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| Pix: netcarshow.com |
1925 was a pretty big year.
It saw the birth of John DeLorean, Paul Newman, Johnny Carson, and Dick Van
Dyke. F. Scott Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby in 1925, and Adolf Hitler published Mein Kampf.
And in Australia, Ford
Motor Company began building Model Ts for eager drivers.
Today, Ford announced that
its long history of Australian production was coming to an end. In a press
release, the company cited "increasingly challenging market conditions –
including market fragmentation and the high cost of manufacturing" in its
decision to shutter operations in the country.
That's borne out by Ford's
balance sheets: even with taxpayer support totaling $1.1 billion (AUD)
over the past 12 years, the automaker's Australian division has lost some $600
million (AUD) since the global economic downturn that began in 2008.
Ford has two manufacturing
facilities in Australia: Broadmeadows and Geelong, both of which will close in
October 2016. Broadmeadows employs around 650 workers, Geelong, 510.
