Support us and support 200,000 jobs: Toyota, Holden and Ford to government

[HSE2]

The three car makers operating in Australia, Holden, Toyota and Ford, have defended the level of government assistance they receive and said that their sector helps employ a huge number of local jobs.

News Limited reports that Mike Devereux, Holden Australia’s chairman, has hit out at claims that the company has had to enforce redundancies lately because nobody wants to buy the Holden Cruze.

"I'm going to say a word here -- you can print it -- it pisses me off when people say that because it is factually, blatantly, irresponsibly untrue," he told News.

"There are 180 passengers car, only three sell better than the Cruze."

The level of government support given to Holden has been a topic of debate lately, after Devereux revealed earlier in April that the car maker had received over $2 billion in support over the last 12 years and then announced 500 job cuts shortly after this.

The three car manufacturers in Australia employ 17,000 people directly, with the total automotive industry creating 55,000 jobs (with 200,000 jobs supported indirectly).

The chief operating officer of Toyota Australia, the best seller of the three, threatened that Toyota would go elsewhere if Australians didn’t support his employer.

"There's a whole host of countries around the world vying for Toyota's investment or investment from other companies," David Buttner said.

The level of support by taxpayers is expected to be a point of debate between the federal government and Coalition opposition leading up to the election, with industry minister Greg Combet claiming the opposition would destroy automotive industry jobs if elected.

The opposition has announced that it would find $500 million in savings from automotive subsidies and refer support to the Productivity Commission.

Car manufacturers have defended levels of support as comparatively weak.

"If you look at Australia the support here is a little bit less than $18 per person compared to significantly higher amounts in other countries around the world,” said Bob Graziano from Ford Australia.

"Without that assistance, it would be difficult to see the industry surviving."

http://www.manmonthly.com.au/news/su...-toyota-holden

[Falc'man]

You'd think being on an island we'd be sticking with one another. But because we're on an island we can't see the reality of our situation, i.e., there's a big difference between handouts, and co-investments.

Governments threaten, promise, impose policies, and pull the wool, for the main objective of just staying in parliament, lining the purses, complemented by the media's sensationalism and drama about a storm in a teacup, not to mention the lies, does very little to improve consumer confidence.

In a nutshell - on their own, the negativity and unwarranted criticism can bring car makers to halt. Ford Capri is an example of that

More of the above articles should be flooding the web. That's what should happen when no ulterior motives dictate what an "Australian" journalist prints if he is loyal to his country's well-being.

[Road_Warrior]

You'd think being on an island we'd be sticking with one another. But because we're on an island we can't see the reality of our situation, i.e., there's a big difference between handouts, and co-investments.

Governments threaten, promise, impose policies, and pull the wool, for the main objective of just staying in parliament, lining the purses, complemented by the media's sensationalism and drama about a storm in a teacup, not to mention the lies, does very little to improve consumer confidence.

In a nutshell - on their own, the negativity and unwarranted criticism can bring car makers to halt. Ford Capri is an example of that

More of the above articles should be flooding the web. That's what should happen when no ulterior motives dictate what an "Australian" journalist prints if he is loyal to his country's well-being.

Indeed I've tried to make sense of the self flagellation that people and politicians engage in when it comes to our industries. And the agricultural sector for that matter. I'm not a shrink, but what gives? It is like this is a country full of consumer oriented wankers who live for today and don't care about tomorrow. Problem is, we've never really fallen on hard times (in living memory) like other countries, so we've never really seen the value of a primary producer.

[Airmon]

Throw in the fact that Governments are pulling billions in funding from Universities, where do they expect people to be working in 10years from now? No Manufacturing (speaking of the broader manufacturing industry, not just Automotive), less professionals. Should we all grab a shovel and head to the mines? Because that's stable.....

They want manufacturing to switch to high-quality bespoke parts in smaller quantities. That's great, Australia has that capacity to make high precision parts, but its not labor intensive. And it requires high capital, where do they expect these investments to come from?

Not to mention the increasing threat on other industries! I'm with Mike, it pisses me off!