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MELBOURNE - Car maker Ford is cutting 10 per cent of its Australian workforce, slashing 640 jobs from its Victorian factories in voluntary redundancies.
The company says it is a reaction to shifting consumer demand, but unions say Australia's car industry is struggling to keep pace internationally.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) has described the move as a major blow.
AMWU national secretary Doug Cameron said Australia's car industry was "under pressure from globalisation, it's under pressure because of the logistics and structure of the industry. There needs to be more innovation".
Cameron said the federal Government needed to intervene to protect the long-term interests of the car-manufacturing industry.
"It's very disappointing that more manufacturing jobs are being lost. We are losing over 1200 jobs a week," he said. "We are very concerned that the federal Government has got no vision and no plan for the industry."
Cameron has urged the federal Government to meet industry representatives to protect the future of its workers.
Ford spokeswoman Sinead McAlary told the ABC the decision was a direct result of the changing market, currently dictated by rising fuel costs and new products.
"Market demand is affected by a number of things," McAlary said.
"Primarily the large cars have been affected significantly by the rising petrol prices and also by the extremely competitive nature of the Australian new vehicle sales market."
McAlary said the employees would receive redundancy packages competitive with industry standards.
"We are still investing in Australia, we are still planning to build the next Falcon," McAlary told Fairfax. "It is simply about making our production rates and the size of our business match what is current market demand."
Last month, Ford said soaring petrol prices caused fewer sales of its large vehicles and cut its large vehicle production from 65 an hour to 52 an hour.
- AAP
