Ford To Build the Focus in Australia

Just a week after announcing plans to close its six-cylinder engine plant, Ford Australia has announced it will build the European four-cylinder Focus at its Broadmeadows Assembly Plant on the outskirts of Melbourne starting in 2011. Some 300 new jobs will be created by the decision to build 40,000 Focus cars a year for domestic sale and export to South Africa, New Zealand and other markets. Both gasoline and diesel versions of the Focus will be built here, using imported engines and transmissions. Panels will be produced by Ford in Australia, and other components will be sourced from local manufacturers.

Currently, Ford Australia imports the fully built-up Focus from South Africa. A revised version of the Focus was launched in Australia two weeks ago. The latest announcement, as well as the decision to stop six-cylinder engine manufacture at Ford's Geelong plant, reflects Australia's changing automotive market, with a shift to smaller, more fuel-efficient four-cylinder cars and away from the traditional large six-cylinder models.


Announcing the Focus manufacturing plan, Ford Australia President Tom Gorman said 15,000 of the Focus cars to be built each year at Broadmeadows will be for export, more than doubling the number that Ford Australia ships overseas now.