Holden chairman and managing director Mike Devereux says Holden will have to slash its labour costs and examine “every single option” in order to keep operating in Australia.
Devereux did not directly say whether workers will have to choose between redundancy or a pay cut during talks in August, only that “employees will be presented with a very difficult decision”.
Speaking at a media conference last week Devereux said current wage levels were not sustainable if the car maker is to continue producing the Commodore and Cruze until at least 2022. It costs General Motors an extra $3750 per car to build vehicles here rather than importing them.
The Holden announcement comes just weeks after Ford confirmed it would close its Broadmeadows production line in 2016, ending 88 years of local vehicle production. Unless the government continues to provide financial incentives to manufacture cars locally, then Holden could pull out as early as 2016.