Autos

Filed under: Sedan, SUV, Plants/Manufacturing, Ford, Australia Ford began manufacturing cars in Australia in 1925 with the Model T. In 2016, Ford will stop manufacturing cars Down Under, including the Falcon and the Territory SUV, as Ford Australia CEO Bob Graziano has reportedly confirmed the closure of the Broadmeadows assembly plant and the Geelong engine plant, both in the state of Victoria. There will be 650 jobs lost at Broadmeadows, 510 sacrificed at Geelong. Of the roughly 3,000 workers The Blue Oval has in Australia, it's said it will try to retain about 1,000 of them at its R&D and product development facilities. The writing hasn't just been on the wall, it's been a regular item in all the papers and on Ford's bottom line for years. As recently as 2003, Ford sold nearly 75,000 Falcons, but over the next four years annual sales dropped by something like 10,000 units, and the last two years, it has sold less than 20,000 per year. It isn't only Ford that has suffered - sales of the other large, locally produced sedan, the Holden Commodore, have also gone over the precipice, triggering the same kind of angst about Holden's continued existence. Ford is the smallest of Australia's local automakers, Holden and Toyota the others, and has posted losses of $AUD141 million last year ($136M US) and $AUD600 million ($580M US) in the past five years. Graziano said the cost of manufacturing is simply too expensive in the country, twice as high as Europe and three times as high as Asia, and there no way to make a business case for staying in the country. In January 2012, Ford Australia announced it would stay in the country until at least 2016, but by July of the same year, most outside observers were quietly declaring that 2016 would be the last year of Ford Down Under, and even the speculation was making other observers nervous. Ford received money from the Victorian government last year to aid its refresh of the Falcon and Territory, which will continue on schedule for the 2014 model year. An front- and all-wheel-drive sedan on a global platform is predicted to replace the Falcon, with some other SUV expected to replace the Territory. The company says it still intends to expand its lineup in the country. As for what will replace the employment hole at the factories and the supplier base, no one is quite sure. Ford has said that the employees will receive their entitlements, and workers do have three years to prepare for what's coming. As well, the state and national governments have already committed tens of millions to a fund to assist the employees.Ford to cease Australian automaking operations after 90 years originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 23 May 2013 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

While the Ford Falcon is getting the bulk of the attention with respect to Ford’s soon-to-be-shuttered Australian operations, Ford also made another product, based off the Falcon platform, that never made it to our shores. The Ford Territory might be the most desirable CUV ever made. Around these parts, the above statement doesn’t carry much weight, but beneath the Freestyle-esque exterior lurked a radically different drivetrain. Using the rear-drive Falcon’s running gear, the Territory’s base powertrains consisted of a 4.0L I6 and either rear or all-wheel drive. Later variants added a diesel V6 as an option. Unlike the Falcon or its Ute derivatives, there was no V8 available. A 329 horsepower turbocharged I6 was available on the second generation Territory, but buyers looking for even more power had a brief opportunity for even more power. The FPV F6X (pictured above) borrowed the Falcon FPV6′s 362 horsepower turbocharged I6 but retained the Territory’s AWD system. 60 mph came up in about 6 seconds, but the FPV F6X had a big problem; a Falcon XR6T with a more powerful I6 engine was about 30 percent cheaper, and the F6X was barely distinguishable from the regular Territory Turbo. Sales were predictably slow and the F6X lasted one year only. Although there were calls to export the Territory, nothing ever really got off the ground, and the Territory was left to its home market of Australia, as well as a handful of exports to right-hand drive countries like Thailand. At one time, there were even calls to send it to the United States, but it’s difficult to imagine American consumers caring enough about the rear-drive layout and I6 engine when it looked nearly identical to the Freestyle/Taurus X and carrying the price premium associated with being an Australian import. I can’t help but feel saddened knowing that the Territory is marked for death along with the Falcon. The business case may no longer be there, but the Territory represents an increasingly rare-breed in the automotive world; a vehicle that was derived as a unique solution to local tastes and attitudes. The fact that it could give many sports cars a real fight in a drag race, while looking like an ordinary family hauler makes it even more bittersweet.

Ah, politics. Yesterday, Tesla paid off the balance of its U.S. government loan, using proceeds from its $1 billion-plus offering of stock and warrants last week, as CEO Elon Musk had said Monday it would in a tweet. The amount settled yesterday was $451.8 million, following installments paid by Tesla last year and in the first quarter of this...

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Noble Energy, Inc. announced a natural gas discovery at the Karish prospect offshore Israel. The discovery well was drilled to a total depth of 15,783 feet (4,811 meters) and encountered 184 feet (56 meters) of net natural gas pay in high-quality lower Miocene sands. Discovered gross resources, combined with the de-risked resources in an adjacent fault block on the license, are estimated to range(1) between 1.6 and 2.0 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) with a gross mean of 1.8 Tcf. The Karish well, located in the Alon C license approximately 20 miles (32 km) northeast of the Tamar field (earlier post), is in 5,700 feet (1,737 meters) of water. The Karish discovery is the fifth discovered field with an estimated gross mean resource size of more than 1 Tcf. It is also the seventh consecutive field discovery for Noble Energy and its partners in the Levant Basin. With the addition of Karish and the recent increase in resource estimates at Tamar and Leviathan, total discovered gross mean resources in the Levant Basin are now estimated to be approximately 38 Tcf. The Ensco 5006 rig drilled the Karish well and will relocate to Cyprus where it is scheduled to spud an appraisal well at the Cyprus A discovery next month. Noble Energy is the operator of the Alon C license with a 47.06% interest. Co-owners are Avner Oil and Delek Drilling each with a 26.47% interest.

2014 Mercedes-Benz E-class Coupe and Cabrio First DriveFortified With More Vitamin E.SYLT, Germany – When Mercedes-Benz replaced its CLK-class with the E-class coupe and cabriolet for the 2010 model year, it was a source of debate between the automaker and the critics. The new coupe and cabriolet were based mostly on the E-class, Mercedes insisted, while automotive journalists noted the similarities between the new two-door and the C-class sedan. Photo Gallery: 2014 Mercedes-Benz E-class Coupe and Cabrio First Drive - Automobile Magazine Photo Gallery: 2014 Mercedes-Benz E-class Coupe and Cabrio First Drive - Automobile Magazine2014 Mercedes-Benz E-class Coupe and Cabrio First Drive | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us

Sebastian Vettel believes the impending tweaks to Formula 1's tyres to stop the recent spate of delaminations are urgently needed, even if Pirelli has ultimately rowed back from a more performance-focused overhaul of their compounds.

Daniel Ricciardo says he's ready to race for Red Bull should the World Champions come knocking on the young Australian's door.