Ford closes plants in Australia

Ford Motor Co. ended 91 years of car manufacturing in Australia on Friday, with the remaining two Australian carmakers due to close their doors next year. Ford Australia said it built the world’s last six-cylinder, rear-wheel drive Falcon XR6 at its Broadmeadows plant in Melbourne and 600 employees lost their jobs. Ford, General Motors and Toyota announced in 2013 that they were quitting Australia and shedding 6,600 jobs because of high production costs, distance from potential export markets and increasing competition.