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The Death of Holden: The Bestselling Account of The Decline of Australian Manufacturing $8 + Delivery ($0 Prime) @ Amazon AU

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The Death of Holden: The Bestselling Account of The Decline of Australian Manufacturing $8 + Delivery ($0 Prime) @ Amazon AUAffiliate
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Scrooge McDeal on 17/02/2023 - 14:59 amazon.com.au (330 clicks)
Last edited 17/02/2023 - 16:45 by 1 other user
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Paperback book The Death of Holden: The bestselling account of the decline of Australian manufacturing by Royce Kurmelovs for the all time low of $8 according to Camel x 3

An extraordinary account of the impending closure of the Holden factory in Adelaide. More than the end of a business - it's the end of an era, of a story, and of a great Australian dream.

When Holden signalled that it would close its Adelaide factory, it struck at the very heart of Australian identity. Holden is our car made on our shores. It's the choice of patriotic rev heads and suburban drivers alike. How could a car that was so beloved - and so popular - be so unprofitable to make?

The story of the collapse of Holden is about the people who make and drive the cars; it's about sustaining industry in Australia; it's about communities of workers and what happens when the work dries up. And if it's not quite about the death of an icon - because Holdens will remain on Australian roads for a long time to come - then it's about what happens when an icon falls to its knees in front of a whole nation.

This updated edition features a new chapter.

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closed Comments

  • muwu on 17/02/2023 - 15:06
    +5

    Nice. I'll put it in the glovebox of my AU Falcon…

  • zzymurgy on 17/02/2023 - 15:09
    +1

    Haven't read it, but Royce Kurmelovs is one of Australia's best journalists. Should be a ripper.

  • garage sale on 17/02/2023 - 15:09
    +4

    Ohh is there a book "AWA, the decline of australian manufacturing" ? …. the company that made wireless equipment since 1916 and during WWII made equipment for the armed forces , used to make TVs and radios in australia inthe 70's 80's , etc …..
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AWA_Technology_Services

    Even toilet paper manufacturing in Australia is under threat due to gas prices.

  • Rorzaborg on 17/02/2023 - 15:15
    +7

    Bogan depression speedrun.

    • DaTa on 17/02/2023 - 16:00

      Bogans now thing their commodores are investment vehicles… Will only go up in price..

      • Snoop on 17/02/2023 - 22:04

        Yeah, absolutely ridiculous theory…
        I say as I renew my insurance at $200k for a car that cost me $100k just over 4 years ago! 💰💰💰🤣

        • muwu on 18/02/2023 - 13:52
          +1

          Wow.

          If that's true, you've made an annualised compounded return of 18.92% (minus maintenance and transactional costs).

          SELL, SELL! Before the ass falls out of the used car market.

          • Snoop on 21/02/2023 - 15:11

            @muwu: Thanks, but I'm in it for the long term investment… in lifestyle. 😉

  • sircable on 17/02/2023 - 15:19

    Can't see it lower than $24?

  • jv on 17/02/2023 - 15:20
    -1

    How could a car that was so beloved - and so popular - be so unprofitable to make?

    Unions

    • Fitzwah on 17/02/2023 - 15:21
      -3

      👏👏

    • Master Haggler on 17/02/2023 - 15:21
      -2

      They paid their workers too much.

      • jv on 17/02/2023 - 15:22
        -1

        and had too many workers…

      • JPNx on 17/02/2023 - 15:46
        +3

        They got paid a rate that just made no sense to still exist in Australia and the Government which is our Taxes paid them.
        People end up saying oh no its the execs making $300-400k a year blame them, Although the largest percentage by far was the Union workers on the factory floor.

    • Brian McGee on 17/02/2023 - 16:34
      -1

      More like the bowgarns started driving 4WD utes build in thailand and spain (among others) and Holden didn't want to or weren't able to retool to accommodate. Plus they went into producing a small/medium vehicle when less people were buying them and wanting an SUV. That combined with the 'sweaty gym shoe' smell of the cruze after a few months.

      • PhilToinby on 17/02/2023 - 16:40

        Agree with all of this except haven't heard of the shoe smell before! In any kind of manufacturing, if you're not making what people are buying, then of course you are going to have to close down

        • Brian McGee on 17/02/2023 - 16:46
          -2

          I used to work as a circus advisor at a multi franchise stealership so on the odd occassion I had to book in holdens (though my primary makes were Hyundai, Kia, Nissan and Mitsubishi). The first few I booked in were younger men and women with what seemed half their wardrobe in the back seat and boot. But then I started to notice that every Cruze I booked in had this sweaty shoe 'school gym change room' smell, even the older ladies that bath in Elizabeth Arden, or the white collar men that think Drakkar Noir is the business mans Lynx Africa.

      • JPNx on 18/02/2023 - 15:04

        Even if we started to Produce the Ford Ranger in Australia it wouldn't be viable to keep the same merry go round of Tax Payers paying to keep the lights on.
        Also the Ford Territory was produced in Australia and had a lot of sales.

        Atleast now our Government can spend those few hundred million they were giving Holden and Ford elsewhere.

  • welcomewagon on 17/02/2023 - 15:27
    +7

    Does Joe Hockey rate a mention?

    https://www.afr.com/companies/manufacturing/hockey-dares-gm-…

    • LeonC on 17/02/2023 - 17:11
      +1

      The libs certainly didn't help, but Holden's issues started well before they came into power:
      - Foreign owned with no interest in putting resources into developing manufacturing processes to match global standards, instead stripping whatever cash they could from the business
      - Everyone was overpaid (top to bottom)
      - Successive governments throwing truckloads of money at them with very little strings attached, which led to further abuse of points 1 and 2
      - Complete misunderstanding of what consumers were after in terms of product range and value proposition

  • povertytrap on 17/02/2023 - 16:56
    +1

    Missed it.

  • OzViper on 17/02/2023 - 17:12
    +8

    Funny enough, as soon as car production stopped in Australia due to not being competitive, the overseas car makers have jacked the crap out of the prices.

    • sircable on 17/02/2023 - 17:56

      Was always going to happen…

  • Snoop on 17/02/2023 - 22:09

    Paperback – 29 August 2017
    Geez, people talk about 'waiting for the sheets to get cold'. But in this case, they didn't even wait for the final breath!

  • bargain huntress on 18/02/2023 - 00:51

    Why isnt there a hardback edition?

    • Snoop on 21/02/2023 - 15:14
      +1

      Production costs.
      They could, but the government would then have to subsidise it to keep it going. 😉

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