Manufacturer News
The New Mazda MX-5: Genius Evolved
One of the biggest bits of news in the car world over the past few weeks has been the launch of the new Mazda MX-5. We’ve been teased with little bits of information for a long while now, and Mazda have been pretty secretive, as you’d expect, as to what we can look forward to. Now however, the cat is out the bag, and boy does it look good.
The original car, launched to great acclaim in 1989, caused us to rethink the traditional two seater roadster. Gone were the days of poorly maintained, unreliable British roadsters from the likes of MG and Austin – here was a modern, Japanese, technologically advanced and most importantly reliable sports car that was cheap and accessible to the masses. It brought a new way of thinking in the sports car world – and subsequent versions have been by far and away the best selling cars of their type. It’s easy to see, therefore, how exciting the launch of a new MX-5 is for fans of both the brands and petrolheads in general.
It’s clear that the main design cues from the original MX-5 have been retained. We’re now in the car’s 4th incarnation and there’s a lot to be said by the way it looks. Fantastic lines, great curves and a thoroughly modern approach.
Top line figures for the new mx5 look distinctly promising, and although the engine options are unconfirmed we’re likely to have Mazda’s newest SKYACTIV engine technology and two examples producing 1.5L and 2.0L at 135 and 160 horsepower respecitvely. This should be more than enough – seeing as the car looks set to weigh much less than the outgoing model.
We can expect to see more of the car on Australian shores in the second half of 2015. If the last versions are anything to go by, and if it drives as well, this is likely to be hugely popular. It’s got a lot to live up to, but I think we can all agree this is a particularly exciting car to look forward to.
Holden Out On Cuts For The Long Term
Today’s (June 18, 2013) announcement from Holden has sent another collective shiver through the automotive fraternity; with the feeling from many that the request for staff (and, allegedly, not including management) to cop a pay cut to reduce costs is a prelude to Holden announcing it will, like Ford, cease local manufacturing. Holden’s chief honcho, Mike Devereux, is quoted as saying that it costs, in Australia, $3750 more to build a car, than anywhere else in the world. The cut for workers, in the two plants Holden operates (Elizabeth in South Australia and Port Melbourne, Victoria), is said to be in the order of up to $200 per week, a substantial dent. It’s in order to continue and reinforce the building base Holden has, but it is more far reaching than that. Should Holden up stumps, it effectively condemns Toyota to do the same, as one local manufacturer simply cannot sustain Australia’s part supply industries. Devereux also said that some workers aren’t being paid what they’re worth, with many at management level not receiving a pay rise for over three years.
As always, there’s two sides to every story; it’s rumoured that some Holden execs that have been with the company for less than two years are said to be on wages of over four hundred thousand dollars. That’s a fair bit of coin, considering Australia’s Prime Minister isn’t being paid much more. Having said that, if an average worker is being asked to cop a pretty decent pay cut and the subsequent adjustment to their living conditions, one would think it’s only fair that a commensurate reduction in wages and lifestyle adjustment be applied to the higher end of the ladder.
Bundled in with all of this is more human cost; around 400 workers at Elizabeth and 100 at Port Melbourne are scheduled to be made redundant, with the company hoping most will be from a voluntary basis. To add to the dilemma is the mooted reduction of automotive manufacturing support, by a half billion dollars, should the current Tony Abbott led Coalition win, as expected, the September Federal election. All politics aside, any reduction in support is a ludicrous idea; what should be scrutinised is Holden’s and the government’s business model. Coming off a loss of $152 million for 2012, it’s all well and good to look at the simplest form of saving money. Holden’s operation structure, its operating costs and just WHY it appears that Australia’s manufacturing costs are so comparatively high would, on the face of it, bear some deeper investigating.
Some of the blame for this may, in truth, lay within General Motors and Holden; with the rise of Hyundai and Korea, plus the dominance of brands such as Mazda, is it possible that Holden hasn’t reacted quickly enough to change the cars that people once bought to be the cars that people WANT to buy? Is it a form of hubris; Australia’s own, immortalised in the jingle “Football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars” felt that people would buy a Holden BECAUSE it was a Holden? Advertising a car as world quality doesn’t necessarily mean that it is world class. The Cruze, as good a car as it is, does fall short against some of its opposition such as the Mazda3 or Hyundai’s i30, for example, and the Commodore can be said to have failed to match the Mazda6 or the i40. Large car sales have fallen, too, leading to Mitsubishi and Nissan closing their doors for local manufacturing, in part. Ford’s recent decision, although not unexpected, has the potential for Holden to mirror that. Regardless, today’s announcement is something Australia’s struggling car industry both needs…..and doesn’t.
Ford Australia's recent announcement: the fallout.
The announcement on Thursday, 23rd May, by Ford Australia CEO Bob Graziano, that the two Victorian based manufacturing plants would cease making the Falcon, Territory and the 4.0L engines was not unexpected, if somewhat cynically timed to coincide with Holden’s official VF Commodore media launch.
What does it really mean for Australia’s auto industry? Note I said auto industry, not car manufacturing industry. First up, of course, is the human cost. Around 1200 workers are directly affected, with the knock on effect through to suppliers sure to hurt a little, with an estimated (possible) 2500 others in various component suppliers. There’s areas such as brake components, electrical, tyres that will lose orders…..although Graziano’s announcement suggested an increase on the overall model lineup (which, to be honest, gives me mixed feelings) those cars will have been supplied and built overseas.
The root cause of the announcement can’t be traced to any ONE source; it’s easy to say it’s solely because of the losses 
that have mounted up but why is that the case? Was it the failure of the AU Falcon, intended to reinvigorate the Falcon nameplate and soundly denounced by a member of the Ford family? Was it the rise and rise of the SUV? Was it the better engineered competitors with sharper pricing? Was it, simply, bad company management, both here and at Dearborn, Ford’s US headquarters? It’s been said that Ford AU fought for better export opportunities against the will of Ford US, with the somewhat underwhelming Capri, based on the Laser/323 twins being a “highlight” of their export efforts.
Ford Australia has an immense amount of moments in history; Lewis Brandt’s coupe utility from 1934, the gorgeous range of coupes from the XM of the early 1960s through to the XC from the mid-late ’70s, including that now iconic 1-2 finish at Mt Panorama and the shape’s contribution to filmdom, with the immortal Mad Max Interceptor. There’s the 
European inspired XE Fairmont ESP, with the 351ci beast under the bonnet and, of late, the brilliant turbo six and the blown V8 from the performance arm, FPV. But no mention of Ford Australia can go without these four letters: GT-HO. Released in 1971, as part of the XY Falcon range, the GT with Handling Option, Phase 3, was seen as the pinnacle, at the time, of Ford’s product range. The now infamous photo from Wheels magazine of a GT-HO screaming down a deserted Hume Highway at 145 miles per hour permanently imprinted the blue oval brand into Australia’s automotive consciousness.
So where did it all go wrong for the Falcon? Sales of large cars in Australia, specifically the Falcon and Commodore, have been in a downward spiral for years. The release of the Territory effectively signed the death warrant of the Falcon wagon whilst simultaneously adding to the SUV climb. The reluctance of Ford US to allow a working export program (in 2012 Ford Oz exported just 100 Territorys) in the face of Holden’s success with the Commodore and Statesman/Caprice whilst Toyota has also been moderately successful with the Camry/Aurion has to be considered as a loss of incoming revenue, while 
small to medium cars, with the growth of families being a DINK (Double Income, No Kids) or needing room ostensibly seen as unavailable in a wagon playing into the hands of the SUV market, plus some clever marketing (you don’t have a SUV? Horrified gasp. What’s WRONG WITH YOU?) has also come into play and can all be seen as a contributing factor in their own right.
Ford has signed off on a Falcon and Territory update for a 2014 release, with October 2016 being inked in as the close up shop date for their manufacturing plants. Graziano confirmed that their engineering centre will continue to offer input into world engineering designs and keeping around 1500 jobs safe. But there’s lingering questions about how Ford AU has been given in the order of one billion Australian dollars since 2000 and still arrived at 
this, literally, dead end. To use that cliched phrase, at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. Australia will be down to just two manufacturers and will see the end of something two communities have had as part of their own, individual, histories for a long time. 1200 jobs lost, spread out over 23 million people, is a very small percentage and would be, on its own, a worrying thing. Broadmeadows and Geelong, however, will have to shoulder that number between them. But worse still will be the day that another part of history in Australia ceases to be created. And that loss is incalculable.
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