NOW that the federal government has decided to invest $100 million in the Australian car manufacturing industry it chased out of town about a minute ago, I think it’s time it went a bit more radical.
Just to put all this into perspective, in December the US government ended its $US100 billion ($131bn) bailout of its car industry it began in 2009. In 2008 vehicle sales had dropped 40 per cent and two of the big three companies were near collapse. The industry made up 3.6 per cent of total US gross domestic product, employed more than a million people and was incredibly fat. Union workers earned $US90 an hour; there were too many brands, too many dealerships and too many car bosses flying to Washington in private jets asking for a bailout.
Worst of all, it wasn’t competitive. Toyota had become the world’s biggest vehicle manufacturer and the US companies weren’t investing in new technologies. By 2009, 400,000 jobs had gone, GM was down to four brands, had shut 11 factories and cut more than 2000 dealerships, and Fiat owned Chrysler.
Today the industry is profitable and, according to the US Treasury, making jobs at the fastest pace in 15 years. Since the low point in 2009, more than 500,000 jobs have been created.
By now you’re saying, we know you guys at The Weekend Australian Motoring are geniuses but can you solve the problems of our local car industry too? You already know the answer. Of course we’ve got it fixed.
State governments encourage young people to buy new homes. For instance, in NSW you can get $15,000 towards the purchase of your new castle. So let’s introduce a first-car buyers’ scheme. Yes, citizens, your local premier gives the kiddies, say, $5000 towards the cost of a new car. We know there have to be limits. No twin turbos, no automatics, no electric or other weird power and at least one component has to be made in Australia. The dealer finance specialist can’t be involved and any dealer with free balloons or barbecues can’t be part of the program. No need to thank us.
Talking of Aussie industry, Troy Hunt rang me the other day to get a bit of a hand. Troy is a six-time Australian kart champion, spent three years racing in Italy and is now the agent for Holden V8 Supercars champion James Courtney’s new line of JC super karts. “Johnny, the only problem is James has named the karts after you and you haven’t even driven one,” Troy said. “Can you come out and test drive the JC Kart to see if you approve?”
Despite never having driven a kart in my life, I couldn’t let Troy and James down, so I packed up my gear and headed off to Sydney’s Eastern Creek International Karting Raceway, where the quaint smell of the local tip merges with the scent of two-stroke to create the perfect aroma for a trip around 125cc heaven. Now apart from no seatbelts to hold you in, no bodywork to protect you, no power steering, no ABS, no suspension, only rear brakes, being 10mm off the ground and a power to weight ratio higher than an F16, I found it pretty easy to put in lap times of 1 minute 46 seconds.
Read on at http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/motoring/motor-industry-crisis-solved-governments-should-buy-kids-cars/story-fngmee2f-1227270673591?sv=12359da415c0659e344ca3492d549c87
