A Federal Government minister has been despatched to Detroit in a desperate bid to rescue the Australian car industry.
Kim Carr's mission to the US has become all the more pressing since sales figures confirmed the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon had taken their biggest hit in more than half a century.
The Industry Minister is expected to meet the top executives from General Motors and Ford next Monday, on the eve of the Detroit Motor Show.
While General Motors-Holden has mapped out its plans - building its Cruze small car alongside the Commodore, as well as trying to revive export deals to the US - its counterpart Ford has remained tight-lipped.
Ford Australia was scheduled to build a small car from this year but those plans were scrapped in 2009 after the company said it could not profitably manufacture such a vehicle at its Broadmeadows factory.
Ford Australia is in a particular bind because factories in Thailand have, with local government support, won contracts to build Ford's Focus small car, a new small sports utility vehicle, and the Ranger four-wheel drive utility.
A new Ford hatch unveiled this week will probably be made in India, even though it was designed and engineered in Australia.
With the Ford vehicles being built in Thailand representing the three largest categories in Australia, Broadmeadows has been forced to find a business case to produce a medium or large car - sales of which are declining worldwide.
''I am confident that we can, despite the challenges - and they are profound - work our way through these issues,'' Mr Carr said.
He was going to Detroit to ''restate the Australian Government's commitment to the automotive industry. We want to attract new investment... and ensure we keep our position in the global industry.''
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