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Industry analyst says Australian car industry is doomed
14 April 2009, 2:00 pm
Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Ford, GM, Earnings/Financials, Australia
Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of Australia's Dog & Lemon Guide, says there's no way around a central fact of Australian automobile production: "Australia's car factories are losing money on every vehicle they make." Because of that, he believes that there is no future for the domestic car industry Down Under, no matter how much money the government provides to keep factories open.
Matthew-Wilson further believes that General Motors' Holden division will be the first brand thrown into the abyss, trailed closely by Ford. The economics of Australian auto manufacturing, as far as he's concerned, simply don't make sense and GM and Ford's cash drain will force them to shut down their operations there.
''Globally, there's a glut of new cars at bargain prices," he says, "yet Australia, which produces a small number of high cost cars, is trying to compete with countries like China.... The Australian car industry can re-focus on small cars, green cars, blue cars or red cars. None of this will make the slightest difference."
For its part, Holden recently cut production nearly by half, and rumblings are that it, like Saab and Opel and HUMMER, it may soon be looking for a buyer.
[Source: Sydney Morning Herald via Carscoop]Industry analyst says Australian car industry is doomed originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: Autoblog
14 April 2009, 2:00 pm
Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Ford, GM, Earnings/Financials, Australia
Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of Australia's Dog & Lemon Guide, says there's no way around a central fact of Australian automobile production: "Australia's car factories are losing money on every vehicle they make." Because of that, he believes that there is no future for the domestic car industry Down Under, no matter how much money the government provides to keep factories open.
Matthew-Wilson further believes that General Motors' Holden division will be the first brand thrown into the abyss, trailed closely by Ford. The economics of Australian auto manufacturing, as far as he's concerned, simply don't make sense and GM and Ford's cash drain will force them to shut down their operations there.
''Globally, there's a glut of new cars at bargain prices," he says, "yet Australia, which produces a small number of high cost cars, is trying to compete with countries like China.... The Australian car industry can re-focus on small cars, green cars, blue cars or red cars. None of this will make the slightest difference."
For its part, Holden recently cut production nearly by half, and rumblings are that it, like Saab and Opel and HUMMER, it may soon be looking for a buyer.
[Source: Sydney Morning Herald via Carscoop]Industry analyst says Australian car industry is doomed originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Source: Autoblog