Holden has survived chapter 11 bankruptcy but there is a lot more to come than just a 'jobs are safe' declaration.

We have no apologies for the Holden crisis over story.

Some people have attacked us for bias, particularly when we point out Ford's failings with its locally-made Falcon and Territory, but a lot of people want to know what's really happening at Fishermans Bend.

Holden has survived the giant purge which came when General Motors filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy but there is a lot more to come than just a 'jobs are safe' declaration from the trump.

Mark Reuss has done a great job since he became chairman at the red lion and he makes a lot of sense as he talks about everything from the future of the Commodore to the financial situation at Holden.

But he really gets riled if you ask about the need for a car industry in Australia and the support the industry gets from Canberra.

"We pay $420 million a year in R&D . . . create almost 7000 jobs and we pay wages of $500 billion back into the economy every year," Reuss says.

"We make Commodore here and we pay a lot of wages here and we actually create a tax basis for the industry. That's what manufacturing's all about, it's about making things.

"I'm not sure this is looked at the right way . . . this is a reinvestment in the scheme of things to make sure that jobs pay back into the tax basis here.

"It gets really negatively reported, unfortunately, by people who don't really understand the dynamics of how the business creates value in Australia and it creates huge value.

"If you don't make cars and you don't make wages and people don't make livings then you can't really buy things.”