Aussie icons now species in danger ...

[Oracle of Delphi]

We are sentimental but no Australian brand is going to survive simply because it is Australian.

No Aussie brands are more ingrained in the national consciousness than Qantas or Holden but the flying kangaroo is facing extinction as a long-haul, full-service carrier within 10 years and GM Holden may not even last that long.

You don't have to look far to see why. This week, I'm flying to London and needed a one-way fare. Checking the Qantas website was once my benchmark and my habit but I was reminded again why it ceased to be so.

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On the Qantas website, I was offered a one-way economy fare of $1558, premium economy for $3278 and business class $7547.

The last time I flew Qantas long-haul economy, it was bad and I want this time to get to London without an aching neck and sleep deprivation. So, economy was out.

I've also tried the premium economy and won't again. As for Qantas business-class fares, they are out of my range as I pay my own airfares.

A few clicks on the internet and a new world of value was available: Emirates was offering a one-way business-class ticket for $3757 with flat-bed seats, five-star service (I've tried it before), a convenient late-evening departure time, business-class lounges, a limo service to the airport and a limo service from the airport to my hotel in London (blessed relief after 26 hours of travel).

All this for $479 more than the price of Qantas's glorified economy class and less than half the price of Qantas business class.

For almost the same fare, I could have flown business class on China Southern Airlines, which is developing a ''Canton route'' between Australia and London via its hub in Guangzhou - while Qantas cuts back its famed ''kangaroo route'' to London because it is not making money.

There was also a competitive business-class fare from Etihad Airways, with which I've enjoyed superb service in the past, but it was more expensive and the timing was less convenient.

Etihad and Emirates are booming, taking Australians to Europe via their hubs in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Dubai. Abu Dhabi. Guangzhou. It's a new world for Australian travellers.

It was no contest. I booked Emirates. So, another Qantas frequent flyer will be going overseas without a backward glance at the flying kangaroo.

As I was writing this, a post popped up on my wife's Facebook page and she sent it on. It was from a friend, Ella, who wrote: ''Dear Qantas, do not send me an email promising me a sale when it's not. Your price was $200 above what I can get on Webjet … and travelling when I like, not between May and June. Get a grip, Qantas.''

These structural pressures were the backdrop to the tensions that exploded last year when Qantas was subject to rolling industrial action, furious public abuse from three of its unions and a lockout and fleet grounding by management.

The turmoil has since given way to collective agreements but the structural problem remains. My understanding is that in order to buy industrial peace, Qantas has locked itself into restrictions on the number of casual staff it can hire.

This may buy industrial peace but it will not buy survival for Qantas international, which is unprofitable, according to management. Qantas may have an indelible brand name, a dominant position in the domestic market and a reliable record of profitability but the profit is coming from the Qantas Group, not the glamorous long-haul Qantas flagships.

The company will survive and can expand and prosper but the full-service, long-haul flying kangaroo we grew up with may not be around.

Then there is Holden. For that matter, there is the entire Australian car manufacturing industry. Surely its future lies in making specialised parts for global markets, not entire cars for a small and impossibly crowded open marketplace?

For decades, Holden enjoyed more than 50 per cent of the market in Australia. Last year, GM Holden's market share was 12.8 per cent. In January, sales of the Holden Commodore were the worst monthly sales yet, down 18 per cent from the previous January and continuing a long-term downward drift. GM Holden also announced it was cutting 100 jobs from its plant in Adelaide.

It was not alone. Toyota announced that it was cutting 350 manufacturing jobs at its two plants in Melbourne. Ford reached an agreement with the Gillard government to receive $34 million in subsidies.

How much subsidy is a car-making job worth? What all three of these car-makers have in common are generous and unsustainable labour costs, padded by government subsidy.

The GM Holden collective agreement is a case in point. Over the past seven years it has delivered a cumulative wage increase of 29 per cent, an average of more than 4 per cent per year - a real increase over inflation.

The agreement also obliges GM Holden to pay generous redundancy benefits and is generous in numerous other ways. So, too, are the collective agreements made by Ford and Toyota.

Providing generous wages and conditions is intrinsically laudable but not if it compromises the survival of the enterprise. This is exactly what we have with the Australian car manufacturing industry, which wants more and continued government subsidies.

The workplace agreements at GM Holden, Ford and Toyota commit to wages and redundancy obligations the companies could not afford under present market conditions were it not for transfer payments from the federal government. What unreality is the Gillard government propping up?

It raises the question - why are Australian taxpayers being asked to make sacrifices, via subsidising higher costs, that the local auto-makers and their staff have not themselves been willing to make?

Members of the public are already voting, with their wallets.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/aussie-icons-now-species-in-danger-20120205-1qzm1.html#ixzz1lWUOgVJ9

[Drew Dowdell]

His rational for Quantas applies to Lufthansa as well, so I guess we'll see BMW closing up shop soon.

[Oracle of Delphi]

His rational for Quantas applies to Lufthansa as well, so I guess we'll see BMW closing up shop soon.

BMW has more cash than it knows what to do with, besides unlike Australians, German voters are pretty nationalistic when it comes to purchasing vehicles, they have a German first mindset, too bad Americans don't think that way ...

[Robert Hall]

His rational for Quantas applies to Lufthansa as well, so I guess we'll see BMW closing up shop soon.

BMW has more cash than it knows what to do with, besides unlike Australians, German voters are pretty nationalistic when it comes to purchasing vehicles, they have a German first mindset, too bad Americans don't think that way ...

Americans have a 'cheapest wins' mindset instead.

[Turbojett]

His rational for Quantas applies to Lufthansa as well, so I guess we'll see BMW closing up shop soon.

BMW has more cash than it knows what to do with, besides unlike Australians, German voters are pretty nationalistic when it comes to purchasing vehicles, they have a German first mindset, too bad Americans don't think that way ...

Americans have a 'cheapest wins' mindset instead.

very true. We used to have an America First mindset. Now people shop Honda and Toyota first.

[hyperv6]

The sad part is that the American Public now justify and explain away their purchase of Honda Toyota, Nissan and even Hyundai as they are feel they are now American cars because they are built here. they fail to understand where a company is based and where the profits end up. Then they complain because their Camaro was built in Canada and the Silverado was built in Mexico. But now with Global based auto companies it make it more difficult to say a company is now based from one nation.

Here are some numbers to kind of give all of us an idea of what kind of models they are buying and what models. If you look it does not look much different than here with about 1/3 of the models being local and the rest being Asian and German.

If you look even down under Mazda has gone to Number one and Hyundai had made sold gains while other lose market share. Even VW is making gains.

Top sellers 2011 (Jan - Aug) Top sellers 2001 1. Mazda3 1. Holden Commodore 2. Holden Commodore 2. Ford Falcon 3. Holden Cruze 3. Toyota Corolla 4. Toyota Corolla 4. Holden Astra 5. Toyota HiLux 5. Mitsubishi Magna V6 6. Hyundai i30 6. Hyundai Accent 7. Mazda2 7. Nissan Pulsar 8. Ford Falcon 8. Toyota Camry (4 cyl) 9. Ford Territory 9. Mitsubishi Lancer 10. Toyota Camry

10.Toyota Hilux

By model

Rank Vehicle 2011 2010 %diff 1. Mazda3 41,429 39,003 6.2 2. Holden Commodore 40,617 45,956 -11.6 3. Toyota Hilux 36,124 39,896 -9.5 4. Toyota Corolla 36,087 41,632 -13.3 5. Holden Cruze 33,784 28,334 19.2 6. Hyundai i30 28,869 29,772 -3 7. Nissan Navara 21,675 21,171 2.4 8. Toyota Camry 19,169 25,014 -23.4 9. Ford Falcon 18,741 29,516 -36.5 10. Mitsubishi Lancer 18,717 23,076 -18.9

By Brand

Rank Brand 2011 2010 %diff 1. Toyota 181,624 214,718 -15.4 2. Holden 126,095 132,923 -5.1 3. Ford 91,243 95,284 -4.2 4. Mazda 88,333 84,777 4.2 5. Hyundai 87,008 80,038 8.7 6. Nissan 67,926 62,676 8.4 7. Mitsubishi 61,108 62,496 -2.2 8. Volkswagen 44,740 38,016 17.7 9. Subaru 34,011 40,025 -15 10. Honda 30,107 40,375 -25

Toyota's fall was not due to the earthquake in Japan. The Altona plant in Victoria has suffered great jub losses due to decline in market share.

While Mazda gained with the 3 they lost some with the Mazda 2. Market watchers tend to blame the fact that the Austrailian market as it fails to embrace very small cars vs the brand.

The only two solid nationalistic countries for autos tend to be Japan and Germany. But then again they have had good solid cars for a great while and had little need to look else where. Also the taxes on imports in Japan hurt sales more than anything. I deal with many customers in Japan buying parts for older American cars that are prized there. Many would love to have a new Camaro over there but only the most wealthy can afford them. They have to make due with cars often left by American servicemen. .

But if you look at the top ten for the year only 3 models are of what I call of a national brand for them. But ten years ago the same thing was true with only three local based models with only Ford ranking higher with the Falcon.

Is the Cruze even built there or is it imported from Asia?