We respect our history, says Ford…

Ford executives have defended the structure of yesterday’s ‘Go Further’ future model presentation in Sydney, which made little acknowledgment of the company’s almost 90 years of Australian manufacturing history or the May decision to close its two Australian factories, kill off the Falcon nameplate and retrench 1200 workers no later than October 2016.

Instead, the focus was steadfastly on future operations and products. Any reference to the May 23 decision made yesterday by Ford Australia President Bob Graziano, his global boss Alan Mulally or any other members of the leadership team in attendance was referred to in the context of a “transformation” during the 60-minute presentation.

Neither the Geelong engine plant nor Broadmeadows assembly line were mentioned directly. There were only a few references to the Falcon, including a brief video showing a hint of the styling of the 2014 FH model.

But the Falcon’s orphan status was underlined by its absence from an image of future products that did feature its locally built compatriot, the Territory, which will be replaced in the line-up by an imported model beyond 2016.

“The reference was made to the role that vehicle (Falcon) plays in the portfolio we acknowledged when we started that vehicle 50-something years ago and we have talked about the freshening next year so I think we have paid respect to what we have done here,” Graziano told motoring.com.au.

“We are very proud of our history here in Australia, we are very proud of our manufacturing organisation here in Australia and I believe that they all know that. But we have to continue to transition our brand and today was about looking forward.

“We spent the whole of May 23 looking at the past and about the decision and now we have to start looking forward. We have to keep explaining to automotive consumers and the people of Australia that we are an important part of the automotive industry here. We really appreciate and respect what this industry has been able to accomplish over the last 90 years.”

About 1000 people including Ford dealers, employees, private and fleet customers, 60 hard-core Ford fans and media attended Go Further, which included a display of current and future models, the presentation from Mulally, Graziano, global Chief Operating Officer Mark Fields, marketing chief Jim Farley and Asia-Pacific president David Schoch.

While they did not address the closures and termination of Falcon during Go Further, Mulally and co did compile a video address for company employees that touched on the subject.

Asked if the May announcements were too negative for him to address at Go Further, Mulally said: “I don’t think it’s a negative at all.

“We worked really hard to make a viable business here. We had a tremendous public-private partnership and we are just not competitive making vehicles in Australia.

“So we are doing the right thing. Any company needs to make reasonable returns so it can continue to invest in new products.

“The real story here today was our commitment to Australian consumers, that they are going to have a complete family to choose from from Ford.”

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