General Motors president predicts electric cars will dominate Australia’s market

ELECTRIC cars will be rolled out in Australia and then dominate the market, according to a top auto industry executive who also defended the decision to close Australian operations.

General Motors president Dan Ammann says electric cars are the future. Picture: Jeffrey Sauger

ELECTRIC cars will be rolled out in Australia and will dominate the market, according to a top auto industry executive.

General Motors president Dan Ammann told the Herald Sun “we believe the future will be heavily electric”.

Just 0.6 per cent of vehicles in the Australian market are electric, and Mr Amman did not elaborate on when the new generation would be rolled out.

However, he said consumer demand and charging infrastructure presented challenges.

The shift comes as car manufacturers have begun to dismantle their operations.

Ford closed its Geelong factory last year, Toyota closed its Altona factory on Tuesday and Holden’s Adelaide operation will shut down on October 20, with 945 workers to lose their jobs there.

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GM confirmed it would retain Holden’s headquarters in Port Melbourne and up to 1000 employees, including designers, dealers and corporate staff, would continue to be employed in Australia.

The move to shut down the manufacturing industry has caused anxiety among directly affected communities; however, Mr Amman defended the decision, saying it was “made in the best interests of the business long term”.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union fears for workers’ futures.

AMWU national vehicle division secretary Dave Smith said many Ford workers made redundant 12 months ago were yet to land full-time permanent work.

The Chevrolet Volt electric car was one of the first of its kind when unveiled in 2010.

“Despite the efforts to help people and upskill them to make sure they are ready for new employment, unfortunately that hasn’t (worked) in terms of finding them full-time jobs,” he said.

Mr Ammann said he appreciated the efforts of Holden workers.

“We are hugely grateful for all of the effort and energy that the employee base has put in over the years and decades to Holden,” Mr Ammann said.

“We are incredibly proud of what has been achieved over that time.

“We are committed to making sure that Holden is incredibly successful in the future.”

On Monday GM announced it intended to go electric in America and several other countries, with 20 of its models to be non-fuel by 2023.

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Reporter Alex White travelled to Detroit as a guest of General Motors