Fight for survival ‘threatens’ car parts jobs: Close

A TAKEOVER bid for a South Australian car parts maker by a rival could result in the loss of up to 70 jobs, the state’s manufacturing minister says.

Susan Close, the Weatherill government’s minister who is also charged with overseeing change in the state’s car-making industry, said a move by Precision Engineering, which makes parts for the Holden Commodore and Cruze built at Elizabeth, could see up to 70 jobs disappear from fellow car-parts maker Carr Components if the buy-out went ahead.

Ms Close told the ABC that job losses in the components industry could link directly with Holden’s plans to quit Australian manufacturing in late 2017.

"We're going to see some of this happening where supply chain companies start to consolidate and prepare for diversification and for changing and unfortunately that means that some people are going to be losing their jobs," she said.

The threat to Carr Components workers is not the first casualty in the long wind-down of Australia’s car-making sector.

Tasmanian car parts maker ACL Bearing closed its doors this week after struggling to trade its way back into life after receivers were appointed to the company in 2009.

Its demise was linked to with Ford, which was the first Australian car-maker to announce late last year it would quit Australian manufacturing by late 2016.

In the past, both Ford and Holden have jumped in to save car parts manufacturers from failing in order to ensure the supply of components to keep production lines flowing.