Ford Australia on the ropes after boss resigns
The John Button Industry Elimination Plan is working very well.
Look for a correlation between the level of tarrifs and the number of automotive manufacturers in this country over the last 40 years- you will find a neat causual relationship.
Normally, I believe in free trade and open markets with a passion. This can occur without Globalisation. However, what is Australia supposed to do in the face of greater protection of foreign competitors? This comes in the form of tarrif walls protecting their markets, subsidisation of their products or ‘one way’ Free Trade Agreements (eg. Thailand) that allow their manufactured product here, but not ours there in return. (Konichiwa, Japan.) Reflect on that when driving your Thai Hilux or Accord. How does a Free Market deal with such socialist competitors?
I find it absolutely rich when bloggers above post that our industry ’should be zero tarrif and sink or swim’. Their competitors are in lifeboats!!!
A deliberate, engineered weakening of our nation’s manufacturers is taking place. Australia was labelled the wealthiest place on Earth in the early ’70’s, and it featured many profitable, independent smaller farms and manufacturing that had been painstakingly encouraged by the Depression/WWII generation. They had done things tough and knew that independence and self reliance were keys to real wealth for nations just as individuals. Make it here, spend money here, strengthen the economy here. Export any extra for wealth and then invest this, so you own more and more of your competitors’ countries. Simple, really.
This is exactly what Japan, and others, have done to us. Anyone wish to bring up a decent foreign ownership stat for Australia now? They stopped reporting it in the 1990’s when it topped 90%! Wake up, people!
Try selling our agricultural products to Europe or the US if you have any energy left after the dilemma above. Anything stopping you?
Why is Australia the first and only country to drop its pants? Free trade, yeah right.
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As for Ford, they offer the most economical to run cars in Australia - the LPG Falcons. If you seriously want to reduce your fuel bill, buy one. Don’t worry about Diesel or hybrid. Additionally, we have Energy Security with gas - about 300 years worth of it. So it is perplexing that these ‘large cars’ are being abandoned when they are so economical, in dollar terms. Their servicing is far cheaper than many other competitors, too, as is their insurance.