Opinion: Could Ford Australia have been saved?

This morning 600-odd Australians woke up as Ford Australia employees for the very last time.

Today they will all play a part in one of the most momentous occasions for the local automotive industry. As some have done for decades, they will don their blue and hi-viz overalls, pick-up their tools and bolt together a Ford Falcon - or two - and a Territory SUV - or two.

When the whistle blows, there will be cheers. There will be beers. And there will be plenty of tears.

By that time, the very last Ford models to be built in Australia will roll off the Broadmeadows production line; a blue XR6 Falcon followed by a white Territory SUV and then, finally, another blue, V8-powered XR8 Sprint; the 3,853,437th Australian-made Falcon.

It is a travesty considering the blue oval's local legacy extends back to 1925 and has, since then, been etched into our national psyche. Ford has been in threaded throughout our modern history, from pop culture icons to prime ministerial limousines and from taxis to Bathurst winners but most importantly as the backbone of affordable family transport. We've all experienced a Falcon in some form.

Not only will the closure of Ford's local manufacturing operations affect those factory workers that haven't managed to transition into another role with the blue oval's burgeoning research and development and engineering divisions that will continue to operate, it starts a ripple effect that will, by the end of next year, also account for Holden and Toyota workers in South Australia and Victoria respectively, not to forget thousands more involved in the supply chain of parts and services to the industry.

I feel for those that will be unemployed tomorrow afternoon. And I feel for those blue-blooded Ford fans that have championed the brand for decades, particularly those hardened enthusiasts cheering on the Falcon racers in this weekend's Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama.

It will be a sad day.

Ford has been an innovator in Australia - and for Australians - over the last 91 years, developing the Coupe Utility (the Ute) as long ago as the 1930s, creating the country's first muscle car with the GT Falcon in the late 1960s and the Falcon-based Territory remains our only domestically-produced SUV.

But it wasn't innovative enough to save itself. It tried, numerous times cup-in-hand to its masters in Detroit to build the Falcon in left-hand drive and open itself up to export markets. But it got knocked back every time. It tried, predicting the massive growth in SUVs and developed the Territory. But it got left behind pretty quickly. It tried, responding to increased petrol prices and the perception that its cars were gas guzzlers, creating a fuel-sipping Falcon with a modern four-cylinder turbo engine. But it was too little too late. It tried, recognising the swing to small cars and hurried a plan to assemble the Focus hatchback in Australia. But it couldn't compete with the lower labour costs of our Asian neighbours.

There has been some smart people at Ford Australia, from the corner office all the way into the trenches of the factories. But there has also been some snoozers too that held their head in the sand for way too long.

The government has also played a pivotal role in the success and failure of the local car industry. It protected it for a long time; applying heavy tariffs to imported vehicles that have slowly been eroded; giving grace to our low-tech engines by being a step behind Europe and America on emission output regulations; applying a luxury car tax on vehicles costing more than a top-grade Falcon or Commodore at the time; and handing over billions of dollars in financial support, tax concessions and engineering incentives. But then the Abbott/Hockey government pulled the umbilical cord and the car industry could no longer stand on its own feet.

Could it have been saved? That is a vexed question. Yes, Australia is one of the only countries in the developed world that, now, does not offer government assistance to domestic car manufacturing. Yes, Australia is one of only a handful of countries that drives on the left-hand side of the road. Yes, our way of life has created high labour costs. And, yes, Ford could have predicted seismic market shifts earlier.

But there is no use pointing fingers. The automotive world is changing at such a rapid rate through new technologies – safety innovations, fuel-economy improvements, connectivity and electric cars – that is impossible to see how we could have kept up with it anyway, particularly without co-investment and considering there hasn't been a stable (or mature enough) political environment on which to build long-term sustainable energy and/or scientific development policies that could factor in where the car industry would be 20 years out.

As tragic as it is, personally I think tomorrow was inevitable.