THE Holden Commodore of the future will be less Australian than ever before

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THE Holden Commodore of the future will be less Australian than ever before and threaten more jobs at parts suppliers.

Sacked staff have revealed the struggling car-maker last week let go of twice as many workers than was originally reported.

Critically, about 50 people from Holden's purchasing and administration departments in Port Melbourne were secretly sacked last week.

This is in addition to an estimated 50 designers and engineers that was reported last week.

The clean-out of the purchasing department - which buys raw materials and components for locally-made cars - is the clearest sign yet that the 2017 Commodore will be sourced from mostly imported parts.

About 50 per cent of the current Holden Commodore is made up of locally-sourced components, compared to 70 per cent for the Ford Falcon and 65 per cent for the Toyota Camry, according to figures supplied by the car makers.

But less than half of the parts that make up the new globally-developed 2017 Commodore are expected to be sourced locally, bringing it closer to the Cruze small car, which has 30 per cent local content.

"There will be an impact on the local supply chain as car makers switch to global (models)," said Richard Reilly, the chief executive of the Federation of Automotive Product Manufacturers.

"If they are buying more parts from overseas it will have a detrimental effect on local parts manufacturers."

The FAPM represents 100 major parts suppliers to all three car makers; the sector employs an estimated 35,000 workers mostly in Victoria and South Australia.

Holden is yet to start negotiations with the new Federal Government under Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who in Opposition had pledged to cut $500 million from car industry funding.

News Corp understands Holden is pitching for a bigger slice of a smaller pool of funds which, in a bitter twist, would need to be shared among fewer parts suppliers when Holden switches to a globally-developed car.

Since being elected, Mr Abbott has repeated his earlier pledge to cut industry funding.

In his first media conference he told reporters: "We'll stick with the position that we took to the election."

However, Holden and the new Federal Government are likely to disagree over Mr Abbott's expectations of an export program to boost local production volumes.

"We expect the motor industry, in return for ... assistance, to provide us with a reasonable indication of how it is going to increase volumes, particularly increase export volumes," said Mr Abbott.

"I want the car industry in this country to have a long-term, viable future - I don't want it to live from hand to mouth."

But exports are not viable for Holden because, aside from unfavourable exchange rates, the two cars it will make in Australia after 2016 - when the current Commodore bows out - will be made in several other countries, including possible export destinations.

Toyota Australia reportedly loses $2500 on every Camry it exports but offsets this on the almost 200,000 imported cars it sells locally.

Holden recorded its lowest sales in 19 years in 2012, selling a little more than half the cars than did Toyota.

Among those sacked by Holden last week was a department tasked with selling off and getting quotes for the sale or scrap of manufacturing tooling.

However, Holden said the quotes were for tooling for old models and not an indication of any plans to exit Australia.

"As part of our normal business practices we have decommissioned some old stamping and press equipment," said Holden spokesman Sean Poppitt.

"We will either sell or scrap those machines as per our normal process."

Holden has previously gone public about redundancies of this size but instead workers in the affected areas were discreetly sent a text message to attend a group meeting at Holden's Melbourne head office at 9am last Thursday.

By the end of the day, workers were told in one-on-one exit interviews that they were being made redundant.

Sacked workers have told News Corp that colleagues with 10 to 20 years of experience were let go and the purchasing department was among the hardest hit.
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