Australia mulls legislation to bail out Ford Credit

The Australian government is planning a legislation supporting a special fund for car dealers after Ford Credit warned it might withdraw from the country.

"The government has been advised that the possible departure of Ford Credit from Australia would seriously jeopardise thousands of jobs, most of which are in regional areas, not only across the Ford dealership network, but in the Australian car industry more broadly," Treasurer Wayne Swan said in a statement.

The future of 230 dealers and the jobs of thousands of employees have been thrown into disarray by Ford Credit's difficulty in tapping finance to lend to car dealers, Swan, said last night.

To prevent Ford Credit's departure, the government is seeking support for a special vehicle set-up with the major banks to provide emergency finance for car dealers.

As per the plan, the government will support the banks as co-lenders in the OzCar facility, which was established in December after GE Money and GMAC said they would pull out of the country.

"Failure to pass this bill risks the departure of Ford Credit and the loss of thousands of Australian jobs in the automotive industry," Swan said.