Rumours that Australian car maker Holden, which has been manufacturing vehicles Down Under since 1948, is on the verge of collapse have been slammed by Australia’s car industry lobby.
The Centre for Independent Studies suggested that Holden would be liquidated if its parent company General Motors (GM) filed for insolvency and sold its global brands. It also said that government funding to build green cars was little more than “old-fashioned protectionism hiding behind a green smokescreen”.
However, Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Andrew McKellar has hit back at the think tank’s arguments suggesting they are “cynical” and “plain wrong”.
He believes that GM sees Holden as “viable operation” pointing out a restructuring plan given to the US Treasury last month as the manufacturer bids to avoid bankruptcy.
The research paper had argued that the local car industry faced collapse despite the fact that the Government has promised it $6.2billion over the next decade to upgrade factories and equipment. It believes that scrapping import duties and abolishing luxury car tax would make more in-roads into encouraging consumers to buy fuel efficient cars.
However, Mr McKellar stated that a four-cylinder Holden and a hybrid Toyota Camry would not have been built from 2010 onwards in Australia had it not been for the Government’s $1.3billion green car fund.
