The Australian car industry will not survive the downturn, expert says

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by flappist

If you would like to see high tech plants, look an the VW one in China and the Ford one in Brazil.

The Aussie car industry cannot be destroyed by this little hickup, it was destroyed in 1987 and befor that it was destoyed in the late 70s and before that it was destroyed in the 60s.

Doom and gloom always sell newspapers.

I have the perfect cure for this whole problem.

If everyone in Australia stopped advertising in the newspapers and on radio and TV to save money because of the "world economic crisis" suddenly it would be gone and the media would be full of "recovery stories" and good news and happly little vegemites.....

And then this totally imaginery manufactured crisis would just go away....

just heard on the news . 1700 aussie jobs gone at qantas due to fall in air travel.

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by Luke Plaizier

He is a little bit right - about the cost of labour that is.

The Australian Government enforces the Award Wages scheme on Australian employers, to ensure that all Australians are paid a minimum wage.

But items that are imported into Australia are not regulated by these same laws. I too would move my factory to another country - why wouldn't you?

A solution to this could be that any company that import goods and services into Australia should be forced to demonstrate that they have paid their employees the minimum Australian award wage.....but it's not like that's ever going to happen now is it.

How about this one. We need for Earth to be attacked by Aliens, forcing us to all unite against a common foe, and form a single worldwide government. Maybe then we could have a way for globally enforcing a minimum wage.....that seems more realistic don't you reckon?


Lukeyson

how about this one . my wifes family are farmers . stone fruit and vegetables . they are only allowed to shoot 30 flying foxes per year, because fruit foxes have a right to eat thier fruit . , the govt charge them $600 per year for rain , as they own thier own dam. when asked the greenies ( regulators how they can prevent 10 000 peaches of loss per year from fruit batts , thereply was put nets over the farm . cost $300 000. reply from farmers we may as well shut shop , because imported peaches are not fruit batt free like australian ones . along with not allowed to clear fire breaks to thier property anymore because of global warming . they are waiting for the fire that will burn from wisemans ferry to brooklyn .
i asked if farmers will one day go on the dole rather than farm one day . they beieve it's not to far away . as commen sense is all but gone in australia .

[Fordman1]

The GM Bankruptcy situation has now gone from possibility to probability.

I think it's going to get Nasty at GMH.

This could cause a melt down of the entire Australian Industry. Not good !!

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by Barraxr8

The GM Bankrupcy situation has now gone from possibility to probability.

I think it's going to get Nasty at GMH.

This could cause a melt down of the entire Australian Industry. Not good !!

just my opinion . but i dont see GM going broke . someone else will buy it or bail it out .

[PALE ALE]

As a former Mitsubishi employee, I can remember in about 1996 going to a stop work meeting, where management informed us that for the very first time imported cars had outsold domestic cars
About two months ago i'm sitting in the waiting room at the dentist, I happen to pick up a Wheels/Motor magazine(cant remember which one), where it stated that 1 million+ cars were sold in Aus last year, 800,000+ of them were imported cars
"blind Freddy" can see that it is only a matter of "when" not "if".The current economic situation has just accelerated it
You can thank the Hawke/Keating government, and in particular, senator John Button, because it was his policy(Button car plan),that started to reduce tariffs on imported cars, and set the course, for the end of the Australian car industry, and manufacturing in this country
My beer fridge in the shed still has a union sticker on it that reads "ZERO TARIFFS=ZERO JOBS, defend Australia's car industry!" Ain't that the truth!

[Noddy]

Quote of a post from Ls1 made by Holden Factory Rep.

[This one is right out of the box! We wouldn't normally offer a view on this sort of thing from the factory but a few basic questions need to be asked.

Firstly, what constitutes an expert? So CMW has published a car book. What else? What data is he basing his views on when happily sounding the death knell for Australian car makers? Has he worked for a car company, been on a car launch or spoken to our executives? No. Does he have access to company business plans? No. Our finances? No. Does he even live in Australia? Um, a Kiwi. So what gives this one person the right to call ‘time’ on an entire industry with more than 60,000 jobs at stake? Shameless self-promotion at our expense is repugnant and should be held up for what it is. For the record, Holden has had the best selling car in the country for 13 consecutive years and we’re not going anywhere. We’re in there fighting in a pretty tough global environment. And luckily, we won’t be discouraged by bystanders.]

[4Vman]

Originally Posted by flappist

If you would like to see high tech plants, look an the VW one in China and the Ford one in Brazil.

The Aussie car industry cannot be destroyed by this little hickup, it was destroyed in 1987 and befor that it was destoyed in the late 70s and before that it was destroyed in the 60s.

Doom and gloom always sell newspapers.

I have the perfect cure for this whole problem.

If everyone in Australia stopped advertising in the newspapers and on radio and TV to save money because of the "world economic crisis" suddenly it would be gone and the media would be full of "recovery stories" and good news and happly little vegemites.....
And then this totally imaginery manufactured crisis would just go away....

Pretty much it in a nutshell.. its not the first time things have been tough and it wont be the last.. we seemed to survive all the other rough periods ok.. these things go in cycles.. the length of the cycle is usually controlled by the doomsayers and media, make them inefective at spreading their negative rhetoric and i bet things turn around quickly.

[SB076]

Just read an article http://money.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=801092 basically Holden are suggesting the author of the orignial article doesnt have all his facts.

[Melz]

Just heard the report on the news about this apparent 'expert' and found out he is the guy that rights the "Dog and Lemon Guide"...
Now I've read that book, and if you believe anyword his says (which i don't ) you would never buy a car! He bags out just about everything.

[TZENU]

An economy has its ups and downs... I would wait and see before pulling your hair out!

[Wally]

Originally Posted by dave289

............. They went and gave 35 million to toyota but not to ford or holden, so it looks like they are helping to kill the australian car market in more ways than one. ......

How does giving grants to Toyota help kill the Oz car market?

[Quicksand]

Originally Posted by SB076

Just read an article http://money.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=801092 basically Holden are suggesting the author of the orignial article doesnt have all his facts.

Yer and again here: http://www.news.com.au/business/stor...30-462,00.html

The car industry has come out strong against this guy.

[steamin63]

Originally Posted by RG

I love it, people bagging out a so called expert for having limited knowledge while drawing their own conclusions on the situation despite having no more knowledge themselves.

Irony much?

i would suggest that some of the people bagging out the so called "expert" have more knowledge of our automotive industry than the "expert" has. don't be so quick to ridicule people because the dare express their opinions. some of them actually know what they are talking about. cheers.

[dave289]

Originally Posted by Wally

How does giving grants to Toyota help kill the Oz car market?

by putting ford and holden behind the eight ball by giving toyota the 35 million, thats how....wally
It should have been granted to ford and holden first, f#9%# toyota.

[alter_EGOXR]

Originally Posted by duaned

All I can say is go out and splurge on a new aussie made car now, before they are gone for good!

yep well said mate...soon new cars will be fwd pos :(

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by dave289

by putting ford and holden behind the eight ball by giving toyota the 35 million, thats how....wally
It should have been granted to ford and holden first, f#9%# toyota.

Ford have access to this money (the green car fund), also they have access to many grants from the government. The I6 is subsidised by the government, Ford also got 50million in 06 to keep operations running (and to convert the Falcon to LHD, which was then scrapped).

Ford and Holden get plenty of money from the government so they aren't starved of if....mind you the alloytec was rejected of funding.

[last fairlane]

Didnt Mitsubishi get millions from the government back in 2005/6 and promptly closed up shop sacked the workers and pist (my spelling) off back to Japan?

[Wally]

Originally Posted by dave289

by putting ford and holden behind the eight ball by giving toyota the 35 million, thats how....wally
It should have been granted to ford and holden first, f#9%# toyota.

I can understand you have certain preferences, but how is Toyota less deserving than Ford and Holden? They all have factories here, they are all owned by foreigners, they all employ locals, etc. I would suspect Toyota would sell just as well if they were fully imported and that would be sans local injection of wages and infrastructure.

As I understand it there is 6 billion taxpayer dollars to be shelled out to all three players.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by last fairlane

Didnt Mitsubishi get millions from the government back in 2005/6 and promptly closed up shop sacked the workers and pist (my spelling) off back to Japan?

They also gave the workers one of the best payouts in the Australian car industry.

[mik]

bring back higher tariffs, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING +JOBS COME FIRST.
would it be that easy?

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Noddy

Quote of a post from Ls1 made by Holden Factory Rep.

[This one is right out of the box! We wouldn't normally offer a view on this sort of thing from the factory but a few basic questions need to be asked.

Firstly, what constitutes an expert? So CMW has published a car book. What else? What data is he basing his views on when happily sounding the death knell for Australian car makers? Has he worked for a car company, been on a car launch or spoken to our executives? No. Does he have access to company business plans? No. Our finances? No. Does he even live in Australia? Um, a Kiwi. So what gives this one person the right to call ‘time’ on an entire industry with more than 60,000 jobs at stake? Shameless self-promotion at our expense is repugnant and should be held up for what it is. For the record, Holden has had the best selling car in the country for 13 consecutive years and we’re not going anywhere. We’re in there fighting in a pretty tough global environment. And luckily, we won’t be discouraged by bystanders.]

Thats all well and good but what will happen to Holden if GM go bankrupt. That is their biggest problem at the moment, not the GFC.

If the US Government takes control of GM, or provides bailout money, they have made it clear they will not send any money overseas. The way I see it is that Holden are now on their own, they will not get a cent more from GM.

[Windsor220]

There is no way Holden is going down. Ruddster wont allow it. Especially if Ford make it through. (IF!)

[4Vman]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Thats all well and good but what will happen to Holden if GM go bankrupt. That is their biggest problem at the moment, not the GFC.

If the US Government takes control of GM, or provides bailout money, they have made it clear they will not send any money overseas. The way I see it is that Holden are now on their own, they will not get a cent more from GM.

If Holden go under it will get hushed and swept under the rug... the first anyone will know is when they drop into their local dealer and its been cleared out to make way for a plant and pottery clearance sale....

[Dave_au]

Originally Posted by mik

bring back higher tariffs, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING +JOBS COME FIRST.
would it be that easy?

You mean impose a tax people for choosing otherwise (quality/quality + cost/low cost) as our local industry is (alledgedly) inept to provide the same.

I've had enough of Governments trying to dictate what I can and can't do, or what I can or can't afford.

[Walt Kowalski]

He's an x spurt alright.

A Kiwi drip

Should send Walt Kowalski after him

[RPO83]

Originally Posted by Dave_au

You mean impose a tax people for choosing otherwise (quality/quality + cost/low cost) as our local industry is (alledgedly) inept to provide the same.

I've had enough of Governments trying to dictate what I can and can't do, or what I can or can't afford.

Exactly.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Torxteer

There is no way Holden is going down. Ruddster wont allow it. Especially if Ford make it through. (IF!)

You reckon? Plenty of other companies either going os or shutting down. The government can't stop it from happening.

[GT69]

Well its time to go out and buy that XR you've been looking at boys and girls Dont buy second hand.....new all the way

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by Dave_au

You mean impose a tax people for choosing otherwise (quality/quality + cost/low cost) as our local industry is (alledgedly) inept to provide the same.

I've had enough of Governments trying to dictate what I can and can't do, or what I can or can't afford.

Amen brother.
You can only build the same kind of car that people are not wanting anymore and become arrogant to the market changes for a small period of time before you begin to lose market share.
Why should I have to buy a barge that I'd never use anyway just to keep someone in work? Why couldn't the locals read the market shift earlier and adjust to it (this includes the need for quality control and better product planning)? Sorry, imports for me until a decent local vehicle that suits my needs comes along.

[Ohio XB]

Originally Posted by Munroman

He's an x spurt alright.

A Kiwi drip

Should send Walt Kowalski after him

That gave me a good laugh. GREEEAAATTT movie, even though the Torino was never built in Michigan.....I'll let Clint slide on that one.

I can see Walt Kowalski becoming an iconic character.

"Now go on back to your mama and tell her you were speaking out of your *** again!"


Steve