Looking for facts on Ford/Holden manufacturing

[LowEL2XR8]

Please don't turn this thread into a Holden bashing one it which case it will get locked.

I'm after facts on how much of each car and by car I mean Falcon and Commodore exclusively are manufactured in Australia.

Which parts are imported in and which are made here?

Not interested in what is built here ie if engine parts are imported and then engine built here that counts as imported.

Specifically manufactured parts examples I mean; body panels, seats, dash.

I would like to figure out from this which car puts more back into our economy.

Cheers

[stevepet]

Falcon glass is from China.

[LowEL2XR8]

You mean they make the windscreens and windows there?

I'm not talking raw materials where do they come from just to clear up any confusion.

[Ford Fox]

Falcon + Commodore seatbelts (forget the company name) and falcon brakes (BENDIX(FMP))from Ballarat VIC

[Dave_au]

The locally made components of all our locally manufactured cars has been falling dramatically for a number of years.

Back in 2004 Ford did claim that the BA 4spd XT had the most local components of any locally made car.

With the 5spd gearbox now sourced from OS this status may have changed.

[Dave_au]

On the FG Series:

Next Ford Falcon 'least Australian' ever
Barry Park, The Age, September 13, 2007

Ford's next-generation Falcon family sedan is likely to be the "least Australian" so far, the car maker has admitted.

Ford Australia president Tom Gorman said yesterday the number of Australian-made components that would make up the new Falcon would "be an issue" for the company once the car was launched next year.

The admission comes just days after the car maker announced another 119 workers in its upholstery trim line in Broadmeadows would be moved to different jobs within the company, and their work outsourced.

Automotive supplier Futuris is in talks with Ford to pick up the outsourced work. It is believed to be planning to do most of the work in Thailand if it wins the contract.

Mr Gorman said Futuris was one of several suppliers that the company was talking to about the outsourced work.

He said the car maker was competing against global companies, and so had to take a global approach to building cars.

"(The new Falcon) is going to be a world-class, competitive vehicle and, when it comes time to launch, it will be pretty clear where some of the major components are coming from, and you guys can do the maths on your own," Mr Gorman said.

"It will be an issue, but it's about us remaining competitive on the global market."

Rival Holden came under fire at the launch of its VE Commodore last year after questions were raised about how Australian the family sedan actually was.

Holden remains closely guarded about how much of the Commodore is sourced locally, saying it does not reveal details about its relationships with suppliers.

A spokesman for Holden would only say yesterday that $2 billion of the $3 billion it spent sourcing components for the VE Commodore went to local parts suppliers.

[LowEL2XR8]

Thanks Dave au.
So Holden is about 66% Aussie going by that.
Any idea on Fords percentage?

[Sprint XR8]

Commodores local content dropped from 73% to 56% VZ to VE.
Fords local content varies from 90% to 60% depending on model.
Source, house of representatives inquiry into employment in the automotive component sector, sept 2006.
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/house_ne...ath28_road.pdf

[Dave_au]

Depends really on the model trim really; bf mk 3 wagon would be most Australian with the dsi 4 spd, remember reading once someone had suggested BA 4 Spds were around 88% local.

VE would be about 55-65% in the v6s and at or around 50% with the v8s;
FG XT I would say about 65-75%

[ChemicalHorizon]

Light bits (like the red stuff for brake lights) comes from New Zealand accoding to the little stamp on it.

[Wally]

What constitutes local content? For instance the FG command centre is designed and manufactured by Sumitomo and delivered by SWS. One would assume they are made in Epping, but are they? Hiding behind an affiliate program can make things seem locally made, when in fact they assume Australian citizenship merely by passing through and factory floor on a forklift. An upside for the originator is syphoning money, via the affiliate, from the Oz Govt through the grants program.

[LowEL2XR8]

Thankyou guys. Good info coming along here.

[Bmobile]

The brake light mounted in the wing of my 2006 VZ SV6 Commodore is stamped with Made In New Zealand.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Wally

What constitutes local content? For instance the FG command centre is designed and manufactured by Sumitomo and delivered by SWS. One would assume they are made in Epping, but are they? Hiding behind an affiliate program can make things seem locally made, when in fact they assume Australian citizenship merely by passing through and factory floor on a forklift. An upside for the originator is syphoning money, via the affiliate, from the Oz Govt through the grants program.

Yeah its difficult to work out what is australian content and what isn't.

As someone pointed out earlier the glass is made in china but the company is owned by Pilkington.

[mik]

i used to pick up plastic parts on occasion from eastern side of melbourne , grilles , cosmetic type stuff for Ford and Holden, diffs the same this was a few years ago now

[Raptor]

All steel panels (exterior, floorpan etc) are stamped here for both models AFAIK.

However the steel for most if not all of the external panels is imported (as it is a more specialised grade that is not economical to produce in Australia - though the technical capability to do so exists). The steel for the hidden panels (engine bays, floorplan, internal hanging panels etc is sourced locally and thus Australian made.

Where the major sub-assemblies are made locally, front and rear suspension subframes for example, that steel is also likely to be Australian made. So too is the steel used by supplier companies such as Monroe (shock absorbers) and ROH (wheels).

[WOTDAH]

Originally Posted by Raptor

All steel panels (exterior, floorpan etc) are stamped here for both models AFAIK.
.

For Ford yes. But majority of the dies are manufactured in china. Ford are in the process of outsorcing alot of its smaller stampings to outside company's here and OS

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by WOTDAH

For Ford yes. But majority of the dies are manufactured in china.

No....

Japan..

[SB076]

Originally Posted by Raptor

All steel panels (exterior, floorpan etc) are stamped here for both models AFAIK.

However the steel for most if not all of the external panels is imported (as it is a more specialised grade that is not economical to produce in Australia - though the technical capability to do so exists). The steel for the hidden panels (engine bays, floorplan, internal hanging panels etc is sourced locally and thus Australian made.

Where the major sub-assemblies are made locally, front and rear suspension subframes for example, that steel is also likely to be Australian made. So too is the steel used by supplier companies such as Monroe (shock absorbers) and ROH (wheels).

Some of the components and steel that is supplied by external suppliers is from O/S and the amount is increasing unfortunately.

I know with the VE commodore some tooling was brought in from India, but when it arrived it needed large amounts of rework to make a reasonable part. I know some of the tool makers that were asked to repair, remake the tools.

[big_landau]

i think in the early 70's they had to have alot of australian content.actually valiant had more australian content than ford or holden at that time.

[SLO AU XR8]

Originally Posted by vztrt

Yeah its difficult to work out what is australian content and what isn't.

As someone pointed out earlier the glass is made in china but the company is owned by Pilkington.

not being sure on the glass in the FG, What company makes it? Because Pilkington are no longer in Australia

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by SLO AU XR8

not being sure on the glass in the FG, What company makes it? Because Pilkington are no longer in Australia

Not sure on the FG but on the B-series it was SFH which Pilkington was invoicing.

[Dave_au]

FG glass from the Chinese glass manufacturer. NHL or something like that - it's acid etched into the glass.

Pilkington do not own the chinese glass manufacturer, see http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/...5781_news.html

[290v]

The XF fairmont Ghia the interior light was the same as the one Ford supplied to the VL Calais and if you took the interior light cover of a VN/VP ute it has the Ford emblem inside it

[Dr Smith]

Most trim for VE and FG is made by Futuris, locally.
Glass is from China although Ford might have a stake in the company, iirc.

The old Pilkington was bought by CSR and renamed Viridian...although I don't think they supply anything to Ford or Holden.

[SLO AU XR8]

Originally Posted by Dr Smith

Most trim for VE and FG is made by Futuris, locally.
Glass is from China although Ford might have a stake in the company, iirc.

The old Pilkington was bought by CSR and renamed Viridian...although I don't think they supply anything to Ford or Holden.

CSR bought the Australiasian branch of Pilkington, they still do minor supply to Holden and Ford. Main supply has been focused on housing, rather than automotive.

[Kenaz]

Originally Posted by 290v

The XF fairmont Ghia the interior light was the same as the one Ford supplied to the VL Calais and if you took the interior light cover of a VN/VP ute it has the Ford emblem inside it

Same with high series ELs and VSs. If you look at the inside of the light it's got both Ford and GM stamped in the plastic.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Dr Smith

Most trim for VE and FG is made by Futuris, locally.

Seat trim was made in house but now in Thailand....for Ford anyway.

[Paxton]

Originally Posted by SLO AU XR8

CSR bought the Australiasian branch of Pilkington, they still do minor supply to Holden and Ford. Main supply has been focused on housing, rather than automotive.

Yep, front and rear glass for Falcon and Territory still has Pilkington Australia stamped all over it, and so it should, too.

vztrt - Broadmeadows 1, where seats were previously stitched, has become Focus receiving. There just isn't room inside Broadmeadows to do seats any more. Futuris still trims them, however.

Dave_au - used to be SFH, however this has probably changed, however I though FG's windows had Ford Autoglass printed on it. I'm Probably wrong, however.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Paxton

vztrt - Broadmeadows 1, where seats were previously stitched, has become Focus receiving. There just isn't room inside Broadmeadows to do seats any more. Futuris still trims them, however.

I use to have meetings in that area once a fortnight while it was still going. It wasn't room that was the issue, from what I was hearing.