36-670: The Ford Futura is a large car that was made by Ford Australia between 1962 and 2008. Although the last Futura was part of the BF Series Ford Falcon range it was badged and marketed as the 'Ford Futura' rather than the 'Ford Falcon Futura'. Ford Australia first used the Futura name on the Ford Falcon Futura which was introduced in 1962 as the new luxury sedan in the Falcon XL Series range. The name
72-618: A new model – the LTD – joined the second generation of Fairlanes the LTD. It was in effect a Fairlane with more features such as retractable headlights, a vinyl roof and an even longer wheelbase. From the third generation of Fairlane onwards, the LTD shared the same wheelbase and body as the Fairlane, being marketed as a more luxurious version of the Fairlane rather than being a completely different car. The Fairlane topped Australian luxury car sales for two decades before its gradual downfall started in
108-462: A new small car to its Falcon production line. On 23 May 2013, Ford Australia announced that it would leave the Australian market after 88 years due to uncompetitive manufacturing costs and lacklustre sales. The carmaker's annual financial report, for the previous year, showed a loss of A$ 141 million (£90m/US$ 136m) after tax for the 2012 financial year. This followed a loss of A$ 290m in 2011 and
144-1016: A strip of shops on Barry Road known as Fordgate, and a shopping plaza on Sydney Road. Merlynston Creek has its source in National Boulevard Nature Reserve in Campbellfield just north of the Ford plant and next to the disused single track railway line. In the 2016 census , there were 5,056 people in Campbellfield. 42.5% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were Iraq 11.5%, Lebanon 8.3%, Italy 5.7%, Turkey 3.6% and Greece 2.2%. 18.2% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Arabic 28.5%, Assyrian/Chaldean Neo-Aramaic 13.4%, Italian 7.7%, Turkish 7.3% and Greek 4.6%. The most common responses for religion were Islam 35.1% and Catholic 35.0%. Six bus routes service
180-813: A total loss of A$ 600m over the preceding five years. As a result, 1200 staff would lose their jobs. Ford had two main factories, both in Victoria : located in the Geelong suburb of Norlane and the northern Melbourne suburb of Campbellfield. The Ford Discovery Centre , a museum of the history of the Ford Motor Company in Australia that was also located in Geelong, closed; the site was then occupied by Deakin University . From 1972 to 2016, Ford Falcons were fully Australian designed. The company produced
216-584: Is a major sponsor of the Geelong Football Club . The sponsorship agreement was first signed in 1925, making it one of the longest sporting sponsorships in the world. In August 2023, Ford Australia announced a major partnership with Basketball Australia . As part of the multi-year deal, the Ford logo will feature on the jerseys of the Australia men's national basketball team and the Australia women's national basketball team . Ford Australia
252-650: Is a partner of Deakin University , funding the Ford Australia Women in STEAM Scholarship. Campbellfield Campbellfield is a suburb in Melbourne , Victoria , Australia , 13 km (8.1 mi) north of Melbourne's Central Business District , located within the City of Hume local government area . Campbellfield recorded a population of 4,977 at the 2021 census . Campbellfield
288-688: Is the Australian subsidiary of United States–based automaker Ford Motor Company . It was founded in 1925 as an Australian outpost of Ford Motor Company of Canada . At that time, Ford Canada was a separate company from Ford in the US. Henry Ford had granted the manufacturing rights of Ford motor vehicles in the British Empire (later the Commonwealth ) to Canadian investors. Ford Australia's first products were Model T cars assembled from complete knock-down (CKD) kits provided by Ford of Canada. Of
324-683: Is where the Falcon and Territory models were last manufactured in Australia. The Ford factory closed in October 2016 with the loss of 650 jobs. Campbellfield is a mixed residential and industrial/business suburb, with various industrial areas and business parks around the suburb. In 2011–2012, it was listed in the top four of Melbourne's most crime-ridden suburbs, and bottom five of Melbourne's most livable suburbs. The suburb has one public school (Campbellfield Heights Primary School). There are currently no private or secondary schools. Campbellfield has
360-607: The Fairlane and the LTD. The first Fairlane, released in 1959, was an Australian-assembled version of the US Fairlane . Assembly of US cars continued until 1967, when Ford Australia designed its own luxury car, the ZA Fairlane. Heavily based on the existing XR Falcon, it had an extended wheelbase, longer boot and modest styling changes. Ford Fairlanes were often preferred vehicles among politicians and businessmen. In 1972
396-584: The Territory SUV , which also ended production in 2016. Production of the Falcon ended with the closure of the Broadmeadows (Campbellfield) and Geelong engine and panel stamping plants. The Geelong factory produced its last Australian-made straight-six and V8 engines on 26 September 2016. Assembly at Broadmeadows concluded on 7 October 2016, ending Ford's 88-year history in Australia. Ford Australia
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#1732800863384432-800: The 1955 Lincoln Futura show car was produced; it was modified in 1966, used as the basis for the Batmobile in the Batman television series. In the early 1960s, the Ford Falcon had a specialty coupe submodel called Futura, and the same was true of the Ford Fairmont in the late 1970s. In the 2000s, Ford in the Netherlands sold Futura special editions of many of its mainstream models. Ford Australia Ford Motor Company of Australia Limited (known by its trading name Ford Australia )
468-886: The Asia Pacific and African regions. Products launched so far include the Ford Ikon and Fiesta in India and the Ford Bantam ute and Ikon (a sedan version of the Fiesta) in South Africa, and has also developed the new Ranger. On 24 January 2019, engineers and designers were among more than 100 workers to lose their jobs at Ford in Victoria. About 40 salaried workers, 75 hourly workers and 90 contractors across Ford bases in Broadmeadows, Lara and Geelong would be affected,
504-577: The Australian Touring Car Championship and at the annual Bathurst 1000 touring car race, where the Falcon's reputation for engineering excellence was cemented by the early 1970s through the Falcon GT and GTHO "muscle car" variants. Ford manufactured more than four million units between 1960 and 2016, and topped sales charts on many occasions. By 2016 the Falcon line-up was offered only in sedan and utility body styles; in
540-715: The Cortina was available with the option of either a 3.3-litre or 4.1-litre six-cylinder engine, and the Escort could be offered across the range with the Cortina's 2.0-litre motor. In 1977, lack of capacity required the Cortina wagon to be assembled in Renault 's (now long since closed) Australian factory in Heidelberg, Victoria . The Cortina's replacement, the Mazda 626 -based Telstar , was initially assembled in Australia. In 1989
576-569: The Falcon soon proved unable to cope on harsh Australian roads, sparking a major effort to introduce improvements to its reliability. By the mid-1960s, the car was substantially different from its North American cousin and was offered in sedan, wagon, coupé, utility and panel van styles. Production of the North American Falcon, on which the Falcon was by then loosely based, ended in 1970, obliging Ford Australia to pursue its design independently. The first true all-Australian Ford Falcon
612-588: The Telstar sedan was replaced by the locally assembled Ford Corsair which was essentially a rebadged Nissan Pintara . When Nissan shut down its Australian manufacturing operations in 1992 the Telstar nameplate was reintroduced, and as before it was a rebadged and respecced Mazda 626. In 1995 the Telstar was dropped in favour of the Mondeo , imported from Belgium . Ford Australia dropped the Mondeo in 2001, arguing at
648-529: The backing of large-volume exports to overseas markets, the Holden Statesman and Caprice then became the sole full-size extended wheelbase luxury models until their demise in 2017. Between 2004 and 2016, the Ford Territory had been built on the same production line as the Falcon. The Territory (technically a crossover ) had regularly been the most popular SUV in Australia. Ford Australia
684-457: The car it was destined for was renamed Ford Fusion while still under development, due to a trademark dispute. Futura proved to be owned by the Pep Boys auto parts chain, due to a tire line marketed by them under that brand. Ford's claim failed because the company had not used the name for more than three years. The company did use the name sporadically for several decades. In the 1950s,
720-705: The company confirmed, as the automaker further consolidated its operations. Ford's engineering work on its Ranger ute and other models "will be led out of the United States", the company said in a statement. Remaining Australian-based engineers would have a "strategic role" in developing a new medium-sized pick-up truck for Ford and the German brand, the automaker said. Ford Australia started by assembling Model Ts. As Ford introduced new models, they were assembled in Australia. During World War II, Ford Australia ceased producing cars to commence military production to support
756-467: The late 1980s with the rising importation of European models such as BMW and Mercedes Benz. By the turn of the millennium, the Fairlane had been overtaken by the Holden Statesman in sales. In 2007, Ford Australia announced it would be cancelling further production of the Fairlane and LTD beyond the 2007 model year, citing falling sales and an uncertain future in the full-size luxury market. With
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#1732800863384792-475: The many models that followed, the best known was the Falcon produced from 1972 to 2016, originally a US model introduced in Australia in 1960 and eventually adapted to Australian requirements and road conditions. On 31 March 1925, Ford announced that its Australian headquarters were to be at Geelong , Victoria . The first Australian-built Ford was a Model T launched in June 1925. The improvised production line
828-468: The past, panel vans, station wagons and hardtops had been offered. Falcons had been prominent as taxis in Australia and New Zealand, along with sister car, the Ford Fairlane. Performance variants of the Falcon were used extensively for pursuit work for many years. Ford Australia produced a range of full-size luxury cars alongside the Falcon for most of its production history. These models were named
864-718: The pigs to the market on Monday". In 1956, the company bought a large tract of land in the northern Melbourne suburb of Campbellfield to build the Broadmeadows Assembly Plant , and in July 1961 announced that the new Melbourne factory would become the company headquarters. In 2009, the parent Ford company, seeking to avoid the Chapter 11 bankruptcy that had already befallen General Motors and Chrysler, began abandoning overseas projects. By about July 2009, Ford Australia had received permission from Detroit to add
900-549: The suburb: Campbellfield has one railway station, Upfield , which is the terminus of the Upfield line . The station is located on Barry Road, with the station and railway line acting as the suburban boundary between Campbellfield and Coolaroo . Broadmeadows station , on the Craigieburn line , is another nearby station. There was a Campbellfield railway station , located adjacent to Camp Road, from 1889 until 1956, when it
936-487: The time that the segment of the market in which it competed was in decline, but in 2007, it announced that it would introduce the new Mk IV model in Australia. The Ford Falcon was manufactured in Australia to a North American design, with the first model rolling off the production line at Ford's Broadmeadows plant on 28 June 1960. It differed little from the American design apart from conversion to right hand drive , and
972-688: The war effort. After World War II, Ford recommenced assembly of imported Ford models. Initially, they assembled the UK sourced Pilot , then a range of British cars, including the Prefect , Anglia , Consul , Zephyr and Zodiac . Ford also assembled the Canadian Ford V8. The Ford Laser was produced in Ford's plant at Flemington in Sydney, from 1981 until September 1994 when the plant closed, after which they were fully imported from Japan. The Laser
1008-487: Was Ford engineer Louis (Lewis) Bandt . During the Great Depression , banks would not extend credit to farmers to purchase passenger cars, contending they were unnecessary luxuries. However, they would lend money for the purchase of "working" vehicles. The coupé utility fulfilled the need of farmers to have a workhorse which could also be used, as a well-known saying went: "to take the wife to church on Sunday and
1044-496: Was closed to make way for the newly built Upfield station, which was located in a position more accessible to the community. In August 2020, a toxic fire erupted at MRI e-cycle solutions, a large e-waste operator, causing loud explosions audible from kilometres away. The company stored and recycled electronic waste including up to 20 tonnes of batteries and 60 tonnes of e-waste coming from retailers, companies, schools and local governments. These waste are known to be toxic to health and
1080-861: Was dropped from the XR Falcon range of 1966 and reintroduced in the XW range of 1969. It was discontinued again for the XC Series of 1976 and reappeared in the ED range of 1993. The name was used continuously by Ford Australia from that time until the replacement of the BF Series Ford Futura by the FG Series Ford G6 in 2008. Ford Futura was scheduled to denote a new sedan entry for the North American market in 2005 (the 2006 model year),
1116-570: Was in a disused Geelong wool storage warehouse while work was under way on a factory several miles away, in an area later renamed Norlane . In 1928, the factory switched to the Model A , which was followed in 1932 by the Ford V8 . In 1934, the company released a coupé utility based on the US Model A Ford "Closed Cab Pickup Truck" that had been produced for six years from 1928. The local designer
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1152-695: Was launched as the XA model in June 1972. The XD and XE generation Falcons (1979-1984) followed the styling trends of Ford Europe 's Granada II model, but were still purely an Australian design from an engineering standpoint and had virtually no parts commonality with the European product. The Falcon had been an Australian "automotive icon" for most of its 56 years in production, playing a prominent part in Australian popular culture and motor racing. Falcons have served as taxis, police cars, family runabouts, and transport for tradespeople. They have been winners many times in
1188-547: Was named after two unrelated families named Campbell brought farm lots in the area in the 1840s. The land at that time was lightly timbered, which made it easy for grazing, plus also due to its proximity to the Merri Creek . The first Broadmeadows Post Office was open briefly in 1854 in Campbellfield. It reopened on 1 June 1856 and closed in 1893, replaced by the Campbellfield railway station office. This, in turn,
1224-468: Was one of Ford's five product development centres globally. Since the end of factory operations in 2016, it fully imports cars and trucks for the Asia/Pacific region after the closure of its Australian operations. It was expected to retain about 1300 workers in Australia. Ford Australia was also designated as one of five (worldwide) full-service Regional Product Development Centres, specifically for
1260-567: Was renamed Campbellfield around 1903. Campbellfield is home to Victoria's oldest church in east Broadmeadows. The Scots church was built on Sydney Road in 1842, and replaced by the present blue stone structure in 1855. It was placed on the National Estate and Victorian Heritage Register , and has been an icon of Victorian history. Campbellfield was home to the Ford Australia's Broadmeadows Assembly Plant . Built in 1959, it
1296-545: Was replaced by the Ford Focus in 2002. It is currently offered in sedan and hatchback variants with a 2.0L engine, which is one of the market leaders in sales. The Fiesta , a global Ford product, has also been offered between 2004 and 2022. Mid-size cars formerly assembled in Australia included the Ford Cortina , Capri and Escort , from the UK. These were adapted for the Australian market: for example, from 1972,
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