Cars in $77m Covid windfall
GLOBAL car giants including Ford, Mazda, Mercedes and Toyota banked a combined $76.7m in Jobkeeper funds, with only one paying back the cash following a bumper year for car sales.
Ford Australia, which boasts one of the nation’s highest-selling models in the Ford Ranger, took the lion’s share of Jobkeeper paid to the auto manufacturers, with $38.6m flowing to the US giant.
Ford posted a pre-tax profit of $59.09m in Australia last year. It also booked a $466m tax windfall following losses in previous years, the automaker’s local accounts show.
Toyota Australia made the move to repay $18.7m of its Jobkeeper payment in January of this year as the business’s full year profit grew increasingly clear.
The Japanese car company’s Australian operations doubled its results to deliver a $332m after-tax profit. That was compared to Toyota Australia’s $129m profit in the 2020 financial year.
Toyota president and chief executive Matthew Callachor said the company repaid the funds, as it was the right thing to do.
“We claimed Jobkeeper payments to help support the job security of almost 1400 Toyota employees around Australia – the people who are our first priority,” he said.
“At the same time, we executed a comprehensive action plan which succeeded in overcoming the challenges we faced and reigniting our business.”
Mazda Australia enjoyed a $5.7m Jobkeeper windfall that buttressed the company’s $91.5m profit after tax.
The Japanese company, one of the most popular car brands in Australia, has made no move to repay Jobkeeper.
Daimler Australia, the makers of popular car brand Mercedes-benz, reaped $4.9m in Jobkeeper. The company disclosed in its filings to the corporate regulator it took the funds between April 2020 and September 2020.
This was during the period in which companies could qualify for Jobkeeper if they forecast a 30 per cent decline in revenues.
After September 2020 companies were required to show a decline in revenues.
A Daimler Australia spokesman said the company qualified for and was able to access Jobkeeper.
Daimler Australia, which made $62.7m in profit, has not repaid its Jobkeeper funds.
Despite the rebounding Australian car market, not all car companies made profits in the most recent financial year.
Volkswagen Australia took $3m in Jobkeeper for 194 staff after revenues fell 50 per cent in April. The carmaker saw a decline in profit after tax from $10.8m in 2019 to $23.7m in 2020.