Workers gutted as Holden cuts 500 jobs

Car maker Holden will axe 400 jobs from its South Australian operations.

Holden has announced it will cut 500 factory and engineering jobs. Source: Supplied

HOLDEN has announced it will offer voluntary redundancies for 500 factory and engineering workers - its biggest round of job cuts since the Global Financial Crisis.

The car maker will lose 400 workers from its car assembly line at Elizabeth near Adelaide and a further 100 engineers based in Melbourne.

It is the first time in memory Holden has publicly announced a redundancy program for engineers. The move comes as most of the work done on the new Commodore has been completed before it goes on sale in June.

Workers told of their shock at the job cuts this afternoon. One worker said he didn't know until he was told by the Herald Sun.

He then said he was surprised but refused to comment further.

Another said he was sad at the announcement.

"It's not good mate, it's not good," he said.

But many said they could not comment, in what appeared to be a scripted response from management.

The announcement comes just one week after Holden released figures that showed it had received $2.17 billion in government funding over the past 12 years, roughly twice as much as what Ford ($1.1 billion) and Toyota ($1.2 billion) received over the same period.

The engineering losses are also confirmation that Holden is no longer the engineering "home room" for any particular General Motors vehicle, and its future locally-made cars will instead be adaptations of global models.

The 500 job losses announced this afternoon follow 180 job cuts at Elizabeth in November 2012, and a further 40 at the Port Melbourne engine plant in March 2012.

Victorian Manufacturing Minister David Hodgett said the job cuts were distressing.

He said that it reflected the challenging times for the car industry.

AMWU Victorian vehicle division secretary Paul Difelice said Holden Cruze sales had fallen up to 40 per cent.

He said the engineering cuts were a sign of an overall slow down.

"There's no new models on the horizon," he said.

"They always used to get overseas work but that's all dried up."

He said the work would go overseas.

"It will probably be China or Thailand," he said.

It is the biggest single redundancy program since Holden axed 500 positions in July 2009 in the wake of the GFC, after exports of the Commodore to the USA ended when the Pontiac brand was shut down.

The latest cutbacks take the Holden factory workforce down to 1750 jobs, while engineering will shrink from 675 positions to 575. By comparison, Ford Australia employs about 1100 engineers, most of whom work of overseas vehicle programs even though they are based locally.

The latest job cuts are yet another grim reality facing the Australian car industry as it struggles to compete with cheap imported cars aided by the strong Australian dollar.

Last year Ford axed 340 jobs (to take its workforce at Broadmeadows and Geelong to 1500) while Toyota axed 350 manufacturing positions, to take its head-count to 2500 at its Altona facility.

Holden said the job cuts were due primarily to a reduction in demand for its locally-made Cruze small car "led by the high Australian dollar, combined with one of the most open and competitive car markets in the world".

The restructure will see Holden build 350 cars per day from August, instead of the 400 cars a day it currently builds during each daily eight-hour shift.

A statement from Holden boss Mike Devereux said: "A workforce reduction is always the last resort and Holden has taken every possible step to address our challenges over the past 12 months. This is a very difficult decision because people and their families are involved. These are hard working Australian men and women and we will be doing everything in our power to help them make informed decisions about their future."

Holden says it has committed to local car manufacturing until 2022, while Toyota is negotiating for the next generation Camry it plans to build to 2024.

Ford is yet to apply for government assistance for a locally-made car beyond the 2016 deadline set for the Falcon sedan and Territory SUV.

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