Sensational-Adelaide.com

Bulldozer wrote:The problem with taking a purely economic view of tariffs is that it neglects the strategic importance of us having a manufacturing industry here. Manufacturing and designing cars requires a lot of skill and the facilities can serve a dual purpose - we can start cranking out military hardware if something bad happens. Which is what happened to all the car factories around the world during WWII. We're a geographically isolated country and so we really do need to be independent and retain the ability to manufacture things like that if the shit ever does hit the fan.

That being said, I know what a bastard it is to have the rug pulled out under you like that and lose your job. At least these workers have almost a couple of month's notice so they can start looking for work elsewhere.

Bulldozer wrote: Mitsubishi shot themselves in the foot with the 380 - trying to go up against Holden and Ford with a front wheel drive car, one with an ugly design and stupid name at that. They should have made it with a smaller engine or a factory gas or diesel option as well. Unfortunate, because all the reviewers reckon the 380 is a better car overall than the Holden and Ford offerings it was up against when it came out.

Bulldozer wrote: The future of car manufacturing in Australia lies in exports. The manufacturers need to find a niche and go for it. The previous Falcon platform wasn't capable of left-hand drive so Ford really didn't do themselves any favours there. I believe the new one will be though, so hopefully they can get some exports happening like Holden has. One thing Holden has going for it is that the Commodore platform is one of four for GM world-wide - the only rear-wheel drive one at that.

I think the government has an opportunity here to lure one of the new electric car start-ups like Tesla here to take over the Mitsubishi factory. Electric cars are the future and the whole world is going to want them. The government could buy the whole kit and kaboodle from Mitsubishi and lease it back to the new manufacturer.

Edgar wrote:Second, what's wrong with FWD? RWD isn't the best either if you don't know the psychics of applying correct total weight of the car over power it can produce. You don't certainly think the new Holden VE Commodore is one of the best handling car in the world don't you? Just because the Holden-fan-club automotive magazines in Australia are praising the national pride, it didn't mean the rest of the world did. Australians are so easily brain-washed because of our very limited media playing around with their resources.

What makes you think so? Our car export market is already suffering due to increase in costs, and also the strong Australian dollar over major trading currencies.

Bulldozer wrote:

Edgar wrote:Second, what's wrong with FWD? RWD isn't the best either if you don't know the psychics of applying correct total weight of the car over power it can produce. You don't certainly think the new Holden VE Commodore is one of the best handling car in the world don't you? Just because the Holden-fan-club automotive magazines in Australia are praising the national pride, it didn't mean the rest of the world did. Australians are so easily brain-washed because of our very limited media playing around with their resources.

What's wrong with it? I don't know, but you've got to be thick as a brick to think you can compete in the large car segment in Australia with FWD. Regardless of any merits it may have, FWD has a stigma here. It doesn't matter what the rest of the world thinks because the 380 was only being sold here, and in Australia the market's perception is that only gutless little shitboxes have FWD.

What makes you think so? Our car export market is already suffering due to increase in costs, and also the strong Australian dollar over major trading currencies.

That's why we have to target niche markets - so that the products command a premium price. Australia just can't compete on volume when it's up against countries like China, etc. We have to be like Ferrari, make a quality product that commands a large price or we have to be like Japan and go down the route of increased automation to lower labour overheads.

That's why I suggested manufacturing electric cars - they are a new product, command a premium price and loads of people around the world are going to want them because they're so much cheaper to run than an oil-powered car.

Shuz wrote:Well, thats logical really. While were at it, forward planning must be ensured that reservations are set aside adjacent the Main South and South Road for upgrading and widening of the roads in the near future, when we establish it as a expressway or freeway standard road. There should also be some land reserved for the duplication of the Tonsley rail corridor as well.

Firms jostle for Mitsubishi site
A COMPANY hoping to build the army's new fleet of trucks and another with a plan for hybrid cars are among the queue of hopefuls lining up to move into Adelaide's soon-to-be-vacant Mitsubishi car factory.

Tenders closed yesterday for the Tonsley Park site, and are believed to include a mining company, a computer manufacturer, and a US firm looking to launch a 300-job operation in Australia.

Defence manufacturer BAE Systems, the preferred bidder to supply the army with 7500 new trucks by 2016, is believed to have tendered for the site.

The British defence giant's factory near the Edinburgh RAAF Base, north of Adelaide, is too small to accommodate the truck contract, as is its recently purchased Tenix factory at Wingfield.

BAE could not be contacted yesterday, but its former managing director Peter Smith said it would need a new factory to build the army trucks.

Mr Smith said the Wingfield plant that came with BAE's takeover of Tenix in January was unsuitable for the project. "I don't think that's big enough so it's probable that they will need some space," he said.

Among BAE Systems' competitors for the Mitsubishi factory is a company hoping to build 30,000 hybrid cars a year.

The Universal Design Company wants to build motor bodies around imported hybrid engines, focusing on what it sees as a gap in the market worldwide - disabled-friendly taxis.

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union state secretary John Camillo said yesterday the company's boss, Chris Burrell, had pinpointed strong demand for taxis adapted for the disabled, especially in the US.

Mr Camillo said the proposal had been pitched to the SA Industry and Trade Department, but it would proceed only if UniCo was given $35million in federal and state funding. "All of the plant is there but it really needs the state Government and federal Government to back it," Mr Camillo said.

"I think it could be a goer. But if the Government's going to put $35 million down, he needs to show that it's a goer."

Mr Camillo said further details of the tenderers would be announced in the coming week, but he understood they included "defence trucks", a local manufacturer looking to expand at a new factory, and a mining firm.

A spokeswoman for Industry Minister Kim Carr said the federal and state governments were finalising details of a fund to attract industry to the Mitsubishi site.

Applications for industry assistance would be accepted after a deal was struck, which would happen "as soon as possible".

Mitsubishi announced in February it would close its Tonsley Park factory, in Adelaide's southern suburbs, at the end of this month.

Holden says jobs will be lost when it ends production of four-cylinder engines at Fisherman's Bend in Victoria, within 18 months.

But the company says it will try to absorb the workers into other areas of its manufacturing plant.

The company's managing director, Mark Reuss, says more than 500 jobs will be affected.

"We will spend the next 18 months working with those employees affected to minimise the impact on them, including investigating what redeployment possibilities may be possible," he said.

Ian Jones from the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union has questioned the timing of the announcement, given that an inquiry into the automotive industry is continuing.

"We would have thought it more appropriate to wait for the announcement to come once they understood all of the opportunities that have come out of that inquiry," he said.

Holden says its other operations, including the V6 engine plant at Fisherman's Bend, will not be affected.

Holden's executive director of manufacturing, Rod Keane, says the decision to end the production of the engines after 27 years was inevitable.

Adelaide plant
The AMWU's South Australian secretary, John Camillo, says he has been assured by Holden that the car-maker's assembly line at Elizabeth in Adelaide's north will not be affected by the announcement.

"As soon as the union found out about Holden's announcement this afternoon we got in contact with senior executive at Elizabeth, Rod Keane, and he assured us there'll be no job losses at the Elizabeth operations," he said.

But he says four South Australian component makers do supply the Melbourne plant.

"Our concerns at this stage is whether they'll be any job losses or whether any of those car components suppliers could close shop," he said.

"So the next few days or the next few weeks we'll be in a better position of finding out whether this has a minor effect or a major effect on those four car suppliers here in South Australia."

'Industry progression'

Federal Industry Minister Kim Carr says the job losses are part of the industry's natural progression towards more modern, greener technology.

He says he is concerned for the future of the workers who have lost their jobs.

"We want them to know that this Government [is] working with the international motor companies Toyota, General Motors and Ford to encourage new investment in the industry, and so we can open up new opportunities so we can see this industry move to a more sustainable basis," he said.

Federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson says state and Federal governments need to protect Australia's automotive industry.

"Being able to build cars in this country of the very high quality that we do now, that are price competitive with the rest of the world is a very important thing we have got to work hard to protect," he said.

Dr Nelson says he feels for Holden workers whose jobs are in doubt.

"We also expect the Federal and the Victorian Governments to work with one another to see that not only they are able to transition into other forms of employment but we strongly support a continuation of an Australian car building industry," he said.

Cruise wrote:This decision does not surprise me really, building an engine in a high cost labour country only to export it for use in a low cost labour country?


The Maths don't add up.