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9 Apr 2013, 02:24 (Ref:3231272) | #101 | ||
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It's a shame Holden didn't start selling Chev badges in dealerships. Based on their popularity from what I see on the road, it would have seen them through the next global financial crisis.
On a serious note, although I am not a Holden person, I am an Australian and I feel for the 500 other Australians who now need to find jobs elsewhere. Not a good situation. |
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9 Apr 2013, 04:15 (Ref:3231286) | #102 | |
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It's a shame that the jobs are going before the Chevrolet SS even hits the showrooms in the US. It may only be a niche vehicle in the States but it's a bloody big market. Obviously no plans for many sales there.
Unfortunately the job losses will be more around the 1200 mark when you factor in the component suppliers. Ford copped criticism for sticking to the one platform but Holden has only seen a few years of joy from adding the Cruze to the local manufacturing line-up. I think the strong Aussie dollar has just made local manufacturing impossible, import cars are just too cheap in comparison for both the consumer and manufacturers like GM who can source cars from Asia . |
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9 Apr 2013, 06:35 (Ref:3231306) | #103 | ||
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Not good that anyone looses their job but you can't help but wonder how many of them went out to the car park and didn't get into a Holden.
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9 Apr 2013, 11:22 (Ref:3231441) | #104 | |||
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Quote:
Sadly things really don't look too good . |
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11 Apr 2013, 05:44 (Ref:3232304) | #105 | ||
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For most of the Australian community we won't see any improvement in our life style or living standard until we see the end of the current MINING DISASTER
It might be a boom for about 5% of the population but it is a disaster for the rest of us. Please wack them with a B****dy great tax to get the economy and the defecit under control in the one move. If the A$ was back to about 90c US we would have some hope of making Australia competitive again. And that goes for Tourism, agriculture and service industries as well as manufacturing. |
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11 Apr 2013, 22:41 (Ref:3232724) | #106 | |
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Former Ford executive Jac Nasser says we don't care about our car industry
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/s...-1226618613641 |
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12 Apr 2013, 02:48 (Ref:3232771) | #107 | |||
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12 Apr 2013, 03:41 (Ref:3232783) | #108 | ||
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12 Apr 2013, 09:20 (Ref:3232855) | #109 | |||
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Quote:
Made in Australia doesn't mean a thing the most people now ( ok I'm guilty too - my last purchase was Korean- simple economics unfortunately). |
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12 Apr 2013, 19:19 (Ref:3233097) | #110 | ||
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12 Apr 2013, 22:26 (Ref:3233168) | #111 | |||
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Quote:
much as frod & Holden are. I don't know the answer, but we need some kind of manufacturing capicity in this country. It's getting to a point where we'll be lucky to make anything in this country. Going back to a bygone era, the HQ Holden was something like 99 % local content. No other car maker came close to that record. We'll never see that era again. What does annoy me is that too many government vehicles are fully imported. Were it up to me, the gov't would only buy vehicles from vehicle makers that had assembly operations in Australia. Any ideally only models assembled in Australia- as far as possible. I'd also like to see tax breaks for companies that bought Australian. Yes, that limits the the choice to Holden, frod & the above mentioned appliance maker, but between the 3 makers, they've got the market covered pretty much. |
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You in the Camry. The world won't end if you press a bit harder on the accelerator. (its the tall skinny pedal on the right) And FFS use the indicators! |
13 Apr 2013, 00:16 (Ref:3233211) | #112 | ||
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[QUOTE=Marcos WTF;3233168]
I don't know the answer, but we need some kind of manufacturing capicity in this country. It's getting to a point where we'll be lucky to make anything in this country. Going back to a bygone era, the HQ Holden was something like 99 % local content. No other car maker came close to that record. We'll never see that era again. QUOTE] I saw an analysis on the subject of local manufacture not long ago and it worked out that the Falcon and Commodore would cost at least 60% more with all local content used in there construction . Toyota has huge (by our standards) exports and their local content is more than the Ford and Holden products, even most Taxi's I see now are either the Toyota Prius or the People mover type (best idea ever for cabs) Toyota's and Hyundai's . I hail from an era when most everything was Australian made , now to shop for Australian you end up with an empty shopping trolley. |
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13 Apr 2013, 05:46 (Ref:3233285) | #113 | |||
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You in the Camry. The world won't end if you press a bit harder on the accelerator. (its the tall skinny pedal on the right) And FFS use the indicators! |
15 Apr 2013, 00:01 (Ref:3234290) | #114 | ||
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If you believe the stories, Toyota is said to be losing somewhere in the region of $3,500 per car for every vehicle exported.
The logic of this is interesting.. there is a school of thought to suggest that the way to maintain an export market, is to sell cars.. regardless of the position of the exchange rate. The consumer buys them for what they believe is a fair price, and the demand pipeline continues. The underlying premise here is that the forex rates come back to them, which should have happened by now, but hasnt. Why this is interesting is that other car makers, some associated with Toyota, are said to sell cars into their export market in similar ways. Working along the lines of calculating an RRP, stripping out taxes, stripping out the likes of agreed retailer margins, agreed distributor margins, taking into account forex variation, plus or minus various other factors, then calculating the landed cost in the retailing country, independent of the cost to produce & transport. This is basically the antithesis of the ATO's Transfer Pricing theory, whereby in this case, the profit is actually maintained in the retailing market, and the manufacturing country wears the financial risk of the forex changes. The Japanese always did play a longer game than most... |
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15 Apr 2013, 01:40 (Ref:3234321) | #115 | ||
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15 Apr 2013, 01:55 (Ref:3234325) | #116 | ||
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You might be surprised... it is likely that Holden is making no margin on the cars it sells overseas too... but is generating factory recoveries, giving the plant, and its suppliers, some level of viability and pricing to keep the show on the road.. so to speak..
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Happy David Thexton Day, 21st March 2003 “I am not uncertain” - Dollar Bill Stern, Billions “Fear stimulates my imagination” - Don Draper, Mad Men “Everybody Lies” - Dr Gregory House, House “Trust But Verify” - Commissioner Frank Reagan, Blue Bloods |
15 Apr 2013, 02:14 (Ref:3234328) | #117 | |||
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Holden are kinda a different animal really. |
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15 Apr 2013, 02:43 (Ref:3234338) | #118 | |||
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For a viable export-driven motor industry, the exchange rate needs to be back at 70c or below... it will drive up the cost of imports, and lower the cost of exports... |
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Happy David Thexton Day, 21st March 2003 “I am not uncertain” - Dollar Bill Stern, Billions “Fear stimulates my imagination” - Don Draper, Mad Men “Everybody Lies” - Dr Gregory House, House “Trust But Verify” - Commissioner Frank Reagan, Blue Bloods |
18 Apr 2013, 06:21 (Ref:3236047) | #119 | ||
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The great challenge would have to be why Holden needs the Government of 'Stralia to make their business viable? Didn't the Government of 'Stralia give a big hand-out to Mitsubishi only to reach a premature end?
The main question would be are the unions making conditions so difficult for manufacturers in 'Stralia that the manufacturers have to ask for government handouts to pay their workers? If that's the case, it really is one big money-go-round. |
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18 Apr 2013, 10:25 (Ref:3236124) | #120 | ||
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Not the unions, just the high (read realistic) wages paid here as opposed to overseas (including USA - where car workers are paid little over the poverty line) coupled to the high Aussie dollar making imports cheaper and exports more expensive, we haven't got a hope.
If we want a car industry, we need to dollar to be about 60 cents US to make it viable. |
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What if there were no hypothetical questions? |
19 Apr 2013, 03:41 (Ref:3236458) | #121 | |||
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Quote:
The US car market is about 13 times the size of ours - but support by the US govt has been/will be 50 times that of the Aust govt according to this comment. I wondered about Germany, and yes, they get into it too. Certainly Thailand has been up front with government support enticing component manufacturers; and China is up there with trying to attract manufacturers worldwide. Job wise, I've already been a victim of this downsizing once, and in the next job I have now been on a 4 day week for nearly 12 months. It's a worry! Last edited by RedZedMikey; 19 Apr 2013 at 03:45. Reason: fix the link |
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20 Jan 2018, 03:07 (Ref:3793899) | #122 | ||
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I was fortunate enough recently to help someone I know search for a family car to replaced a much loved but now written off due to hail Mitsubishi Magna.
They wanted another Magna, having owned theirs since I sold my TL AWD 3.5 V6 to them when it was 2 years old and 20-something thousand km on the clock. I was lured by a volume German brand which I won’t ever do again. A quick search of CarSales saw few Magnas for sale, AWD or not, in good condition, or with less than telephone number kilometres. So I took a peek at a 380. Found the unicorn, super low kilometre pensioner owned car that had been sitting at a dealer for a while unsold. My friend and I took a train trip to a regional centre to take a look. One test drive for me reminded me why losing the local car industry is just horrible. The 380 was nicely balanced, strong engine, sweet gearshift, great ride for a 10 year old car. Stopped, steered & went like a brand new one. My friend bought it on the spot, even if it was an odd factory gold colour. With a dealer service history. It was a good financial deal, for a great car. Driven home that day. Fits all the stuff inside a family of 2 boys & parents need. And yet the next time I help replace their car, there probably won’t be a 380 laying around, looking for a new owner with that kind of low usage patina. Or a Commodore or Falcon of similar or newer vintage for that matter. Something died the day Mitsubishi stopped building the 380. And the day Ford stopped building the Falcon & Territory. And the day Holden stopped building the Commodore. And the day Toyota stopped building the Camry and Aurion. And Nissan too when you think about it. These are family cars for family adventures. A connection with a brand, whichever one it was, that told us they were here, for us, to help create our crazy childhoods. Now we seem to have to get warmed up to the automotive equivalent of a refrigerator purchase. Feature packed probably, comfortable maybe, but without the soul and resonance of what has gone on before. Nissan stopped making cars here, and with the current model line up are almost an irrelevance here. Mitsubishi not far behind. Is this the destiny for Ford, Holden & Toyota, to play out in the first 10 or so years post-cessation? I hope not. |
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Happy David Thexton Day, 21st March 2003 “I am not uncertain” - Dollar Bill Stern, Billions “Fear stimulates my imagination” - Don Draper, Mad Men “Everybody Lies” - Dr Gregory House, House “Trust But Verify” - Commissioner Frank Reagan, Blue Bloods |
20 Jan 2018, 03:30 (Ref:3793902) | #123 | |
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The 380 is a massively underrated car.
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20 Jan 2018, 06:45 (Ref:3793924) | #124 | |||
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The thing that annoys me is that years ago I went to a dealer seriously looking to purchase a Territory and they couldn't be bothered to let me even have a test drive. Ended up buying a Toyota in the end. |
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What if there were no hypothetical questions? |
20 Jan 2018, 08:59 (Ref:3793943) | #125 | ||
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