Ford Australia

Ford was/is biggest in manufacturing, Holden is second. Holden announced a major cutback in manufacturing a month or two ago. Ford is closing all manufacturing. The have lost something like $600 million over the past several years, they lose money on every car manufactured there. The cost to manufacture there is twice what it is in Europe and four times what it costs in Asia. So ironic - largely driven by successful unions, and a national economy that did not falter during the 2007/8 economic debacle that devastated Europe and USA, so their economy did well, and their costs relative to the world went way up. The relative value of the $AUS has just about doubled over the past decade. That means the relative cost of salaries and materials has also just about doubled with respect to the $US.

Brian