GM Planning to Close Holden Manufacturing Operations?
12-05-2013, 09:55 AM
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GM Planning to Close Holden Manufacturing Operations? General Motors to close Holden by 2016, report says
DECEMBER 06, 2013 12:34AM
Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane last night that dismissed the ABC report that Holden would go by 2016. The report said its sources were other senior Coalition ministers.
"Consultations are continuing in good faith with the Australian carmaker, the components industry and workers," a spokeswoman for the minister said.
"The Productivity Commission is continuing its work assessing the Australian automotive industry and will report to the Government. That process is unchanged and will continue."
The ABC report, attributed to senior ministers, last night said the American carmaker GM had decided to pull out of struggling operations in Australia and had planned to make the announcement this week.
"The ABC understands that Holden has made the decision to cease its Australian production regardless of an assistance package," the report said.
It saids the announcement was scheduled for this week, but had been put off until early next year. Holden workers take a summer break over the Christmas period.
Holden refused to comment on the speculation. However, News Corp Australia is aware that Holden has been debating whether, once a decision was made, to announce the shutdown to workers before or after Christmas.
South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill last night rang Mr Macfarlane and said he had been told Holden had denied the reports. Mr Weatherill said Coalition ministers were "briefing against their own colleagues, exposing the deep divisions in the Liberal Party over the auto industry's future".
"It is now time for the Prime Minister to intervene because this cannot be allowed to continue. This ongoing speculation is incredibly damaging to Holden and to the workers," he said.
South Australian senator Nick Xenophon asked how much more we would pay in Centrelink payments than we are paying in industry assistance if Holden closes. "What the hell is going on? We need to know," he said. "I believe Ian Macfarlane, I'm not sure I believe other ministers in Cabinet. "The PM needs to back Ian Macfarlane as a master of urgency. "This is not just about SA. This is about 50,000 jobs being lost."
News Corp Australia has been told there were rumours on the factory floor this week that Holden was going to announce the shutdown on December 20, the last day of work before the summer break and the same day the preliminary Productivity Commission report on the industry was due to be published.
It is understood there was concern about announcing the shutdown before the summer break because of the personal effect it could have on the workers and their families.
However, historically, car companies have tended to share the grim news with employees soon after a decision has been made. When Ford announced the 2016 closure of its Australian operations in May, it did so less than a week after the decision was made to prevent any leaks to the media.
A 2016 closure would coincide with the timing of the end of the new Commodore's current lifecycle. However a secret SA Government document prepared in August floated the idea of a 2018 shutdown by extending the life of the current Cruze and Commodore.
Holden yesterday confirmed boss Mike Devereux was staying on in the role until next February. Mr Devereux was supposed to finish up this month after being promoted to a senior international role with General Motors, based in China. Mr Devereux made a surprise visit to the Elizabeth Holden factory yesterday to address workers.
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union SA secretary John Camillo said Mr Devereux did not tell them when a decision about the carmaker's future in SA will be made.
"He never went to the situation of whether a decision is going to be made before or after Christmas but he did indicate that (Holden's parent company) General Motors will make that decision," Mr Camillo said. - with Lauren Novak
http://www.news.com.au/national/sout...-1226776502766
DECEMBER 06, 2013 12:34AM
Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane last night that dismissed the ABC report that Holden would go by 2016. The report said its sources were other senior Coalition ministers.
"Consultations are continuing in good faith with the Australian carmaker, the components industry and workers," a spokeswoman for the minister said.
"The Productivity Commission is continuing its work assessing the Australian automotive industry and will report to the Government. That process is unchanged and will continue."
The ABC report, attributed to senior ministers, last night said the American carmaker GM had decided to pull out of struggling operations in Australia and had planned to make the announcement this week.
"The ABC understands that Holden has made the decision to cease its Australian production regardless of an assistance package," the report said.
It saids the announcement was scheduled for this week, but had been put off until early next year. Holden workers take a summer break over the Christmas period.
Holden refused to comment on the speculation. However, News Corp Australia is aware that Holden has been debating whether, once a decision was made, to announce the shutdown to workers before or after Christmas.
South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill last night rang Mr Macfarlane and said he had been told Holden had denied the reports. Mr Weatherill said Coalition ministers were "briefing against their own colleagues, exposing the deep divisions in the Liberal Party over the auto industry's future".
"It is now time for the Prime Minister to intervene because this cannot be allowed to continue. This ongoing speculation is incredibly damaging to Holden and to the workers," he said.
South Australian senator Nick Xenophon asked how much more we would pay in Centrelink payments than we are paying in industry assistance if Holden closes. "What the hell is going on? We need to know," he said. "I believe Ian Macfarlane, I'm not sure I believe other ministers in Cabinet. "The PM needs to back Ian Macfarlane as a master of urgency. "This is not just about SA. This is about 50,000 jobs being lost."
News Corp Australia has been told there were rumours on the factory floor this week that Holden was going to announce the shutdown on December 20, the last day of work before the summer break and the same day the preliminary Productivity Commission report on the industry was due to be published.
It is understood there was concern about announcing the shutdown before the summer break because of the personal effect it could have on the workers and their families.
However, historically, car companies have tended to share the grim news with employees soon after a decision has been made. When Ford announced the 2016 closure of its Australian operations in May, it did so less than a week after the decision was made to prevent any leaks to the media.
A 2016 closure would coincide with the timing of the end of the new Commodore's current lifecycle. However a secret SA Government document prepared in August floated the idea of a 2018 shutdown by extending the life of the current Cruze and Commodore.
Holden yesterday confirmed boss Mike Devereux was staying on in the role until next February. Mr Devereux was supposed to finish up this month after being promoted to a senior international role with General Motors, based in China. Mr Devereux made a surprise visit to the Elizabeth Holden factory yesterday to address workers.
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union SA secretary John Camillo said Mr Devereux did not tell them when a decision about the carmaker's future in SA will be made.
"He never went to the situation of whether a decision is going to be made before or after Christmas but he did indicate that (Holden's parent company) General Motors will make that decision," Mr Camillo said. - with Lauren Novak
http://www.news.com.au/national/sout...-1226776502766
12-05-2013, 10:58 AM
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Yes, now you know why they are barely promoting the new Chevy Super Sport. Regardless of how it sells it's done in 2016 and will most likely be the last real Holden sold in the US.
12-06-2013, 03:15 PM
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12-06-2013, 11:03 PM
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They could produce the cars here and export them to Australia and NZ which has been considered but it probably won't happen. They are planning on closing Oshawa as well when the current Camaro and other vehicles model cycles are done.
12-07-2013, 11:08 AM
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When is GM going to get it through their thick skulls that thw designs coming out of Holden make the state side designs look like crap. GM don't let Holden go the way of Ponitiac and lose any touch with design you have left.
12-09-2013, 05:12 PM
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Holden managing director Mike Devereux has rejected speculation the company has already decided to leave Australia
December 10, 2013 - 9:48AM
Clay Lucas, Toby Hagon
Holden managing director Mike Devereux has rejected speculation the company has already decided to leave Australia.
"No decision has been made," he told a Productivity Commission inquiry into taxpayer funding for the Australian car industry on Tuesday morning.
The news will be little relief for thousands of Holden workers, who, over the past week, have read stories of alleged leaks from unnamed federal government sources and at least one unnamed senior General Motors official in the US asserting that a decision had already been taken internally to close Holden's Australian manufacturing operations.
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It will also give little solace to the 50,000 people directly employed by the automotive industry and its network of 160 components suppliers.
Mr Devereux declined to answer questioning from the Productivity Commission, which is looking into public funding for auto manufacturing, about when the firm would hope to not need government funding.
Over the past 12 years, Holden has averaged $153 million in taxpayer funding each year.
Productivity commissioner Philip Weickhardt asked Mr Devereux: "Could Holden survive in any forseeable future with no government support?"
Mr Devereux did not directly answer the question. "I can't predict what that future would look like," he said.
Asked what Holden parent GM needed to stay in Australia, Mr Devereux said that "the government has the information it needs to answer your question".
But Mr Devereux said that the "business case for having an auto industry is understood all around the world", because at least three jobs and perhaps up to six people were employed for every one that Holden gave a job in Australia.
He pointed to the mining and property industries, both of which were heavily taxpayer subsidised.
"The $3 billion a year that goes into mining companies . . . I'm not criticising that . . . or $5 billion in subsidies for negative gearing. But the budgetary cost of losing this industry would dwarf the cost of losing it," he said.
And he said that the economic activity Holden had generated in that 12-year period of public funding was $33 billion.
"It includes the paying of wages, it includes the buying of bits that we put into cars . . . it includes the R&D," he said.
He said this "$32.7 billion of economic activity" was "a very good return for the country. Should we not make things here, we will have to do something else".
And he said local manufacturers were part of a global supply chain for General Motors as well as for Holden in Australia.
"It is inaccurate to say that Australian parts makers do not compete globally because they actually do," he said.
He pointed to Noble Park firm Mett Pty Ltd, and Reservoir's Diver Consolidated Industries, as world-class Australian suppliers that both made for local Holden vehicles, and for General Motors internationally.
Mr Devereux said Mett had won a "GM Supplier of the Year" award eight times at an annual company event held in Detroit each year and which looked at 10,000 GM suppliers globally.
A Holden spokesman earlier on Tuesday morning was adamant there would be no announcement.
''No decision has been made,'' he said of Holden's local future.
''Mr Devereux will be presenting our submission to the Productivity Commission today.''
While the federal government is desperate to force Holden's hand before the end of the year, Holden is following the process set up by the Abbott government, a process that leader Tony Abbott appeared to pre-empt last Friday when he said that the automotive industry would receive no more financial assistance.
The future of the local automotive industry has been the subject of intense speculation for more than a year, something that intensified in May this year when Ford announced it would shut its manufacturing facilities in October 2016.
While Holden previously committed to investing more than $1 billion on two new models – the next generations of the Cruze small car and the Commodore family car – the election of the Liberal government has increased the uncertainty surrounding long-term support and policies for the car industry.
Holden and Toyota have both laid off thousands of workers in recent years as export markets have shrunk and local demand dwindled in light of increased competition and a strong Australian dollar.
Dave Smith, national secretary of the vehicle division of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union, said that Holden workers were ''stressed out to the max at the moment''.
Amid fears that Toyota will follow Holden out of Australia, Mr Smith said as many as 50,000 automotive workers in the broader were anxious about losing their jobs.
The union leader told ABC radio that had not spoken to Holden management for ''some time'' but he still believed no decision had been made on whether the carmarker would leave Australia.
Mr Smith rejected the idea that automotive workers could accept wage cuts to keep Holden and Toyota in Australia. ''You can only get so much blood out of a stone,'' he said.
Australian-made cars make up only 10.3 per cent of the 1.1 million vehicles sold in Australia annually, a record low for an industry on the brink.
More recently Toyota and Holden approached their workers asking them to take pay reductions in an effort to reduce the cost of manufacturing cars by about $3800 per unit to ensure the Australian operations are commercially competitive with other plants from the same car makers around the world.
If Holden were to stop manufacturing cars in Australia, it would almost certainly force Toyota to follow suit because the 160 components manufacturers that are vital to the industry would not be able to achieve economies of scale.
Several senior industry observers and people close to the situation – including opposition industry spokesman Kim Carr – have labelled such a situation ''catastrophic'' for the automotive industry.
The interim Productivity Commission report is due to be released on December 20. The final report is due to be delivered in March.
http://news.drive.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/holden-no-decision-on-future-in-australia-20131210-2z2bo.html
December 10, 2013 - 9:48AM
Clay Lucas, Toby Hagon
Holden managing director Mike Devereux has rejected speculation the company has already decided to leave Australia.
"No decision has been made," he told a Productivity Commission inquiry into taxpayer funding for the Australian car industry on Tuesday morning.
The news will be little relief for thousands of Holden workers, who, over the past week, have read stories of alleged leaks from unnamed federal government sources and at least one unnamed senior General Motors official in the US asserting that a decision had already been taken internally to close Holden's Australian manufacturing operations.
Advertisement
It will also give little solace to the 50,000 people directly employed by the automotive industry and its network of 160 components suppliers.
Mr Devereux declined to answer questioning from the Productivity Commission, which is looking into public funding for auto manufacturing, about when the firm would hope to not need government funding.
Over the past 12 years, Holden has averaged $153 million in taxpayer funding each year.
Productivity commissioner Philip Weickhardt asked Mr Devereux: "Could Holden survive in any forseeable future with no government support?"
Mr Devereux did not directly answer the question. "I can't predict what that future would look like," he said.
Asked what Holden parent GM needed to stay in Australia, Mr Devereux said that "the government has the information it needs to answer your question".
But Mr Devereux said that the "business case for having an auto industry is understood all around the world", because at least three jobs and perhaps up to six people were employed for every one that Holden gave a job in Australia.
He pointed to the mining and property industries, both of which were heavily taxpayer subsidised.
"The $3 billion a year that goes into mining companies . . . I'm not criticising that . . . or $5 billion in subsidies for negative gearing. But the budgetary cost of losing this industry would dwarf the cost of losing it," he said.
And he said that the economic activity Holden had generated in that 12-year period of public funding was $33 billion.
"It includes the paying of wages, it includes the buying of bits that we put into cars . . . it includes the R&D," he said.
He said this "$32.7 billion of economic activity" was "a very good return for the country. Should we not make things here, we will have to do something else".
And he said local manufacturers were part of a global supply chain for General Motors as well as for Holden in Australia.
"It is inaccurate to say that Australian parts makers do not compete globally because they actually do," he said.
He pointed to Noble Park firm Mett Pty Ltd, and Reservoir's Diver Consolidated Industries, as world-class Australian suppliers that both made for local Holden vehicles, and for General Motors internationally.
Mr Devereux said Mett had won a "GM Supplier of the Year" award eight times at an annual company event held in Detroit each year and which looked at 10,000 GM suppliers globally.
A Holden spokesman earlier on Tuesday morning was adamant there would be no announcement.
''No decision has been made,'' he said of Holden's local future.
''Mr Devereux will be presenting our submission to the Productivity Commission today.''
While the federal government is desperate to force Holden's hand before the end of the year, Holden is following the process set up by the Abbott government, a process that leader Tony Abbott appeared to pre-empt last Friday when he said that the automotive industry would receive no more financial assistance.
The future of the local automotive industry has been the subject of intense speculation for more than a year, something that intensified in May this year when Ford announced it would shut its manufacturing facilities in October 2016.
While Holden previously committed to investing more than $1 billion on two new models – the next generations of the Cruze small car and the Commodore family car – the election of the Liberal government has increased the uncertainty surrounding long-term support and policies for the car industry.
Holden and Toyota have both laid off thousands of workers in recent years as export markets have shrunk and local demand dwindled in light of increased competition and a strong Australian dollar.
Dave Smith, national secretary of the vehicle division of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union, said that Holden workers were ''stressed out to the max at the moment''.
Amid fears that Toyota will follow Holden out of Australia, Mr Smith said as many as 50,000 automotive workers in the broader were anxious about losing their jobs.
The union leader told ABC radio that had not spoken to Holden management for ''some time'' but he still believed no decision had been made on whether the carmarker would leave Australia.
Mr Smith rejected the idea that automotive workers could accept wage cuts to keep Holden and Toyota in Australia. ''You can only get so much blood out of a stone,'' he said.
Australian-made cars make up only 10.3 per cent of the 1.1 million vehicles sold in Australia annually, a record low for an industry on the brink.
More recently Toyota and Holden approached their workers asking them to take pay reductions in an effort to reduce the cost of manufacturing cars by about $3800 per unit to ensure the Australian operations are commercially competitive with other plants from the same car makers around the world.
If Holden were to stop manufacturing cars in Australia, it would almost certainly force Toyota to follow suit because the 160 components manufacturers that are vital to the industry would not be able to achieve economies of scale.
Several senior industry observers and people close to the situation – including opposition industry spokesman Kim Carr – have labelled such a situation ''catastrophic'' for the automotive industry.
The interim Productivity Commission report is due to be released on December 20. The final report is due to be delivered in March.
http://news.drive.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/holden-no-decision-on-future-in-australia-20131210-2z2bo.html
