Ford makes it plain: replacements on way

Press, 24 March 1988, Page 52

Ford makes it plain: replacements on way

BEHIND the WHEEL with

Peter Greenslade

Every New Zealander who has access o a daily newspaper, and is sufficiently interested, already knows that the Telstaf/ TXS run-out is on at present, I

Ford New Zealand, Ltd, almost certainly, the best marketer in the motpr business, has changed its stance of model run-outs since an Australian, Bill Hartigan, took, over [as managing director of the now Auckland-based company. Stock clearances at reduced prices ■ are the order of the day w’h'en Ford products are reaching the end of their model Jives. The inference to be drawn from these run-out advertising campaigns [is, of course, that a replacement model range is well down the slipway and jdst about to be launched. ■’ A glance at those big, bold full-page newspaper advertisements telegraphs the message loud and clear. I This is, of course/ a straight up-and-down marketing ploy that has been in vogue in Australia, at least, for .a long time, and the follow-on : by Ford New Zealand tends to suggest that it has been Har-tigan-inspired. While a newspaperman's prediction that Ford is about to introduce a new model range mightraise the blood pressure of the top brass, apparently - everyone slefeps easy, in spite of it having been advertised that the. company is engaged in a run-out programme. The point is-that such a programme I can’t ' [be carried [on fob too long and it ! can't |[ really [be stopped until the company and its dealers : have ridded themselves of the old models and have everything in place to sell the replacements from the morning after the run-out programme er ds. It is all a matter of timing, '[ I . I For Ford, the market leader, this is a critical period. Whereas the smart sportsman or I sportswoman has the sense to quit when at the top, instead of continuing to become a has-been, that commonsense approach has no place in the a'uto-

motive business world. If you are on the top, you must sweat blood, if needs be, to stay; there. - In fact,' there is no way in which Reyn Penny,, director of sales and marketing, and his vehicle marketing manager, Ashley Waugh, would leave Ford with a gap to fill in the market, particularly when their company is only a few cars ahead of General Motors in sales at this early stage in the year. - 1 So, even if nothing can be said about a Telstar/ TXS replacement line, Ford New Zealand has certainly furnished the car-buying public with sufficient information for it to assume that the, cars are not far away from dealers’ showrooms.. , I Last week the motoring press corps flew by helicopter from Ford’s Manu-: kau City headquarters to the Glen Oaks stud at Cambridge. While the aristocrats of the racing world, J carefully segregated, . rather haughtily regarded the motoring journalists from afar, at I closer quarters the Ford people delivered a message w’hich was all good news, until they let it be known that there would be an embargo on the replacement story to a. date which honour forbids being divulged. Even the resourceful marketing man, Mr Penny suggested that the Vehicle Assemblers of New Zealand, or V.A.N.Z.. Ford and Mazda assembly plant which we were to visit the following dav would pro-

vide the basis for a good story. 7 Even though ! I the V.A.N.Z. plant will: have an assembly capacity of 112 cars a day when it gets to full production, and features robotisation and ’other modern technology, the journalists; were discontentedly unmoved by Mr Penny’s suggestion. Having driven back to Manukau City (in a Isorry, honour forbids me to tell), the following morning: we

visited a [very [ [tidy V.A.N.Z: plant which even has a number of ijpot plants scattered about it to lighten the rather heavy industrial [ atmosphere which pervades car assembly plants. |! [ I i The showpieces I were, of course,- the 15 gantrymounted robots I w’hich handle spot welding’ in the bodyshop, and the [BEHR robotic spray system that is the feature of the paint shop. However, provided the paint finish is up’ to a standard generally acceptable to the car-jbuying public, it is doubtful if anyone I gives [ a hoot whether the job !is accomplished by a robotic spray, which provides a constant stream of. evenly [ distributed paint, or by[hand[ [ All the average carbuyer wants is an [attractive, reliable car’ fitting his or her lifestyle at an affordable price.- j I [ Affordable is the, key word, for it is ! the mainspring that triggers a buying decision. |

j If Vittorio Ghidella, managing director of Fiat, is to be believed, his company agonised for ‘months over the question of using robots in the construction of the brilliant new Alfa Romeo 164 saloon which, initially at least, will be produced in relatively low numbers, although ' certainly in thousands greater than the optimum output of the V.A.N.Z. plant. I ' I I Ford and most other assemblers are, in] fact, at present rather pessimistic about production volumes over the next couple of years and believe that they are likely !to decrease. i

On that basis, one might question the wisdom of the decision to i go for robotisation. However, un-

• ! Il) ' : • I | •’ * less 7 one knows all I the it is foolhardy to make a judgment. Conditions peculiar to [ltaly: will not bei the same as those in New Zealand! j , [ Mr Ghidellajis onj record as saying [ that conventional car assembly operations don’t [harmonise [with the Italian lifestyle, hence robotisation. Whether the [ same applies jin New! [Zealand! wheirej assembly plant worker turnover was once beyond belief, but is now extremely flow, according to Peter Shaw, president of V.A.N.Z., must remain a rriatjter for speculation. . To a certain [bxtent the existing happieii situation regarding turndyer is a by-pirdduct of [New Zealand’s! . unemployment situation. '![|. !, ’[ .’ i Certainly, those on the assembly plant [ floor — and' the V.A.N.Z. plant covers 22,580 [ square metres — appear I to be happily engaged in their various tasks. Mr Shaw dispelled the [general-im-pression that; they were untrained, explaining that every! new employee unjdertakes a training course andj iis rewarded in accordance with proficiency. ■ [i The traditional image of car assembly workers monotonously [ : turning bolts is a:thing of the past at ViA.N.Z. where employees are j trained to perform a variety of tasks under cleafi and congenial working conditions. Apart from [an apparently [ contented workforce,; .other ;[interesting features included a partly dismantled 1988 Australian [Ford Falcon; which was apparently [being used as a guinea pig: for Ford’s New j Zealand!' suppliers, who will deliver local content in the shape of components to be used in the assembly operation. ;[) i i Id- I ■ One can safely predict that; it won’t [be long before! the hew [! Falcon .is [rolling along'oiir roads.

Also there were a number! of brand; spanking new; Mazda 626 s scattered about the I plant. i Will Mazda beat Ford to the:! draw -with, its new model range? | Now, there’s an: Ifinterestirig question! Ill■ | ! ;!