Holden's Alan Batey on a fair go for Aussie manufacturing

[mikmak]

Batey demands "fair go"


Carpoint.com.au

Holden MD Alan Batey has castigated state governments for not supporting the local manufacturing industry

Only two state governments are supporting the local automotive manufacturing industry, says Holden's Managing Director, Alan Batey -- and those two have a vested interest.

Batey (pictured), addressing the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) last week, declared that local car builders are not supported by states other than South Australia and Victoria -- the two states in which the local manufacturers operate.

"It might surprise you to know that SA and Victoria are the only State governments which have so far bought more locally-built cars than imported cars this year," Batey told the Committee on Friday.

"Some other jurisdictions are plummeting towards 20 per cent. It's much the same in local government, which surprises and disappoints me when I look at the "source local" demands many of them make.

"Don't mistake this for a blind request to buy Australian. We're simply asking for a fair go. And I'm going to do everything I can to get Ministers, mayors and public servants out of foreign cars and back into local product."

Lack of government fleet support has been a long-standing grievance within the ranks of the local manufacturers. Some state government fleets and municipalities insist that their fleets purchase 'eco-friendly' four-cylinder models, but at present, Toyota's Camry is the only such vehicle built here. That, in part, explains how the Camry is the sales leader in its (medium-car) segment.

Toyota won't have it all its own way though, following Holden's switch from importation to manufacture for the Cruze small car and Ford's introduction of its four-cylinder 'EcoBoost' Falcon to the market. Even though the Cruze is smaller than Camry and the Falcon is larger, added fleet sales for those two cars may take sales away from the Camry, but Toyota is not sitting still waiting for that to happen. Its Hybrid Camry model is due to commence production around the middle of next month.

During his speech to CEDA, Batey discussed issues ranging from the introduction of E85-capable cars within 12 months to Holden definitely not being up for sale -- to the Chinese or anyone else -- despite the rumours.

The transcript of his speech is reproduced below:

To the Honorable Kevin Foley, Deputy Premier and Treasurer;

CEDA executives, ladies and gentlemen -

Thanks for the invitation to speak to CEDA in the city which Holden has called home for 153 years.

Our founder James Holden would be pretty surprised to see what became of his saddlery shop.

He wouldn’t have predicted Holden would one day be planning to offer cars which ran on electricity.

Truth be told, he would barely have been predicting electricity!

But the leap the automotive industry faces today is almost as massive.

It’s high stakes stuff for the country.

So today I’d like to highlight where we have made important progress and those great steps yet to come but close enough to touch.

It all comes down to the basic concept of innovation.

I’ll apologise up front that I’ll jump between comments on Holden, the industry and the world markets.

But you can’t form opinions and make decisions without having a clear view of each.

Global experience

Firstly, a little global comparison.

The GFC caused a car market drop of 15 to 20 percent in Australia.

The US and Europe fell by about half and was regarded as the biggest hit since the Great Depression.

The US correction was so dramatic that China actually became the world’s biggest car market for the first time.

Closer to home, it led GM to enter Chapter 11 protection on before emerging as the New GM less than two months later.

As our CEO Fritz Henderson will tell you, it’s a chance for reinvention.

A chance for GM to jettison the legacy costs it had been carrying for many years while its foreign competitors were leaner and meaner.

Burdens which had nothing to do with building great cars and trucks, better for the environment and world’s best quality.

Now remember this was specifically about GM’s US operations, not the rest of the world.

It gives GM a great chance to make money at much lower volumes as markets recover.

Much more at the LINK

[mmciau]

Already addressed in this post - Post 12 onwards

Mike

Things looking up: Holden Back To Two Shifts at Port Melbourne Engine Plant

[Burnout Czar]

He or she who innovates wins.

Let’s make things.

Let’s make them well and let’s make them for many years to come

Well said whether it goes for Australia or the US.

[mikmak]

Originally Posted by mmciau

Already addressed in this post - Post 12 onwards

Mike

Things looking up: Holden Back To Two Shifts at Port Melbourne Engine Plant

Doh. Missed that link. If anyone sees an article they believe worthy of posting, can we please post them in the suggest a news article section or PM myself, BBDOSCV8 or JoeT so we can make them separate threads?

Cheers