Ford Australia To Shut Down By 2016

The builder of the famous muscle car used by Mad Max in 'The Road Warrior' will soon be shutting down its production facilities and depriving the land down under of a huge chunk of its commercial vehicle industry.  Ford Australia has confirmed that 2016 will its last year in business as a builder of Australia-specific products like the Ford Falcon sedan and the Ford Territory SUV.

Simple economics are the largest factor behind Ford Australia's decision to play out the string over the course of the next few years.  Sales of the company's core Australian-built models have dropped precipitously over time, a state of affairs that has also affected the country's other large in-house automotive concern, Holden.  Holden, which is operated by General Motors and which builds vehicles like the Commodore sedan, is not expected to survive much longer than its domestic rival.

What will happen to Ford's Australian operations?  The Blue Oval will continue to operate roughly 200 dealerships in the country, which will be filled with global products like the Ford Mondeo sedan, the Ford Focus compact car, and the Ford Kuga crossover.