Ford has got the go-ahead to maintain production of its 6 cylinder 4 litre engines until 2015 at their Geelong plant which was due to be closed, with the loss of up to 600 jobs.
http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2008/11/21/32635_news.html

So this is where Rudd’s auto-industry money is going….into propping up dinosaurs!

What’s wrong with gearing this plant to the production of 1 and 1.5 litre engines, and thus much smaller, cheaper and more efficient vehicles… and doing away with the big gas-guzzlers? It might take a while…but there seems to be no hint of a move in this direction.

Improvements in efficiency are being mooted, but only with the premise that the larger engines will remain.

Alright, so the plant will remain in operation and the jobs will be saved. There’s a great deal of merit in that. But surely it could have been achieved without the lock-in of outdated fossil fuel inefficiencies….which fly in the face of Rudd’s apparent strong conviction to address climate change.

Come on! Surely we can do better than this!

Dear Ludwig,

It is good that 600 jobs have been saved
at the Geelong plant. Which means in
today's global economic situation they
will continue to manufacture the cars
mentioned.

This will give them time to re-structure
the factory to the manufacture of more
economic vehicles. If the plant would have
been closed, six hundred jobs would have
been lost, which would have been disastrous
for the Geelong area.

So, it is better to wait and give them time
to adjust in better economic times.

I agree Foxy that the most urgent thing is to save the plant. Then of course some profound restructuring should be demanded, as it becomes feasible within the changing economic climate….or with very substantial government financial assistance.

But it seems that Rudd and his cronies aren’t really interested in this second step. There is no indication that this plant will be required to significantly restructure its operations in line with Rudd’s climate change policy.

Incompetence is all around.
When it was decided that lead compounds in petrol were causing health problems was the time for government car fleets to be electric.
Instead it was compulsory catalytic converters on all new cars to delay the needed change.
From the beginning the car industry and government controllers have got it wrong.
From the very start petrol engines were made inefficient by the controlling of engine power with an intake throttle.
Mistake after mistake up to now.
Our leaders do not understand and seem unable to learn.

Dear Ludwig,

Things take time. They can't do it
if they can't afford it. First things
first.

Save the plant, the jobs, and then
let's see what happens.

Ludwig,
While I share your concern Foxy does have a point. Do you have any idea how much capital is needed in both Ford and their suppliers to change from big 6's to efficient 4's Retooling would be in the $100's of millions for Ford alone then comes non productive set up etc. there is usually about 5year lead time. That is assuming they have the money which Given Detroit's problems I doubt it.

I still stand on my mental machinations about having smaller companies making many different cars rather than what you rightly call dinosaurs. By analogy do we really need to put all that capital in juggernauts with all their limitations? I wonder if any perceived bulk buy efficiency in car monoliths is real or imagined (theoretical alone)? Consider flexibility and all our eggs in limited baskets? Do we want cheap inefficient cars or do we want jobs and a future? What do you think? I'd be interested to read your thoughts.