Ford Australia

Country

Australia

Parent

Ford (USA)

Subsidiaries

Brands

Ford

Location

Headquarters and main plant: Broadmeadows, Melbourne, Victoria.
R&D center: Geelong, Melbourne, Victoria.

Sales figures

Domestic sales:
2016: 81,207 units
2015: 70,453 units
2014: 79,703 units
2013: 87,236 units
2012: 90,408 units
2011: 91,243 units
2010: 95,284 units
2009: 96,501 units
2008: 104,715 units

Domestic sales of Falcon:
2016: 4,434 units (final year of production)
2015: 5,938 units
2014: 6,349 units
2013: 10,610 units
2012: 14,036 units
2011: 18,741 units
2010: 29,516 units
2009: 31,023 units
2008: 31,936 units
2007: 33,941 units
2006: 42,390 units
2005: 53,080 units
2004: 65,384 units
2003: 73,220 units

Introduction

Apart from USA and Europe, Australia used to be another location where Ford had full capability of developing and producing its own cars. The sole product created by Ford Australia was Falcon, a large and tough car designed to the requirements of Aussie and Kiwi, and its SUV-crossover sister Territory. For decades Falcon had been rivaling Holden Commodore as the top-selling car in Australia. However, as the market shifted towards smaller and more fuel efficient cars, Ford eventually killed the Australian-built Falcon in 2016. As a result, this page will not be updated anymore.

Brief History

The Australia operation of Ford was established in 1925 by Ford Canada. Initially it produced Model T from kits imported. After WWII, it assembled mostly European Ford models such as Consul and Zephyr.

By the mid-1950s, Ford realized that in order to compete with Holden in price, it had to localize production rather than continue assembling cars from imported components which were taxed heavily. Therefore in 1960 it adapted the American Ford Falcon for production in its newly built Broadmeadows plant. However, the early Falcon was not renowned for reliability as it was not designed for the tough conditions of Australian roads.

1972 Falcon XA

The American Falcon died in 1970, but its name continued to live in Australia. In 1972, the first Australian-engineered Falcon, codenamed XA, was launched. Although still employed a lot of Detroit technology and styling theme, it was tailor-made for Australian roads. In the next 3 decades, Falcon continued evolving away from its American roots and became a distinguish breed. It usually rivaled with Holden Commodore as the top selling car in Australia.

1998 Falcon AU

Nevertheless, sales of both cars had been declining since the mid-2000s due to high fuel price and intense competition from Toyota. As production of Aurion / Camry was localized, Toyota took the top spot since 2004. The large car segment kept shrinking in the following years, eventually led to the decision to kill the Australian-built Falcon and shut down the Australian factory. The last Falcon rolled off the production line at Broadmeadows on Oct 7th, 2016.