Give 'em nothing I reckon. Why should the Government bailout every car company (or airline) that goes bust. OK it will be bad news for the 3000 Mitsubishi workers (where did they get this other 20,000 figure from), but that's life. Let's all start uip companies and in a few months time when they are struggling to stay afloat we'll blackmail the Govt into handing over a big wad of cash so we can keep cruising around in our posh TL50s.
NOT.:fmad::fmad::fmad::fmad:
From Sydney Morning Herald
Mitsubishi's threat: $140m or we close
By Michael Millett, Herald Correspondent in Tokyo
The international car maker Mitsubishi Motors wants Australian taxpayers to contribute an extra $140 million to guarantee the future of its struggling local subsidiary as one of Australia's four vehicle manufacturers.
In what is looming as one of the first domestic policy tests for the returned Federal Government, Mitsubishi Motors Australia confirmed yesterday it had lodged a submission with the Government seeking its support for a multi-million-dollar upgrade of its Adelaide production lines.
While the terms of the submission are confidential, it is understood the extra help Tokyo and Adelaide require for committing to a retooling would amount to about $140 million.
This is separate from about $200 million the Federal Government has already promised Mitsubishi for new investment projects under its new car assistance plan.
It would come on top of billions of dollars already spent by successive federal and state administrations over past decades trying to protect local jobs in the dwindling Australian car industry.
The extra money is to help the company meet the huge upfront cost of new production processes to enable Adelaide to produce a replacement model for the aging Magna.
It is also designed to help set up Adelaide as a global production centre, producing export models for other parts of the sprawling DaimlerChrysler/Mitsubishi empire.
The Stuttgart-based DaimlerChrysler, now the world's third-biggest car maker, effectively runs Mitsubishi after acquiring a 37 per cent stake last year.
Mitsubishi sources in Tokyo said the submission put the cost of the upgrade at $700 million.
Given Mitsubishi's current problems - the Tokyo-based parent made a record loss last year and is being rebuilt by its new German owner - the company had neither the means nor the inclination to foot the entire bill on its own, the sources said.
The company is also wary of the Australian market, as car tariffs will drop from 15 to 10 per cent at the end of 2004.
Mitsubishi is pressing for a quick decision. Although the new car will not be built until 2005, the company needs the money from next year to begin upgrading its assembly lines.
It is understood key Mitsubishi executives have warned the Government that they cannot make a final decision on how Adelaide fits into its new global manufacturing plans until the issue is sorted out.
It also wants clear indications from its Australian subsidiary that it is about to end its run of losses and can trade comfortably in the black.
A spokesman for the new Industry Minister, Ian Macfarlane, said no comment would be made until the Government had dealt with the issue.
The timing and nature of the request put the new cabinet in a bind. Any new money would run counter to the Government's post-election policy of protecting the Budget surplus.
The Government has lobbied frenetically behind the scenes to save Adelaide - not only for its own electoral survival, but for that of the South Australian Government.
The last Liberal state administration must go to the polls early next year and is desperate to have the issue resolved by then.
More than 3000 workers are employed at the two Adelaide plants. Mitsubishi Australia's managing director, Tom Phillips, says 20,000 jobs around Australia are indirectly linked to the plants.
Mitsubishi Motors wants Australian taxpayers to contribute $140 million
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