It's in the government's hands, says Holden 'We need to close the gap': Holden chief executive Mike Devereux appearing at the automotive Productivity Commission hearing. Holden managing director Mike Devereux has thrown down the gauntlet to Prime Minister Tony Abbott, saying the Federal Government has the figures it needs to make a decision on whether to support local car manufacturing. Appearing before a Productivity Commission hearing in Melbourne on Tuesday morning, Mr Devereux said that Holden's parent, General Motors, had made its "business case" to continue making cars in Australia to both the present government and the former Labor regime. "We need a public-private partnership over the long term to be relatively competitive and do what General Motors wants to do, which is to build where it sells," he said. He denied this would amount to an "annual rental" paid by government to keep the industry in Australia. Probed on whether he would prefer an annual negotiation with government or agreements that last for an entire product cycle, Mr Devereux said: "Probably the latter." While he would not be drawn on the size of the subsidy sought by General Motors, he said that between there was a cost difference of $3750 between its Australian plants and those in the region. I don't know to suggest that we're sitting here saying that we need to close that gap to zero... but we do need to close the gap, yes. The government submission that we have made with the business case for our next-gen products clearly state's GM's thresholds for those business cases. Concern over Holden's local plants has been intense since Thursday night, when ABC TV's Lateline reported that General Motors in Detroit had already decided to shutter Australian manufacturing. Mr Abbott demanded Holden "clarify their intention because at the moment they have got everyone on tenterhooks." On Tuesday morning Mr Devereux told the Productivity Commission "no decision had been made" regarding local manufacturing. Asked if he knew of a time frame for such a decision, he responded: "I wouldn't speculate it in this forum." "I've been long an advocate that this industry is an important part of the economy in this country and hopefully through my testimony today I can continue to make that case," he said.