Last month, I noted how there was an outside chance that Belgian automotive entrepreneur, Guido Dumarey, would save Holden’s Elizabeth plant, which is due to close early next year.
Today, ABC News reports that discussions to buy the plant are continuing:
…the Belgian’s proven experience in turning around a GM plant has Australian leaders hopeful of more success here, including the Federal Industry Minister Christopher Pyne.
“I’ve engaged closely with him and with General Motors and given him a letter of support from the Commonwealth Government indicating we will do what we can to help him realise his goal,” Mr Pyne said in January…
Professor John Spoehr from the Australian Industrial Transformation Institute at Flinders University said the key hurdle would be gaining the support of General Motors.
“Look it’s difficult to know exactly what might be going on behind closed doors in Detroit, but one can only hope that there are some serious conversations going on,” he told The World Today.
“It’s likely that there would be fewer staff than there currently are, but there is a significant supply chain where many thousands of other workers are working, so the net effect of him rescuing the plant would be to save many thousands of jobs”…
Job losses have already begun at the Elizabeth plant and component makers across the country, while some Holden workers are starting to train up in other fields including aged care.
The key sticking points appear to be whether General Motors is willing to part with its intellectual property and whether the federal government would kick in funding.
Fingers crossed.
