Senator James McGrath: General Motors “acted with the ethics of a granny-smacking purse-snatcher”
An Australian politician has called for General Motors to hand the Holden brand back to Australia, describing its American chief executive as ‘Gordon Gekko on steroids’.
National
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An Australian Senator has compared General Motors’ chief executive to a fictional character in the 1987 film Wall Street in a fiery speech in the Senate, calling on the American brand to hand control of Holden back to its dealers.
Liberal Senator James McGrath said General Motors “acted with the ethics of a granny-smacking purse-snatcher” when it announced plans to end Australian operations in February, blindsiding dealers who invested heavily in the brand.
Mr McGrath described GM chief executive Marry Barra as “Gordon Gekko on steroids”, accusing her of “using coronavirus as an alibi for the worst corporate behaviour”.
The carmaker and its dealers are arguing over how much franchisees should be paid in compensation for its withdrawal from the new car market.
The ACCC is examining Holden’s handling of its exit following complaints by dealers.
Holden broke its silence surrounding the matter last week to say its offer to dealers was “more than fair and reasonable”.
It said a medium-sized dealer might receive about $700,000 under its compensation structure, while bigger dealers would get closer to $1.75 million in compensation for lost sales.
Holden said dealers, represented by law firm HWL Ebsworth, wanted the same sized businesses to receive almost $9 million and $22 million – more than 10 times GM’s offer.
A Holden spokesman said: “GM Holden firmly believes the compensation offer to its dealers is fair, and strongly disagrees with any assertion that it has acted improperly”.
“We remain open to meet for a constructive purpose with dealers,” he said.
Senator McGrath said GM’s treatment of dealers was “unforgivable”, and that it needs to understand that “what they’re offering dealers in compensation for killing the brand is just not good enough”.
“General Motors may think the rich history of the Australian brand in Australia is worthless. But I think it’s priceless,” he said.
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“And if General Motors think the brand is worth nothing, then hand the brand back to Australia. Give it back to the Holden dealers.
“Indeed, I’m happy to purchase the brand off General Motors for $1.
“I’ll send you, Ms Barra, $1 in the post, and you can give us the Holden brand back, and we’ll give it to the Holden dealers.”
Originally published as Senator James McGrath: General Motors “acted with the ethics of a granny-smacking purse-snatcher”
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