Ford Motor Co.'s Australian unit will stop making engines at its engine plant in Victoria state from 2010 and fire 600 workers, it said Wednesday.
The carmaker will stop making six-cylinder engines for its Falcon and Territory range at the 82-year-old plant in Geelong, Victoria, and replace them with imported V6 engines, it said in a statement. The move will result in the dismissal of about 600 workers, it said.
Ford is winding down the plant as Australians shift to smaller, imported cars because of rising gasoline prices and tough new emission standards scheduled for 2010.
“The decision to introduce the new engine and discontinue engine operations at Geelong follows industrywide changes in consumer behavior, including lower demand for large cars and the corresponding increase in popularity of smaller, imported vehicles,” Ford said.
Ford said its sales of locally produced vehicles as a percentage of the total industry in Australia fell to 19.4 percent so far this year from a share of 36.1 percent in 1998. Its Ford Falcon recorded its lowest annual sales in 40 years in 2006, dropping to third in the list of Australia's most popular cars, behind the Commodore produced by General Motors Corp.'s Australian Holden unit and Toyota Motor Corp.'s Corolla.
The company's remaining 1,400 employees in Geelong and 3,000 in its Broadmeadows plant, in Melbourne's north, will not be directly affected by the decision, Ford said.
Last year Ford slashed its Australian work force by 10 percent, or 600 jobs, after previously announcing it was reducing production at its two plants in Victoria state by one-fifth because of slowing sales.
