FORD Australia will work with governments to see how it can contribute to a transition package for workers who lose their jobs in 2016, the company's president and CEO Bob Graziano says.

But Mr Graziano would not say how much Ford might contribute to the multimillion dollar government package.

Ford slammed the door on its Australian manufacturing business - and 1200 jobs - by email, after accepting a total of $1.1 billion in taxpayer cash over the past 12 years.

The final death knell was delivered by the motoring giant's Detroit board to the email inbox of Ford's Asia-Pacific president, Dave Schoch, on Wednesday night.

Workers were in tears when told that the Geelong and Broadmeadows factories would shut down in October 2016.

Decision to be felt by all Victorians

Awful situation needs care

Demise will resonate for many years

media_camera Disappointed Ford workers Daniel Campani, Mick Bee and Tony Anderson. Picture: Mike Keating

And there are fears another 2500 jobs will be lost in the car parts supply industry.

Ford announced a $141 million loss, bringing the total red ink to $600 million over the past five years.

Mr Graziano said Ford had crunched the numbers and not even a gold-plated government bailout would have saved the manufacturing jobs this time.

"I want to get with the governments to understand what they are proposing and then we will come back and work with them on it," he told the Nine Network when asked about a transition package for workers.

"I want to understand what they're doing so that we can understand what we can then do to contribute to that as well."

Victorian Premier Denis Napthine said Ford should help the transition of workers who have lost their jobs.

"The most important thing we now want to pursue with Ford is whether Ford will provide financial assistance with the federal and state governments for the transition to create new jobs in Geelong and in Broadmeadows," he told the Nine Network.

media_camera Henry Fuller says he feels ''gutted'' by the decision. Picture: Mitch Bear

Dr Napthine said he would visit Geelong today to meet union and community leaders, and Broadmeadows early next week.

Yesterday, Mr Graziano admitted it was "difficult news" for staff, but added: "They're professionals and I think they were quite appreciative that I lived up to my commitment to tell them before we told anyone else, and as soon as the decision was taken."

Ford has received $1.1 billion in state and federal handouts since 2000 - and the taxpayer cash continued with $51 million pledged to retrain sacked workers and support suppliers.

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Prime Minister Julia Gillard said it was a "distressing day" and called on Ford to make a "significant contribution" to a retraining fund.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott called it a black day for manufacturing, while AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said yesterday could well be remembered as the day the car industry began to die in Australia.

Mr Abbott today said greater exports were the way forward for the local car industry.



Mr Abbott said it was a tragedy that Ford, unlike Toyota, never had an export plan.

media_camera Ford Australia President and CEO Bob Graziano making the dismal announcement. Picture: Glenn Daniels

"If you're going to economically make cars in Australia you've got to export the bulk of them."

Mr Abbott said for manufacturing to be viable, costs needed to be kept down with lower taxes, less regulation and higher productivity.

Mr Schoch forwarded the email from Detroit bosses advising of the closure of Ford's manufacturing plants to Mr Graziano from the lounge at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport, while he was waiting for a flight back to Shanghai after meeting with federal Industry Minister Greg Combet.

He had warned Mr Combet that the company and its Broadmeadows and Geelong plants were under pressure, but the bullet was delivered to workers at 9am yesterday in the canteen.

Mr Graziano said making cars here was four times dearer than in Asia and twice as expensive as in Europe.

Last year Australia imported 171,000 vehicles from Thailand, the second-biggest source of new vehicles after Japan.

In return, Ford Australia exported just 100 Territory SUVs. The Australian market has been flooded with cheaper imported cars as the Australian dollar has soared.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union warned Ford's cuts could cause another 2500 job losses at suppliers.

Ford's closure will also put pressure on the future of Holden and Toyota's local manufacturing, but both companies said they were committed to their local operations.

There will be 650 jobs lost at Ford in Broadmeadows and 510 lost in Geelong.

But the engineering centre will remain, keeping 1500 jobs at Ford Australia.

Geelong's economy is expected to suffer with the closure of a major employer, which opened there in 1925.

AMWU vehicle division national secretary Dave Smith said he was in shock.

media_camera Workers at Ford's Broadmeadows plant contemplate their future Picture: Glenn Daniels

"This is a company that has been here 80-odd years and employed hundreds of thousands of Australians over that time," he said.

The Ford Falcon badge will be retired when the factories close in October 2016.

Legendary Ford V8 racing driver Dick Johnson, linked with the Falcon brand for decades, said he was extremely disappointed.

"It is a sad day - but at the end of the day everyone is in business to make money," he said.

But the company's historic sponsorship of the Geelong Football Club will continue.

Ford will continue to produce 148 cars a day until it closes its doors, unless demand drops further.

Ford Falcons over the years

Meanwhile, Ford workers fear the skills honed in lifelong service at the Geelong and Broadmeadows plants will not be enough to find them jobs in an uncertain future.

"I feel gutted," said Henry Fuller, who has worked at Ford in Geelong for 25 years.

"In 2016, I'll be mid-50s, so for permanent employment it's going to be very hard, not a good outlook.

"I have a mortgage and I have a family, and I've been on the phone for most of the morning to my partner."

Most workers possess skills only for the manufacturing industry and, with many still unemployed from the last year's cutbacks, there are few local jobs.

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union representative Leigh Diehm said many workers faced unemployment or would be forced to move elsewhere for work.

"Unemployment in this state is high and they (the workers) are quite concerned about the future,"' he said.

"This will gut Geelong and gut Broadmeadows. The people living in these communities will be gutted."

Father of five Mick Bee, 48, from Corio, a maintenance fitter at Ford for more than 30 years, will start looking for a job.

But he said the chance of finding work in Victoria was low.

"I will try and find work in Geelong first. I am looking for a job that keeps my kids going to school but I don't know how I will go," he said.

"I don't want to go interstate. It will be hard on the family and not seeing them, but I will still have a mortgage to pay."

A $39 million rescue package has been offered to the Ford workers from the Federal and Victorian governments to help them find a new job, $30 million of that coming from Canberra.

But Dr Napthine warned there could be pain to come for firms that supply Ford.

"Clearly, there will be challenges for the supply chain and we will be immediately talking to key players to see what opportunities there are for them with GM (Holden) and Toyota, and also what opportunities there are for them to diversify their product or even export," he said.

State Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said Dr Napthine had short-changed workers with Victoria's $9 million contribution to the rescue package for Ford workers.

"At the very least, Denis Napthine should match the federal contribution," he said.

"These workers and their families are worth more than $9 million. One-off rescue packages are not a replacement for a comprehensive jobs plan."

Maintenance fitter Wayne Moore, 54, refused to let his will be broken by the announcement, and said he would continue to work at the plants until the doors closed in October 2016.

"It will sink in, tomorrow there may be anger," he said of his colleagues' reactions.

"We knew it was going to happen but it is a shock, so you sit down and think, 'What are we going to do?'.

"I am going to stay until the end. Someone needs to pull the place apart, and if I get that option I'll do that."

- with Alex White, Cameron Best and AAP



This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling



Originally published as Ford to help sacked workers