Australian Made Sales Ford/Holden : 2000-18

Some early Holden models

Australians were not happy to lose their car manufacturing. It had traditionally been based around large cars and protected by import duty. When the duty was being phased out some smaller producers went, leaving GM Holden, Ford and Toyota left. GM did some exporting, Ford very little and Toyota a lot. 

In May, 2013 Ford announced it was ending its production. By December, GM followed suit. Then in February, 2014 Toyota said it too would close. It was all over in 2017. Here is what happened statistically, Toyota nor exports included. The figures are for locally made cars only, not import models which at times overlapped with domestically manufactured ones.

Ford: The large Falcon (including all related models) was in 70,000+ bracket until 2006, when the decline set in. By 2012, sales were under 20,000. The mid sized Ford Territory SUV initially boosted volumes but it too faded somewhat. With limited exports and no tariff protection, it was time to pull the plug. 

Holden: The Commodore (also including all related models) was by this time the most popular large car. Nevertheless, it too was fading as the public turned to large SUVs. From reaching 100,000 + up until 2004, it was soon falling fast too. By the time the announcement came, 30,000 was only just being bettered. 

From 2011, the Cruze was introduced to better utilise plant capacity but was outgunned by similar import models and sales weren't outstanding. 

Br	FORD				HOLDEN
Md	Falcon	Terr	Total		Comm	Other	Total
00	77,200	-	77,200		96,300	5,500	101,800
01	72,900	-	72,900		102,300	-	102,300
02	74,600	-	74,600		111,500	-	111,500
03	96,000	-	96,000		112,100	-	112,100
04	87,700	13,600	101,300		111,300	-	111,300
05	73,400	23,500	96,900		96,600	-	96,600
06	59,400	18,400	77,800		77,100	-	77,100
07	47,900	17,300	65,200		76,000	-	76,000
08	44,500	12,900	57,400		68,100	-	68,100
09	43,200	10,900	54,100		58,500	-	58,500
10	38,600	11,600	50,200		59,400	-	59,400
11	25,600	13,900	39,500		52,000	22,400	74,400
12	19,800	14,600	34,400		39,900	29,200	69,100
13	15,300	14,300	29,600		32,800	24,400	57,200
14	9,100	9,800	18,900		35,700	18,600	54,300
15	8,600	8,900	17,500		32,800	15,200	48,000
16	6,600	6,900	13,500		30,300	12,900	43,200
17	300	1,700	2,000		28,300	400	28,700
18	-	-	0		2800	-	2,800

Ford went without too much fanfare but the end of the Aussie icon Commodore wasn't as well received. It was replaced by the Insignia model from Europe, yet it would retain the Commodore logo. Despite the fact that the Commodore was virtually a rebadged Euro model at its inception and now returning to such didn't go down well. The fact that it was better in virtually every respect to the dated Aussie made car it replaced wasn't the point either. 

Sales for Holden and Ford have fallen recently. For Holden it seems in part punitive and glee is expressed by some as it unfolds. Ironically, manufacturers that never bothered investing in Australian manufacturing have benefited. The truth is the industry should have been shut down sooner than it was because it hadn't been viable for some time. The manufacturers weren't to blame for that but they have been anyway.