Crying Ford worker with Ford flag drives off...

[mike_nofx]

...In his Hilux.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/workp...07-grx73y.html

And look at the rest of the imported cars leaving the site, driven by (mostly) sad Ford workers who now have no job.

[Peter B - CV8]

Even the wife commented on that last night (& she's not a car nut).

[roddy1960]

G'day...Maybe his pride and joy was at home ? What ***** me about this report is Greg Hunt...I hate that git. with a passion... He's going to the United States (he reckons) to tell Ford and GM bosses that we're here for the long haul in automotive industry...Yeah Right Hunt....
**** weak , typical pollie rhetoric...Too bad the pollies of all persuasions conveniently forget that when they sign us up to FTA's that help crucify manufacturing in this country and John Button..I hope he rots in hell...The Button Car Plan...GEEZ...Should have been the Button Non Australian Car Plan....They stuffed us ... Cheers Rod..

[nstg8a]

I can fully understand someone who works on fords day in and day out not wanting to drive one.

Like working in a chocolate factory, you get sick of chocolate fast.

[mike_nofx]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

I can fully understand someone who works on fords day in and day out not wanting to drive one.

Like working in a chocolate factory, you get sick of chocolate fast.

Well its more like walking out of an Australian chocolate factory eating a Japanese chocolate bar and crying "why didn't people buy my chocolate?"

[Revolver]

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

Well its more like walking out of an Australian chocolate factory eating a Japanese chocolate bar and crying "why didn't people buy my chocolate?"

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

...In his Hilux.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/workp...07-grx73y.html

And look at the rest of the imported cars leaving the site, driven by (mostly) sad Ford workers who now have no job.

Your trolling aren't you? You must be. But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

So I watched the video. & noticed 3 things about that blokes Hilux.

1. It was an older model.
2. It was Dual cab
3. It was 4WD.

So taking the last 2 points there. Let me ask you the question. When has Australia produced and sold a twin cab 4WD ute?

Seems my arguement has backfired. We did. In the early 2000's. It as an avalanche. That was a an Australian produced car by...... who was it??

HSV! That's right! Holden..... Special...... Vehicles.....

That isn't a Ford company? Well, bugger.

My point is, Ford Australia didn't produce a wide arrangement of cars for its employees (or us) to buy. They killed off the wagon, killed off the Fairlane coming into FG. You could go out and buy a ranger, yes, but did that purchase help out the Broadmeadows or Geelong plants.... No

To keep Australian cars being produced, everyone needed to buy Australian produced cars. And what happens if Australia doesn't produce a car that you need for family/work/leisure commitments? Yeah, you buy a brand & model of car that does meet those needs.

Fuel economy? That diesel hatch built in Australia will do......

Oh? Don't produce one of those? In an Aussie Ford? Well, bugger again.

So don't point finger at the workers for "Failing to buy what they built" to protect themselves. No point buying a car you have no use for if you can't afford it.

Ford shot themselves in the foot. And the government over the past 30 years helped......

Not as simple as you make it my friend.

[lra]

Originally Posted by Revolver

1. It was an older model.
2. It was Dual cab
3. It was 4WD.

So taking the last 2 points there. Let me ask you the question. When has Australia produced and sold a twin cab 4WD ute?

Seems my arguement has backfired. We did. In the early 2000's. It as an avalanche. That was an Australian produced car by...... who was it??

HSV! That's right! Holden..... Special...... Vehicles..... That isn't a Ford company? Well, bugger.

My point is, Ford Australia didn't produce a wide arrangement of cars for its employees (or us) to buy. They killed off the wagon, killed off the Fairlane coming into FG. You could go out and buy a ranger, yes, but did that purchase help out the Broadmeadows or Geelong plants.... No.

Ford shot themselves in the foot. And the government over the past 30 years helped.......

Good points.

Ford Aus have been killed by their dumb decisions in the past by neglecting and starving their products.
Holden are being killed by GM. It wouldn’t matter what Holden wanted to build, good ole USA parent would deny it, because they can, and they have.

Currently I have a 2003 Monaro. Mustang may have the grunt and image, but it doesn’t float my boat. The only bit I liked was the front seats. Sorry, Mustang drivers.
I also have a 2005 AWD Commodore dual Cab ..... yep, one of those mentioned. Drives a hell of a lot better than any imported dual cab. It may not have the complete off road capability of an imported 4WD, but realistically, how many are used for what they are designed for ....... excluding mine sites.
And, a 2010 Terry Ghia RWD. A damn good compromise of everything you need in a vehicle for many purposes.

What can I replace those three with ?
The VE Monaro and VE Crewman were on my shopping list, along with second generation V8 RWD Territory. Looks like I can save my money to spend on ................. ???????

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

Well its more like walking out of an Australian chocolate factory eating a Japanese chocolate bar and crying "why didn't people buy my chocolate?"

It's not comparable, because chocolate is chocolate.

A falcon and Hilux do different things, he might be into fishing, camping, hunting, 4x4 and the falcon does not suit his needs, he can only afford one car.

A better comparison is a bloke walking out of an Australian womens clothing manufacturing company crying he lost his job because of lack of sales, but he is wearing mens clothing. Now we flame him for not wearing women's clothes.

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

I can fully understand someone who works on fords day in and day out not wanting to drive one.

Like working in a chocolate factory, you get sick of chocolate fast.

Actually, the wife of Mr Henry Ford Himself refused to drive a Ford Vehicle. Interesting trivia.

[Sabantien]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

Actually, the wife of Mr Henry Ford Himself refused to drive a Ford Vehicle. Interesting trivia.

I believe she drove an electric car because she couldn't crank start a petrol car, and Ford didn't make electric cars then. Not so much a refusal, but an inability.

[castellan]

Originally Posted by roddy1960

G'day...Maybe his pride and joy was at home ? What ***** me about this report is Greg Hunt...I hate that git. with a passion... He's going to the United States (he reckons) to tell Ford and GM bosses that we're here for the long haul in automotive industry...Yeah Right Hunt....
**** weak , typical pollie rhetoric...Too bad the pollies of all persuasions conveniently forget that when they sign us up to FTA's that help crucify manufacturing in this country and John Button..I hope he rots in hell...The Button Car Plan...GEEZ...Should have been the Button Non Australian Car Plan....They stuffed us ... Cheers Rod..

I don't believe it was Button's plan, but he was given his orders to carry out a plan, he was one of the brightest people in his government and carried out the task given to him by the powers of our government and what they were forced to do by the world powers plans.

The Australian voting people did or don't not have the right to do things like they once could, we are a socialist dominated country now and national interest or conservative values are frowned on and irrelevant to a socialist values.

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by roddy1960

G'day...Maybe his pride and joy was at home ? What ***** me about this report is Greg Hunt...I hate that git. with a passion... He's going to the United States (he reckons) to tell Ford and GM bosses that we're here for the long haul in automotive industry...Yeah Right Hunt....
**** weak , typical pollie rhetoric...Too bad the pollies of all persuasions conveniently forget that when they sign us up to FTA's that help crucify manufacturing in this country and John Button..I hope he rots in hell...The Button Car Plan...GEEZ...Should have been the Button Non Australian Car Plan....They stuffed us ... Cheers Rod..

Roddy it's now up to us. Whether you are 50 or 15. Whether you make staplers or picket fences or automobiles... make it well and make sure YOU own the company and YOU are in charge of the decision to make things here. We cannot rely on pollies or multinational companies if we want to value add in Australia.

(& yes that's the John Button Industry Elimination Plan IIRC)

[kennyboy]

Probably bought it second hand to go bush bashing, couriers were crap, missus probably drives the ford

[mike_nofx]

Former Ford worker Nick Doria

A lot of the guys here can't read or write or use computers, though. They're going to struggle.

Really?

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

Former Ford worker Nick Doria


Really?

Automotive industry is an interesting one, used to work for a second tier automotive manufacturer who specialised in emergency vehicles.

Plenty of my fellow workmates were English second language and could barely manage a conversation in English or illiterate, one couldn't read or write but he was fantastic with his hands and his quality of work was amazing.

Its more common than you think in the auto industry, plenty of talented dudes who are now going to be well behind the 8 ball due to things like this.

[Moby]

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

Former Ford worker Nick Doria


Really?

Yes Really - I did my Engineering Apprenticeship at Ford in the 90's and there were guys there who couldn't even speak english, as they worked alongside guys from the same background/language and spoke no english at home either.

[Tassie f100]

Bit sad to see so many non Fords being driven out the gate on the last day.The Aust Governments should take a bit more responsibility because successive govts were to gutles to impose tariffs to protect our own industries.I remember back in the 1980s when Nissan were exporting to NZ the govt there,without a car industry to protect,still hit them with a huge duty rate.Then the powers that be let miners sell off huge quantities of our resources to China so we could buy it all back as finished product.Now China has enough steel to last for years so now our mining industries are falling over because there isn't a market.If greed had not been a factor the supply would have been rationed to enable continuity of supply way into the future.

[commodorenutt]

Interesting about the hilux..... but it can be said, in his defence, that until recent years, Ford didn't offer a superior alternative.

Like most car-makers, Ford employees had access to discount rates to purchase Ford vehicles for themselves - and at one point this also extended to Mazdas as well, thanks to the relationship the 2 companies held.

I was amazed at not only how many imported Fords were in the employee parking lots, but also how many Mazdas there were - at several Ford locations in 2009-2012 when I spent time down there. I spoke to a few owners who told me they basically couldn't care less if it was a local or imported vehicle, nor was the brand important. Whatever happened to supporting your employer?

[JG33]

Nothing wrong for Ford employees driving different brand cars, not all of them are car enthusiasts, it's just a job to put food on their tables.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by JG33

Nothing wrong for Ford employees driving different brand cars, not all of them are car Ford enthusiasts, it's just a job to put food on their tables.

Fixed for truth

[Express]

Originally Posted by commodorenutt

Interesting about the hilux..... but it can be said, in his defence, that until recent years, Ford didn't offer a superior alternative.

Like most car-makers, Ford employees had access to discount rates to purchase Ford vehicles for themselves - and at one point this also extended to Mazdas as well, thanks to the relationship the 2 companies held.

I was amazed at not only how many imported Fords were in the employee parking lots, but also how many Mazdas there were - at several Ford locations in 2009-2012 when I spent time down there. I spoke to a few owners who told me they basically couldn't care less if it was a local or imported vehicle, nor was the brand important. Whatever happened to supporting your employer?

Maybe they just all keep their nice Fords at home during the week and drive the rubbish to work.

[Windsor220]

Can they even afford a new car? If they have used cars then it doesn't really matter what they drive

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Windsor220

Can they even afford a new car? If they have used cars then it doesn't really matter what they drive

No no....if you buy a secind hand ford you were supporting the industry.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

...In his Hilux.

And look at the rest of the imported cars leaving the site, driven by (mostly) sad Ford workers who now have no job.

It was the first thing I noticed when I watched the news story last night, and thought it was a bit poor to be honest.

If the workers can't even support their own vehicles which they get to buy at discount rates why should anyone else I guess.

They did not stop making these cars because they were money makers for the company, even big fleets like the police, telstra, councils etc turned to Corollas, Hyndais and the like over Falcons.

I still like driving my Falcons, and probably will till the day I die, but many many others obviously don't.

[xr6-FTW]

Bloke probably drives a hilux simply because he likes that car. Plus he also looks like the bloke who probably likes going camping, offroading etc. Just because you work there doesn't mean you have to drive that car there. You can like driving a different car and like building a car, if you dont want to own a ford in this case then so be it. He's obviously devastated because he loves his job and the people he works with, getting told to never come back to a job you love would break your heart.

[STINKY NINJA]

I never drive my good car to a carpark,take the poxy/dented and scratched one.

[CoupeKing]

That guy who was talking about his pay-out wasn't crying. He would have flew out of there at a million miles an hour - straight to the local.

[xr6-FTW]

Originally Posted by CoupeKing

That guy who was talking about his pay-out wasn't crying. He would have flew out of there at a million miles an hour - straight to the local.

I think in paper his around 62 and got paid 250,000, said was like winning the lottery so he obviously would be retiring and good on him, I'm sure everyone else would of liked to have been in his circumstance being at a age when you can retire with a nice payout.

[CoupeKing]

Originally Posted by xr6-FTW

I think in paper his around 62 and got paid 250,000, said was like winning the lottery so he obviously would be retiring and good on him

His fellow workers should have pranked him. Get the Cops to pull him over outside the Ford plant and issue him with a $250,000 fine.

[Professor Farnsworth]

Our daily is a Kia, means nothing.