Holden closing down Factory 2016 - 2018

[Grennan]

To pay a mechanic will cost around $110 an hour (who gets the rest???)

Equipment. Rent for the property. General bills. Wages. Profit.

I dont think Toyota will close its plant. Moving general assembly off shore and then only having the final assembly done here is likely. Cutting down on the need for such a large workforce.

 

[Reaper]

To pay a mechanic will cost around $110 an hour (who gets the rest???)

60 Grand for unskilled labour???

Well stated comments Sabbath... my conclusion?? There are far too many money-hungry pigs.

Rent, power, tax, labour on costs (superannuation, payroll tax, workcover insurance, accrual for holidays, LSL, sick pay), business insurance, public liability insurance, accounting, lease payments on machinery (wheel alignment machine + analysers etc), royalties for any software plus advertising - just to name a few costs over the $25 or whatever a grease monkey gets in his back pocket.

 

[satos]

The problems Holden and Ford are going through started many years ago when the government of the day lowered tariffs on imported cars.
This opened the flood gates for new imported cars to hit our shores which were often tens of thousands dollars cheaper to buy than our own locally produced cars.
To this day many people still buy new imported cars based on their cheaper cost and because of this our local car industry has suffered.
I know this is not the only cause but people keep going on about our high labour costs but we live in a society where our cost of living is high compared to many of our Asian neighbours where theirs is much lower. This problem is spread nation wide especially in manufacturing and the telecommunication industry where it is much cheaper to outsource these jobs overseas. An example, our telco companies call centre staff in Asian countries are paid $1.00 per hour compare to $25 per hour in Australia. We unfortunately cannot come even close to competing with that as our cost in living is very high.
If this situation keeps going on there will be a recession in this country in the not too distant future.

 

[2t4me]

To pay a mechanic will cost around $110 an hour (who gets the rest???)



.

A mechanical workshop is a business.. A business that has to pay:
Wages for mechanics and all other staff
Work cover
Insurance
Rent
Electricity
Phone
Loan repayments
Association memberships (vacc or similar)
Stationary
Office equipment
And no doubt other overheads that I have missed

Their income comes from profit on parts and the labour charged for work being carried out... Remember to take into account that most mechanical business will have at least one - usually more - "non productive" employees whose wage also needs to be paid yet whose labour is not charged directly for I.e. receptionists, service advisors, service managers, wash staff, accounts staff etc (obviously the number and type of non productive staff will vary depending on the size and type of workshop).

It's funny how people whose only exposure to/or knowledge of an industry is the fact that they own a car like to think that because they pay $60/$70 or $90 an hour labour for their car service that that's what the mechanic must get paid...



** not directed at you specifically Shearer - just voicing an argument I've pitched many times in the past!

 

[Shearer]

I stand corrected

 

[Grennan]

Working in the parts industry its amazing that retail people think because a mechanic pays X for a part and they pay Y for a part they are getting ripped.

They dont seem to fathom that 10 dollar difference or whatever it may be is part of their margin to survive

 

[PIR4TE]

One comment typifies response from our mates in the US... Originally Posted by panzer leader:

cp, terrible news..... "dr napthine said it was an irreversible decision made in detroit and he was only told this afternoon." see my earlier post, the u.s. Government sold off its gm stock at a $10 billion dollar loss..... Why? Especially if gm is now making a profit.... Of course my friend, the news comes from detroit. A city that has declared bankruptcy. I am sick of this type of bs. I would like to see the holden employees, and the people of australia buy holden back from gm.... Build them there and ship them (at least some here.) you folks don't need gm... You guys are aussies, now go kick their ass.

 

[Sabbath']

** not directed at you specifically Shearer - just voicing an argument I've pitched many times in the past!

Im hearing you. Would be so different if there were licensed mechanics, like electricians/plumbers/whatever. To have done a 4 year apprenticeship and have the earning potential of somebody at McDonalds is a real kick in the teeth.

 

[Shearer]

All valid comments... I'll hide in my box :hiding:

The reason behind my earlier statement.. I work in Resources Industry and there are 'certain types' of companies (and people!) who charge huge $$$ for a simple task. As soon as you mention Mining the price goes through the roof. But anyway that's a completely different topic so I won't start unearthing any figures.

 

[MiKExAUS]

when holden closes down does this mean that spare parts for earlier models will stop being manufactured too so that spare parts will run out? sorry if that's a really silly question.