Holden grabs government gift
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Holden
29th May, 2011
Holden has grabbed another gift from the Federal
Government. This time it's a grant of $39.8 million from the Green Car Innovation Fund intended to bring
fuel-saving innovations to future Commodore models.
Although many companies take pride in funding their own R&D, General Motors has developed a mentality
over recent years of grabbing as much 'corporate dole' as it possibly can.
The innovations for the future, including aluminium body panels to reduce vehicle weight and improved
aerodynamic performance, are designed to help reduce fuel consumption by more than 7 per cent. This
reduction in fuel consumption would save around 3.6 million litres of fuel and reduce CO2 emissions from
the Commodore fleet by around 9,000 tonnes a year.
Holden Chairman and Managing Director Mike Devereux said “The assistance from the Federal
Government will enable Holden to bring Australian-made firsts in fuel-efficiency and weight saving to
market and to secure local jobs in the broader automotive industry.”
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“Holden is also continuing to develop other low emission and alternative fuel solutions in our
Ecoline portfolio including a dedicated LPG Commodore and E85 flex-fuel capability on the 3.6 litre SIDI
V6 engine later this year.”
This is the second grant Holden has received through the Green Car Innovation Fund. Holden also
received $149 million over three years to bring the Cruze into local production.
“The assistance through the Green Car Innovation Fund for these two important locally-made vehicles
has been critical to the success of Holden and the Australian industry through a very challenging
economic period,” Mr Devereux said. Curiously he didn't mention that other manufacturers are making
gains with fuel efficiency without the requirement of government funding. Additionally, Mr Devereux didn't
mention that the new car industry is highly successful, having sold over a million new vehicles in
Australia last year and well over 70 million new vehicles globally during 2010. Further, there appears to
be little doubt than the world's car makers will make over 75 million vehicles in 2011.
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