Car price hikes not likely

Ford Australia axed 212 jobs on Friday from its two Victoria plants. Photo / Supplied

The motor industry does not believe the end of Ford production in Australia will lead to price rises for New Zealanders.

"Holden won't increase their prices because they are in the same boat," Motor Trade Association spokesman Ian Stronach said in reference to a market trend away from large cars.

"The balance of production has shifted," he said after Ford announced it will stop making Falcon and Territory SUVs in Australia from late 2016.

Mr Stronach, a former General Motors official, said large cars had fallen from forming the biggest segment of New Zealand's new vehicle market in 2006 to the smallest.

Motoring writer Peter Gill said Holden would be unable to stay competitive if it lifted prices for Commodores.

Matt Greenop, editor of the Herald's motoring magazine Driven, said the writing had long been on the wall for Ford's Australian-made cars and noted that most of the brand's vehicles on New Zealand roads were now coming from factories in Europe and Thailand. Production would also start soon in India of a new compact Ford SUV.