South Australia car industry workers urged to plan futures after Ford's announcement Victoria's manufacturing industry is in crisis, with Ford pulling the plug on its local operations End of the road: Ford Australia assembly plant. Picture: Ian Currie Source: News Limited THE automotive components industry in South Australia and the 10,000-plus workers it employs have three years to plan for a more secure future, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union says. While Ford's announcement marked a "black day for the Australian automotive industry," knee-jerk reactions were best avoided, AMWU's SA secretary John Camillo said. "For the component makers here in South Australia and their suppliers and the 10,000 plus employees, it's a chance to look at consolidation or working in different industries," he said. Most of the component manufacturers are based in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales - in that order. There are close to 20 direct suppliers to Holden, Ford and Toyota - and an unknown number of second and third tier suppliers in South Australia, the union said. Major suppliers include the for-sale Futuris Automotive, Tenneco Australia (and its subsidiaries Walker Australia, Monroe Australia and Monroe Springs Australia) and SMR Australia. Futuris Automotive owner Elders said it was assessing the impact on the business and its sale process. "Ford Australia sales account for approximately 25 per cent of Futuris' global sales and approximately 220 direct and staff personnel," CEO Malcolm Jackman said. Tenneco and SMR Australia declined to comment. Premier Jay Weatherill said about seven companies here supplied parts to Ford Australia. Ford is a small percentage of their total work. However, the State Government will liaise with them to understand the potential impact," he said. Greg Lowe, manager of SA auto parts supplier TI Automotive and state president of the Federation of Automotive Products Manufacturers, said for every automotive job, there are six related jobs created in the industry. Workers at Autodom's AiAutomotive facility at Woodville have a bigger axe hanging over their jobs now, with administrator McGrathNicol refusing to rule out a consolidation of the struggling group's three facilities. The auto metal parts supplier has been in administration since November last year, shedding 15 per cent of the 400 jobs across the group since then.