Carmakers in trouble

... everything from falling Falcon sales to the Japanese environmental disaster and increased competition from China.

Ford is cutting 240 jobs at its Broadmeadows factory as it adjusts production to showroom demand, while Toyota is reducing its Camry production until it can get full supply of parts from Japan.

But there is some good news as Holden reports a $112 profit for 2010 and both Ford and Toyota say they are likely to have black-ink results when they announce their financial results for 2010 in coming months. Ford also says the job cuts do not affect the long-term future of the Falcon.

"We are committed to the Ford brand and continuing to produce vehicles in Australia," the chairman of Ford Australia, Bob Graziano, says.

Even so, falling sales and growing stockpiles - with hundreds of cars parked on grass at Broadmeadows - have forced Ford to cut the daily output of Falcons from 260 to just 209 cars, equivalent to total annual production of just 45,000 Falcon and Territory vehicles. Ford says it will re-deploy as many workers as possible, with the remainder to be offered voluntary redundancy packages.

Ford's production cut is a permanent reaction to a showroom slide which has seen large-car sales in Australia dropping consistently over the past 10 years. The Holden Commodore is still the country's favourite car, but has occasionally been trumped in monthly sales totals by the Toyota Corolla and Mazda3 over the past two years, as overall sales in the large-car class have dropped by 53 per cent over the decade.

Ford has been using 'down days' to reduce its production over the past six months but is now acting on a permanent cut, even though it is expecting more demand soon for its updated - and finally diesel- powered - Territory SUV.

"Ford is committed to making the necessary changes to ensure we are producing what Australian drivers want and value, which drives the viability of our business," Graziano said.

The redundancies at Ford are the first since the end of 2008.

"We copped a fair amount of flak then but it was the right thing to do, and it allowed us to return to profitability in 2009," says Ford spokesperson, Sinead McAlary.

At Toyota, production is being cut by 50 per cent in May and June to manage parts supplies following the disasters in Japan. The company says there will be no job cuts, although staff are being cut to shorter shifts and training, with full production to resume as quickly as possible.