Despite facing the ''toughest time of our life'' amid slumping exports and job cuts, Australia's car industry can survive by modernising and making greener, more high-tech cars with government help, unions say. The federal secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union's vehicle division, Ian Jones, said "by way of example the government's previous Green Car Innovation Fund, had helped the industry transform itself with new models such as hybrid and fuel-efficient cars".

"In three years, we completely transformed automotive manufacturing in Australia. We were being crucified because we had large cars that were petrol-guzzling vehicles and were not good for the environment and people were shifting away from that product in droves,'' he said.  

Read the full article here.