Sensational-Adelaide.com

Holden 'to close Adelaide operations in 2017'
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/ ... 6780247370

BREAKING NEWS: HOLDEN will close its Australian operations, including Elizabeth in 2017, the company has told its South Australian workforce.

In a statement, the company says it will discontinue vehicle and engine manufacturing by the end of 2017 and significantly reduce engineering operations in Australia.

About 1600 positions at the Elizabeth plant will be "impacted", the statement says, and about 2,900 across the country.

The announcement comes only one day after Holden chief executive Mike Devereux said that no final decision had been made about the company's future in Australia.

Mr Devereux said emphatically yesterday that no decision had been made to close the company's assembly plants despite growing speculation production would stop as early as 2016.

It also comes as General Motors overnight named global product development chief Mary Barra as the new CEO of the company.

Acting Prime Minister Warren Truss said Mr Deveraux told him about 1.20pm SA time the decision had been "made in Detroit" that the company would be "closing a significant part of their operation" in Australia and New Zealand by the end of 2017.

"We regret the fact that GM is to phase down its operations in this country," Mr Truss told Parliament.

Amid uproar in Parliament from Labor MPs, Mr Truss said the Government "wanted Holden to remain manufacturing cars in Australia".

Mr Truss said the government stood ready to assist sacked workers and to support dealers and employees.

Earlier on Victorian radio station 3AW, Treasurer Joe Hockey predicted job losses were "greatly exaggerated"

Mr Hockey said only 2000 jobs were directly related to making cars - 1760 in South Australia and 200 in Melbourne.

Outgoing CEO and chairman Dan Akerson said the decision to end manufacturing in Australia reflected "the perfect storm of negative influences the automobile industry faces in the country".

"(It includes) the sustained strength of the Australian dollar, high cost of production, small domestic market and arguably the most competitive and fragmented auto market in the world," he said.

Mr Devereux said an important priority over the next four years would be the "best possible transition for workers in South Australia".

"This has been a difficult decision given Holden's long and proud history of building vehicles in Australia," he said. "we are dedicated to working with our teams, unions ... and governments to support our people."

The company will move to a national sales company in Australia after cutting its manufacturing operations.

"Moving forward, our

Ms Barra will be the first female head of a major US car company.

Ms Barra, 51, will replace Dan Akerson on January 15. Mr Akerson, 65, chairman and CEO, moved up his retirement plans by several months because his wife, Karin, is battling advanced cancer, the company said.

Mr Hockey said only 2000 jobs were directly related to making cars - 1760 in South Australia and 200 in Melbourne.

The Scooter Guy wrote:So this could mean the Adelaide Motor Show (that I thought it was going to return in 2010) will never ever be returning?
As if Abbott was saying to Ford & GMH, "Shut them down! Close them off! Factories that pollute like that shouldn't be allowed!"
So honk if you dare!

Dog wrote:It's probably never been viable to build cars in Australia without tariffs or government support but all previous governments have thought it in our national interest to have an industrial capacity to build motor vehicles.
Our Industrial capacity was the sort of thing that gave us the edge over our less developed and more populous neighbours like Indonesia (who have incidentally just opened a new GM factory)
After the Second World War the Australian government realised just how vulnerable we actually were, if it wasn't for our very brave diggers in New Guinea we could have been over run. It was then that both sides of politics decided Australia needed an industrial base, if for nothing else than to defend ourselves.
Where do we stop? Why prop up farms with $b's in drought relief or give tax deductions on fuel, why bother growing oranges to see them left on the ground as it's cheaper to bring them from South America. Why have software designers, accountants, why have Australian shop assistants when you can shop on line.
What can't be done cheaper in India or China or Indonesia? What do we give up?
We can no longer refine fuel, produce white goods, build planes or ships
Perhaps it would be more economically rational to tender out our Border security to the Indonesians.
It sickens me to read and hear all the self-centred individuals begrudging the use of their taxes to support anyone else.
They need to really look at what they do themselves, how productive they actually are, are they doing anything to build a better stronger Australia or doing something that could not be done cheaper overseas. Because when they cry out for help when their job goes overseas no one will be listening.







Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Dog wrote:RIP ... Wheels Magazine

[Shuz] wrote:Good. I'm glad they're closing up shop. This is a free market capitalist society after all. If a business isn't viable, it should cease to exist. I am fervently against any government subsidies being given to businesses and industries to 'prop' them up.

Rejoice!

Dog wrote:It's probably never been viable to build cars in Australia without tariffs or government support but all previous governments have thought it in our national interest to have an industrial capacity to build motor vehicles.
Our Industrial capacity was the sort of thing that gave us the edge over our less developed and more populous neighbours like Indonesia (who have incidentally just opened a new GM factory)
After the Second World War the Australian government realised just how vulnerable we actually were, if it wasn't for our very brave diggers in New Guinea we could have been over run. It was then that both sides of politics decided Australia needed an industrial base, if for nothing else than to defend ourselves.
Where do we stop? Why prop up farms with $b's in drought relief or give tax deductions on fuel, why bother growing oranges to see them left on the ground as it's cheaper to bring them from South America. Why have software designers, accountants, why have Australian shop assistants when you can shop on line.
What can't be done cheaper in India or China or Indonesia? What do we give up?
We can no longer refine fuel, produce white goods, build planes or ships
Perhaps it would be more economically rational to tender out our Border security to the Indonesians.
It sickens me to read and hear all the self-centred individuals begrudging the use of their taxes to support anyone else.
They need to really look at what they do themselves, how productive they actually are, are they doing anything to build a better stronger Australia or doing something that could not be done cheaper overseas. Because when they cry out for help when their job goes overseas no one will be listening.







Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Will wrote:We have become the first OECD country to stop building cars.