Ford Australia closes down

Shock! Ford Australia will close its Australian factories.

After years of dwindling sales, and with no immediate sign of recovery, Ford Australia has decided to abandon manufacturing in Australia.

In a shock announcement to be made at 10:45am, Ford is expected to declare it will be closing its Australian plants and will become an import-only brand.

That means it will cease manufacture of the locally-built Falcon sedan and utility and the Territory SUV in Broadmeadows, as well as the 4.0-litre in-line six cylinder engine built at its historic engine plant in Geelong.

Wheels understands sources from inside Ford have reached a decision that local production is no longer financially viable.

The announcement has been delayed until 10:45am, as Ford wants to alert its 3500-strong workforce before making the decision public.

There is no word yet as to what the closure means for Ford’s employees, or when the shutdown will happen, but there is expected to be drastic redundancies.

Sales of the iconic Ford Falcon, which was Australia’s best-selling car throughout the 1980s and early-‘90s, fell to less than 20,000 last year, from a high of 93,432 only 10 years ago.

So far this year, sales of both the Falcon sedan and Falcon utility are down more than 20 percent on 2012’s disastrous numbers.

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