The last 10 cars to roll off the assembly line on Friday morning mark the long-awaited end of the company's 91 years of manufacturing cars in Australia.

Simultaneously, Holden also edged closer to its exit from local car-making, with Friday marking the end of production of the Cruze model at its plant in Adelaide. The move has led to about 270 redundancies at Holden.

On Friday morning, from 9.30am, Ford's remaining workers at Broadmeadows were connected via video link with their colleagues from the historic Ford engine plant in Geelong as part of a private ceremony.

The send-off was held behind closed doors, and only production staff were able to attend. Staff began their final departure through the factory gates soon after 10.30am.

Sad day

"A sad day for Australia. A sad day for manufacturing," said Ford worker Bill Lozanovski, who has been at the Broadmeadows plant for 12 years.

"We've spent the morning with farewells, hugs and kisses, coffees, people taking photos of the last car ... What's next for me? I don't know at this stage."

Nick Doria began crying as he walked out from the sprawling factory for the last time after 22 years.

"We've got to move on. We're finished, and now it's time to head off," he said.

"There are a lot of tears in there."

Mr Doria said he hoped to eventually find new employment, but feared for the futures of many of his workmates.

"I'm a diesel mechanic by trade, hopefully I'll get something else ... a lot of the guys here can't read or write or use computers, though. They're going to struggle."

Dignified departure

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union's Dave Smith said the Ford workers had handled themselves with "magnificent dignity".

"They are truly quality people who have built quality cars in this country for many, many years, he said.

"Hopefully our members will be given a chance in other industries and continue to contribute the way they have."

But Mr Smith said the devastating and large-scale job losses "couldn't come at a worse time".

"Many of these works will struggle to find work," he said. "There are simply not enough jobs to absorb job losses at this scale."

Thousands unemployed

In Victoria alone, car manufacturing closures risk wiping out as many as 6500 jobs across the economy, according go the latest state government modelling.

More than half of the state's 137 auto parts suppliers have so far failed to diversify away from cars, meaning many will be forced to lay off staff and many will have to close down entirely.

Victorian Industry Minister Wade Noonan said Friday as a "very sad day" for Ford and its employees, some of whom had spent their entire working lives there.

"Our thoughts are with them, their families and many others in Ford's supply chain who will also be affected by the closure," he said.

And new research, released this week, paints a troubling picture of the challenges facing thousands of workers who will be "left stranded" by the end of the car manufacturing industry.

Lives unravelling

The Australian Catholic University's longitudinal study, of 400 auto workers, found nearly 90 per cent have not begun searching for new jobs outside of the sector. The average age of employees in the industry is 50 years old, and the average length of service with the one employer is 19 years.

"These long-term, secure jobs have been the lifeblood of the auto industry, and in many cases, all these workers have known – the mental impact of this unraveling can't be understated," lead researcher Tom Barnes said.

"The government has a key role in matching these job seekers with the right job opportunities and support to get decent-quality manufacturing jobs. We can't just rely on jobs in high growth sectors like healthcare, aged care and other service-sector roles."

In early 2014, the Productivity Commission estimated that the end of local car making would cost 40,000 jobs nationwide.

Union officials on Friday strongly condemned the failures of governments to grasp "just how crucial" manufacturing is to the broader economy.

Goaded to leave

"In their eagerness to sign free trade deals and embrace trickle-down economics they took their hands off the wheel and let the market rip through factories like these," Mr Smith said.

He said former federal Coalition treasurer Joe Hockey of "goading" the nation's remaining car makers, Holden and Toyota, to leave.

And he accused the Turnbull government of "refusing to lift a finger" to help the affected auto workers, after slashing $700 million from a scheme that was set up to help suppliers diversify away from cars.

"There has never been a worse time to be an Australian vehicle builder," he said.

Ford's 600 direct employees will walk away with, on average, about $150,000 each - more than two years' pay.

The company has been manufacturing in Australia since 1925, starting in Geelong, before opening the Broadmeadows plant in 1959.

Ford Australia president Graeme Whickman said the company had invested heavily to help generate new employment in the Broadmeadows and Geelong regions, and had attempted to give retrenched staff the "best chance" to move on.

He said more than 50 per cent of retrenched Ford workers had undertaken retraining, and every employee had access to outreach centres.

"Some are retiring, some are retraining, some are being redeployed ... we have redeployed over 160," he said."Someone is training to be a pastor, someone is now a scuba-diving instructor. We have seen some very interesting changes in careers."

Ford will continue to employ about 1500 staff in development, engineering and design, located at Broadmeadows, its research and development centre in Geelong and its Lara testing ground.

Federal Industry Minister Greg Hunt said Friday was the end of an era but also marked the beginning of a new phase for Australia's auto sector, in providing work-leading expertise in vehicle design, engineering and advanced manufacturing.

"Later this month I will be heading to the United States and Japan to send a clear message to the global headquarters of Ford, General Motors and Toyota that Australia is committed to the automotive sector and we have the workers and skills they need," Mr Hunt said.

"We are determined to ensure that despite its changing nature, Australia will continue to have a strong automotive industry in the future."