Last Ford Crown Vic rolls off production line

Ford shuts US factory amid flagging large-sedan sales
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The Ford Crown Victoria sedan – once a family favourite and then the car of choice among police and taxi operators in North America for more than three decades – has reached the end of the road.

And, in a chilling sign of the cold realities of the car business, the factory that built the car better known as 'the Crown Vic' is also going to be consigned to history. Ford is preparing to sell off the facility but, if there are no takers, the company will just lock the gates.

After 32 years and almost 10 million sales the last Crown Vic rolled off the St Thomas Ontario Canada production line yesterday (Thursday, Sept 15).

There was little fanfare and no special treatment for the white car with tan seats: it was off to one of the car's few export destinations, Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, where the car was still sold as a civilian model until its death.

Public sales of the Crown Vic in North America stopped some years ago, when only rental companies or police could buy it, then it eventually became a police-only order.

At its peak, 250,000 Crown Victorias and Lincoln Town Cars were made each year at St Thomas, but last year just 80,000 rolled off the line. With the factory closing, most of the 1200 workers will have to move to another Ford facility, or take a redundancy package.

"Production levels at the plant have declined by 60 per cent in the last decade as customer preferences shifted to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles," Ford North America said in its announcement.

Sound familiar? In Australia, Falcon production has dropped by 58 per cent since 1999 (70,000 sales then versus 29,500 in 2010, the Falcon's lowest annual tally on record since the model was introduced in 1960).

In another example of how pragmatic Ford has become since Alan Mulally took over as boss, the demise of the Crown Victoria also means that Ford of North America will be without a V8 sedan for the first time since 1932.

The axing of the Ford Crown Victoria does not automatically deliver a win for Holden's high export hope, the 'police' Caprice. Many police agencies across America stocked up on Ford Crown Victorias in the last few months. Police in Austin Texas sought permission from the county to buy a batch of 179 cars – five years' supply – so they didn't have to change the police equipment fitted to the cars.

Holden and Chevrolet are yet to announce sales results for the Australian-made 'police Caprice' but both parties say the initial take-up has been slow as police agencies across North America continue to assess the vehicle.

Holden probably isn't in a hurry to sell too many. At the current exchange rate between the Australian and US dollars, Holden would likely lose money on each one it exports.