or for those 60 odd thousand workers lose their jobs and the Gummint have to fork out an extra hundred thousand or so extra [if not more] each week in centrelink payments?

At least by giving Holden Ford and Toyota subsidies and grants etc they are keep ing people in jobs which means they will be getting some of tit back in the form of income tax.. whereas if they let the Auto Industry close they would be getting bugger all back.

It’s the same scenario the US Govt had to consider before deciding to bail out their Auto Industry.

Not only that but if Toyo-oz was so important to Toyo-kyo they would have let Toyot-oz develop a new [RWD] platform which they could use overseas instead of having to modify an old platform sourced from the USA.. just like Mitsubishi did with the 380

Former Mitsy CEO Tom Phillips [who previously helped turn Toyo-oz around] wanted to make the 380 RWD but HQ said No

Asfor the $35m the Fed govt gave Toyo-kyo to build a Hybrid Camry here as well as in japan… Toyo-kyo had plans to do that anyway.. the $35m was just a bonus. However; theres nothing to say they won’t change their minds and cancel the plan – particularly with a new CEO.

Because once the local car industry is gone we won’t get it back and then we will be at the mercy of overseas car companies who won’t take over the old Ford and Holden Factories because if they thought they could make money by having a factory here they would be here already wouldn’t they?

There are those who like to think that when Holden and Ford are gone cars will be chaeaper – yet its more likely that they will take advantage of us and increase the prices of their cars to increase their profit margin. They wouldn’t be particularly fussed how many cars they sell here becuase of the relatively small size of the market.

So only those who are fortunate enough to still have a job will have any chance of buying one.
However; as the govt would have increased income tax to cover the demand on centrelink its more likely that the majority of Australians will be left driving 10+ year old Holdens and Fords which is quite ironic

Then in the 90s as people started to get paid more [in some cases more for doing less than what they did before]. People started to become more “image conscious” more people were trying to keep up with the joneses.
So even though the Commodore and Falcon is/was still a safe reliable practical car people started looking elsewhere – imports increased as did our trade deficit

Now [in the Noughties] its gotten to the point where “keeping up with the joneses” isn’t good enough.. and neither is the Commodore or Falcon] now there are those who are doing whatever they can to “out-do the joneses.”

As evident by the increased popularity of 4x4s not because their safer or more practical than a Commodore or anything like that but because they give people the image that “I’ve got more money than you”

So the only people keeping Holden and Ford in business appear to be the real Aussies who still believe in the Aussie Battler and that Australians can do/make something just as good as those from overseas.

Funny thing is when you look at how popular our exports are such as Wine for example it makes you wonder if they’re good enough for the Europeans and Americans etc why they’re not good enough for most Australians – doesn’t it?

Compared to overseas markets Australia is relatively small we sell less new cars each year than what they do in Europe or the USA.

Because we sell less cars it takes longer for Holden and Ford to recover the huge costs involved research and development etc.

Then there’s the availability of and access to resources and technology. Again; because we sell less cars Holden and Ford aren’t able to fit new technology to their cars as quickly as BMW can.

The Fact we sell less cars is also the reason as to why the life cylce of a car in Australia is 5-8 years where as in Europe its half that.
Don’t forget that BMW sells cars in more international markets than Ford and Holden which also has an impact as to how quickly costs can be recovered and profits made.

So BMW is able to make a profit with in 2 years of a new model being released whereas it Ford and Holden usually make a profit closer to the end of the models life cycle

When was the last time Holden was profitable? Or Ford?

All this doom and gloom is increasingly hype. When heavy industry took a huge dive in the 1980s and 1990s in Oz there were morbid predictions from many – but the country made adjustments. The same will happen again.

I understand that there would be negative consequential effects effects from a closure of car manufacturing in Australia but there would also be commensurate positive effects. Based on your argument we can never end the cycle support necessary for the Australian car manufacturers to survive and they will be come a progressively greater burden on the tax-payer and the economy.

The Government is trying to resist market forces and resuscitate dying businesses with tax-payers money. They can spend as much as they dare but they are just delaying the inevitable.