Holden insists it will keep making cars in Australia despite reporting a $153 million loss as motorists steer away from locally built cars.
More than 1.1 million vehicles were sold last year, yet demand for the Holden-built Commodore and Cruze continued to fall as the strong Australian dollar boosted the appeal of imported models.
Holden chief financial officer George Kapitelli says car making is facing unprecedented challenges even though taxpayers have given the sector billions of dollars in assistance during the past decade.
“With the Australian dollar at levels not seen since the early 1980s, this puts particular pressure on our Australian manufacturing operations,” Mr Kapitelli said in a statement.
However, he said Holden remained committed to a long-term future in Australia despite the company being exposed to foreign competition.
Holden’s net loss of $152.8 million for calendar 2012 accounted for $226 million in special one-off restructuring costs linked to falling demand.
The announcement of the loss comes only a month after Holden reported it would axe 400 mostly manufacturing jobs in Adelaide and another 100 in Melbourne.
Another 170 jobs were axed in November.
Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union South Australian secretary John Camillo said falling sales were a factor in the job cuts and called on state governments to buy more locally built fleet cars.
“It’s a very tough market and manufacturing in Australia is really struggling at the moment,” he told AAP.
“Holden needs to rethink what they need to do to get that market share.”
Holden managing director Mike Devereux said the company had restructured its business to improve productivity, reduce structural costs and match production to demand.
Consolidated revenue fell to $4 billion from $4.3 billion previously, reflecting lower sales of the large Commodore and the mid-size Cruze and the absence of the Thai-built Colorado utility ahead of a new model launch.
The revamped VF Commodore, due for release next month at a heavy discount, is expected to be Holden’s last locally built rear-wheel-drive car until it is replaced in 2016.
The Commodore dropped from the shortlist of Australia’s top-10 selling cars in March and last year relinquished its 15-year run as the nation’s No.1 seller to the Japanese mid-size Mazda 3.
The imported Toyota Corolla and Hyundai i30 consistently outsell the Cruze.
Over the past decade, Holden received $1.8 billion in federal and state government assistance.
