Earlier this month, Ford Australia announced it was ceasing production at its remaining manufacturing plants (Geelong and Broadmeadows) in 2016. It did not consider its current business model profitable in the near future.
It's depressing news to hear, but with sales of the Falcon sedan and Territory SUV in decline it was bound to happen sooner rather than later. What upset people most of all was that Ford deliberately used spin and jargon to try and hide the plant closures.
The press release talked about the company "going forward" and only briefly mentioned "clarity about plant closures." The PR guys were probably patting themselves on the back, but little did they realise they had just created one of the worst strategic communication disasters in Australia's history.
Media quickly found out what was happening - Fairfax Radio mentioned "speculation" that the plants would close - and later that night hard-hitting ABC journalist Leigh Sales asked the Australian CEO, "How stupid does Ford think Australians are?"
There was no remorse for the employees, who only found out about the closures that morning, and nor did Ford say anything to the customers who buy and own their customers. It was a stark contrast to Mitsubishi's plant closure in 2008, which did everything that Ford DIDN'T do.
In any case, it has about three years to rectify what it has done wrong. For now, not even Ford's loyal customers will forgive Bob Graziano for his sins.
