The Coalition has won the federal election, but what does this means for us (businesses/ employees in the auto trade) and our local manufacturers?
It appears that Tony Abbott; Prime Minister Elect has declared Australia is “once more open for business”.
However, former industry Minister Kim Car who has held onto his seat in the upper house has called on the Coalition to change its view on manufacturing and was deeply concerned that if its policies were implemented Australia would miss out on the 1 billion dollar investment promised by General Motors Holden.
Senator Carr said the removal of 500 million dollars from the Automotive Transformation Scheme and Liberals not prepared to match Labours additional commitments could see an end to the Australian automotive industry as we now know it.
Richard Rielly chief executive of the Federation of Automotive Products Manufacturers is keen to see Mr Abbots productivity commission review into the automotive industry. Mr Rielly said we would like the review started within the next 3 to 6 months.
We need certainty in the industry he said, we are extremely concerned that the 500 million dollars the Coalition plans on taking away will make the Automotive Transformation Scheme not feasible in Australia.
The Australian car manufactures comments made for interesting reading with Holden saying it congratulated Tony Abbot and the Coalition. They look forward to working with them and discussing future automotive policy that supports the growth and development of the Australian car industry.
Toyota Australia evaluates its business model and vehicle line up on an ongoing basis and although there are many challenges ahead it is doing everything we can to keep building cars in Australia.
Ford Australia should welcome the rollback to taxes on salary sacrificed and leased cars as it blames these for the huge fall in Falcon sales.
The 3 car manufactures expect to see approximately 460 million dollars in savings once the previous government’s carbon tax is cut back. This ironically sounds a lot like giving the car industry 500 million once you throw in the rollback on taxes.
One thing is for certain it’s definitely shaky times for the Australian car industry.
Thanks for reading,
Tony Nicastri,
Macarthur Auto Parts