The company has received a lot of criticism since the day it has announced that by 2016, Ford will be ending its production facilities in Australia. This would mean that around 1200 workers will lose their jobs. The company has consistently said that they though they are ending the production, they will still be connected with their Australian market. They maintained that they have bigger plans for the country and they have proved this by unveiling their Australian designed Everest Concept.
This new concept vehicle finally looks different than the Ranger and will be a 7 seater SUV. It might share components with the Ranger but the styling and look is definitely having a taste of individuality. It is being expected that this new Everest will replace the Territory which will be put to sleep in 2016. This 3rd gen Everest is scheduled to enter the market by 2015, before Territory departs.
Ford has stated that they will continue to be associated with Australia. To make his point, President and CEO of Ford Australia, Mr, Bob Graziano said that “Our customers, our employees and Australia can be assured that we’re connected to the nation and committed to our customers through terrific products with class leading technologies.” Other present at the unveiling of the Everest concept were Alan Mullaly, Jim Farley and Mark Fields.
The concept was unveiled by Mark Fields who said that “This is our vision for a large, seven-seat off-road SUV to allow our customers to take on the world and it was created by our world-class design team here in Australia. We believe our customers will love the distinctive design, which clearly showcases the Ford Everest Concept’s exceptional off-road capability and toughness.”
Ford also stated that it has plans for the Australian market. The company will be refreshing its entire line up in Australia by the year 2017. This transformation will be based on product and technology acceleration as Ford will be bringing a total of 11 vehicles in Australia which are being sold by them globally. These 11 vehicles will include passenger cars, commercial vehicles and SUVs which will offer great quality, safety and smart design in addition to great fuel efficiency.
Ford’s Chief Executive officer, Mr. Alan Mullaly said that “We are introducing more great vehicles to Australian customers more quickly with more innovation, more first-to-market safety advancements and more features customers really want and value. We also are committed to Australia as one of our product development centres of excellence, with talented designers and engineers creating vehicles and technologies here in Australia for the world.”
The “future plan” which Ford is talking about for the Australian people includes a a family of Ford cars. These vehicles are Ford Focus, Ford Fiesta, Ford Kuga, Ford EcoSport, Ford Transit and Ford Ranger. Bob Graziano said that “Our road to growth is with great new products that serve a broad range of Ford customers. Driven by our One Ford strategy of serving customers in all markets with a full range of competitive vehicles and leveraging our global capabilities, the award-winning Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus, Ford Mondeo, Ford EcoSport, Ford Kuga, Ford Ranger and Ford Transit are global platforms that are underpinned by world-class design, engineering and technology.”
