrates all that is good about Ford’s performance credentials,” FPV Chief Program Engineer Peter de Leur says in a statement.
Developed to celebrate Ford’s performance brand, the new FPV GT F also pays homage to the legendary Falcon GTs of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Each will carry an individual build number, with many specific numbers reserved by collectors and Falcon GT enthusiasts.
Just 500 of the FPV GT F sedans will be built for the Australian market, with an additional 50 produced for New Zealand. Ford will make just 120 Pursuit Utes.
The automaker says in a statement customers have rushed dealers Australia-wide to secure the vehicles. It says very few GT F sedans remain available and there is strong interest in the Pursuit Utes.
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