Holden set to slash jobs...

[korrupt]

Doesn't sound too good...

http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/holden-set-to-slash-jobs/2007/03/05/1172943332900.html

[kart_racer]

Thanks to the Federal Government for lowering import tariffs and letting manufacturing jobs go overseas, so now the market is flooded with tin cans on wheels and the Australian manufacturing industry is flailing.
Hopefully they can get a popular Torana sized car out soon so that production can increase and the jobs can be given back.

I feel sorry for the workers and their families.

John Howard :rocket:

[spank]

you think thats bad , and it is, a client i drove today who is in the F.C.I.A reckons that if ford australia is still in business it will only be if the governmint props it up some, its time imported cars tarrifs went up me thinks.

[Venom XR]

The article I read said many of the jobs were obsolete due to technology improvements. That may well be true, but it does indicate the dire straits Australian manufacturing is in these days. Once upon a time, at both Holden and Ford (I know for a fact it was a Ford policy, not so sure about Holden in specifics ut I'd be surprised if it wasn't similar) that if a workers role was made redundant by technology (ie, introduction of robots) then the worker was offered training programs and other jobs within the company, no one was asked to leave. Nowadays, it's redunancy city...

[T_Kiwi]

yup, same thing happened in NZ years ago and imports are still flooding in. They wound back speedos and all sorts.

[clixanup]

Thanks to the Federal Government for lowering import tariffs and letting manufacturing jobs go overseas, so now the market is flooded with tin cans on wheels and the Australian manufacturing industry is flailing.
Where is the Barina made these days? And how many of them are they selling?

Hopefully they can get a popular Torana sized car out soon so that production can increase and the jobs can be given back.
Nice sentiment, but it ain't gonna happen. They just started bringing in the Epica (a mid-sized 6 cylinder car) from Korea as well. It simply wouldn't make financial sense for them to compete against themselves with another mid-sized 6 cylinder car (albeit locally made).

Like them or not, Korean made Holdens are proving very popular in our market. Money talks.

I feel sorry for the workers and their families.

John Howard :rocket:
I agree on both counts there, mate.

[Holden Man]

Unfortunately big business saves money these days by cutting staff - it's not just the motoring industry. Look at banks, airlines, tourism etc

It's the greedy, soul-less bean counters and upper management that beleive in this practise. If they save the company money than they can pay themselves huge performance bonuses !!

[HQV8]

BAd news all round!! New model VE out, Holden wins CLipsal 500, excellent PR for Holden, now this!! Poor form for Holden me thinks!!

[Invasionss]

Many makes & models of a lot of things come from overseas, so!

If you, me, or anyone else the customer didn't like the product, would you buy it?

Answer - No. Then the product would come off the shelves & sent back to wherever it was made.
Answer - Yes. Then the product will be snapped up by millions of people & more & more will be imported.

Just like when you go down the shops & buy a fridge to keep your beer cold or buying a tv to watch the V8's rip shit out around the track, we are all looking for something within the certain product. Does it do this or does it do that?

Yes it is said & we will see more of it unfortunately.

Holden exports it cars around the world & is selling many, many cars. Do you think it's fair that other employees lose their jobs throughout the world & their family suffers?

If holden made smarter cars, not just bigger & bigger cars, then it would be a different story altogether wouldn't it.

For everyone who owns on car, what if they all had the skills & equipment to service their own vehicle? How many mechanics would be out of business?

A lot of people do their own servicing as mechanics charge so much for doing f@#k all.

As i said above, it's going to happen & get worse unfortunately, it's just time & technology that is holding people in work.

Great example - How many rubbish truck men were they when they first bought out the green wheelie rubbish bins?
Answer 2-3 men per trucks & multiple trucks going around at times. Now theres only one man doing all the work.

[robmcg]

Most appliances sold in Australasia are manufactured in mainland Asia.

Cars are treated by many people these days as appliances, and in my opinion many modern cars resemble food blenders.

If you want to put up trade barriers you will have to make forget cheap appliances, PCs, TVs, phones, and drive around in FJ Holdens.

Mind you, I REALLY like my VX! And cheap Asian appliances. So I don't know the answer to these things...

[Red CV8 R]

I dont think Tarrifs are to blame, Commodores and Falcons are to big and thirsty for what alot of people want these days. It is just fact. These cars have never been better and damn good value but if people dont want that style of car then making the opposition more expensive wont have alot of effect, especially now when even your average punter has a decent amount to spend on a new car.

[dave_au]

It's the greedy, soul-less bean counters and upper management that beleive in this practise. If they save the company money than they can pay themselves huge performance bonuses !!

It's actually all those mum and dad investors, together with their superfunds, looking for a potentially unrealisitic return on their investment whilst globalisation pressures knock off the more weak and inefficient firms, and private equity firms soak up the low debt fiscally sound companies.

If anything it's ourselves to blame in our massive disposable income economy. This generation is probably going to be remembered as the time when we had it all, and lost it all.

[someblackguy]

^^ :thumbsup:


C'mon guys, its not rocket science. Last year australias best selling cars were fuel efficient four cylinders like the corolla and prius. When will holden and ford realise that the large car market isnt working anymore. i too hate seeing our australian market head overseas but if holden and ford want to re-capture those who have made the leap to imported vehicles they need a serious reinvention of their product line-up

for one, more emphasis on astra and laser and other four cylinder models, and dare i say it, a diesel line-up in every class.

better build quality and refinement would also be a benenfit.

Theres a reason behind everything...

[SS Enforcer]

^^ :thumbsup:


C'mon guys, its not rocket science. Last year australias best selling cars were fuel efficient four cylinders like the corolla and prius. When will holden and ford realise that the large car market isnt working anymore. i too hate seeing our australian market head overseas but if holden and ford want to re-capture those who have made the leap to imported vehicles they need a serious reinvention of their product line-up

for one, more emphasis on astra and laser and other four cylinder models, and dare i say it, a diesel line-up in every class.

better build quality and refinement would also be a benenfit.

Theres a reason behind everything...

So Holden dump their large cars and concentrate on building Astras ? Where then would we get large rwd V8 cars from ? As we Aussies buy heaps of em.

I think whats knocked them around is the FWD mums taxis

cheers

[VYBerlinaV8]

At the end of the day, Holden is a business, with an owner that expects a return.

Although we moan about Australian manufacturing going overseas, its a fact of life in a country full of people that expect to be paid well.

The comment above about being the generation that had it all and lost it al is spot on.

[djsmi1]

I heard rumors that Toyota can actually sell cars for less than they produce them overseas for with the current exchange rates and tariffs, Holden simply can't compete with that!

[Holden Man]

It's actually all those mum and dad investors, together with their superfunds, looking for a potentially unrealisitic return on their investment whilst globalisation pressures knock off the more weak and inefficient firms, and private equity firms soak up the low debt fiscally sound companies.


I don't see any " mum & dad " investors demanding that Holden slash jobs.

They employ decision makers who are ruthless and do what has to be done to keep the company running at a certain profit. Simple as that.

Holden couldn't give a toss about the " mum & dad " investors unless it's in their interest to do so.

[!!COOKY!!]

It is unfortunate that people have had to lose there jobs.
Evryone seems to have an opinion however noone complained that the engineering, technology and reduced build time gave us a better built car with more options at cheaper prices. Holden is stirring the large car market up with the VE, sales are flying and we get a better car as a result.
Funny how everyone comes to conclusion that the car sales must be down because of job cuts.
Look at the figures and VE is going great, Ford will produce a better car because the market is re invigorating and we all get to drive a nice rear wheel drive car.
There will always be fuel concious consumers and they are more than before with the obvious fuel issues but what are the options for people like ourselves that like the cars we drive. A 4 cylinder camry uses 1 litre less per 100km's than an omega. If that stresses you out too much and you wanted a large car then you probably can't afford a new one any anyway.

[dave_au]

They employ decision makers who are ruthless and do what has to be done to keep the company running at a certain profit. Simple as that.
And where does that profit go? To GM in the United States. Who owns GM? Shareholders......

Face the facts - the entire concept of executive remuneration is to line up the objectives, missions and values of the company with that of the directors, bean counters etc. They'll only get their bonuses if they meet their key performance indicators - which should be tied into the going concern and success of the company.

Whats the point of continuing to employ another 600 redundant staff? Would you run a small business with too many employees? I doubt it.

[Marco]

It's bad news that 600 people are going to be unemployed, but it's not really bad news in the grand scheme of things.

If Holden has found a way to build just as many cars with less people - ie, they've raised productivity - then that's good news for the long term viability of Holden. Obviously the VE is easier/faster to build than the VZ if they're able to cut that many jobs, which the articles seem to be implying. (The suggestion that some of the cuts are because the VZ is being phased out must also mean a VE Ute and Wagon are just around the corner, btw).

Bottom line is that it's better to lose 600 jobs and improve the viability of the Australian car industry, which is facing some very tough times right now, than to keep doing things the same way and watch the whole industry, and tens of thousands of jobs, disappear over the next few years.

As for the idea of putting the tariff walls back up - it's not going to happen and nor should it. All this would mean is more expensive cars for the consumer, and resources in this country going into things that we're not very good at, like building small cars, instead of things we are good at, like building large cars and exporting them.

Buy the small cars from the small car experts in Japan, Europe and Korea, and concentrate on our unique, exportable large car products instead. It's the only viable way forward for the Australian car industry.

[mac06]

Couple of points I picked up from the news. The unions are happy at the redundancy packages being offered, not bagging Holden. The workers could probably get other jobs quite easily as there is an apparent skills shortage in SA. Tie that in with the redundancy package and perhaps those who choose redundancy would be happy to go, more money for them. Whatever the case Holden don't need the extra 600 staff, so if they're happy to go then all will be happy. No one is being forced to go if they don't want to. (at this stage anyway)



Bottom line is that it's better to lose 600 jobs and improve the viability of the Australian car industry, which is facing some very tough times right now, than to keep doing things the same way and watch the whole industry, and tens of thousands of jobs, disappear over the next few years.



Well said Marco

[vx_clubby]

Its good they can fly a billion $$$$ airship around for a year for advertising, and cant pay people to work :cussing:

[Holden Man]

And where does that profit go? To GM in the United States. Who owns GM? Shareholders......

Face the facts - the entire concept of executive remuneration is to line up the objectives, missions and values of the company with that of the directors, bean counters etc. They'll only get their bonuses if they meet their key performance indicators - which should be tied into the going concern and success of the company.

Whats the point of continuing to employ another 600 redundant staff? Would you run a small business with too many employees? I doubt it.

I was pointing out that this decision was not bought on by the "mum & dad" investors that you were keen to blame.

I agree that if you don't need the staff, then why keep them on.

I'm just pointing out the ruthless and greedy nature of big business these days which I think will be looked back on by future generations as the time when money was far more important than people.