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Holden Veritas sit in a showroom in Melbourne - Source: Reuters -
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The future of Australian jobs at Holden looks strong, despite the collapse of US parent company General Motors, chairman and general manager Mark Reuss says.
The vote of confidence follows GM's announcement that it had filed for bankruptcy protection in a deal that will give American taxpayers a 60% ownership stake in the automotive giant.
The Australian arm of the beleaguered company has posted no job losses despite the downturn, Reuss said, with pay cuts taken "across the whole organisation".
"We have worked over the last 18 months and taken all the necessary steps in the global financial crisis to make sure Holden here in Australia is cash-flow positive, is viable and has a great revenue stream set up here for our new products that we're beginning to introduce," he told the Nine Network on Tuesday.
"We are part of the new GM parent company but more importantly we have a future here in Holden that we feel very, very good about."
He said the company had structured operations in "a very responsible way" sparking a line production with demand, following the industry's decline by up to 20% in Australia.
Reuss said he had worked closely with federal and state governments, unions and headquarter staff to take important decisions, including the development of alternative fuel technology, and a new small car design due for manufacture in Adelaide from 2010.
He said the company did not expect any job losses in the immediate future.
"We're very well positioned here for any upswing in the economy and in fact, I think you'll see this last month we've had start to have a little bit of rebound on local demand," he said.
"We're in a good place."
Holden employs 6,000 people in Australia and New Zealand and says customers warranties will not be affected.
