Commentary |
 |
Comment |
The Age and The Australian have entirely different perspectives of the Toyota hybrid car announcement. In my view The Age's view is the one that makes sense and late today Toyota came out with a statement which confirmed that.
Philip King and Matthew Franklin claim in The Australian that Toyota was going to build the hybrid car in Altona anyway and the federal and state governments combined support of $70 million made no real difference – all it did was bring the announcement forward. They claim that the $70 million was a gift and a waste of taxpayer’s money. Strong stuff and the report has been picked up by radio stations across the country.
Ian Porter and David Rood in The Age have a totally different version of the events. Porter says that Toyota in Australia certainly had a plan to make the hybrid car in Australia but they had lost out to Thailand. Porter says: “Toyota had made the decision to base Camry hybrid production in Thailand last December about the time the Rudd Government came into office.”
The Age now looks to be correct – it seems it was only the intervention of the prime minister Kevin Rudd, Victorian premier John Brumby and industry minister Kim Carr that rescued what was a plan that was going to be trumped. “It was the equivalent to kicking a goal after the siren to win the game,” Porter says.
Here is the full statement from Toyota:
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR A LOCALLY BUILT HYBRID CAMRY
Toyota Australia wishes to clarify a report attributed to a Toyota Australia executive on the front page of The Australian newspaper on Wednesday, 11 June.
Toyota Australia has always been open about its desire to build a hybrid Camry.
The Governments' critical support and strong desire to introduce new environmentally friendly technology and promote increased innovation within the Australian automotive industry, enabled Toyota Australia to develop a case for a locally built hybrid Camry.
Toyota's decision to build a hybrid Camry in Australia was based on various business considerations; however the Government's support was a critical factor in securing local production.
Toyota looks forward to working in collaboration with the Australian and Victorian Governments to continue to develop a strong and sustainable Australian automotive industry.
Toyota's hybrid plant ...see what readers and experts are saying in The Conversation.
Related Industry Sectors
View the latest stories on Automotive
View the latest stories on Climate Change
Related People
View all stories on JOHN BRUMBY
View all stories on KEVIN RUDD
View all stories on KIM CARR
Contribute to the Conversation
To contribute your comments for possible publication, please Login or Register.
Preference will be given to succinct contributions. We may contact you via email prior to publication.
