Holden says it cannot continue to produce cars in Australia unless workers at the Adelaide assembly plant take a pay cut.

The company says it will seek the support of the workforce to achieve significant annual savings and productivity improvements, saying that executives are already paid below the average salary for their positions.  Holden is already axing 400 positions at Adelaide and another 100 at the product development facility in Melbourne. 

Over the past decade, Holden has received A$1.8 billion in federal and state government assistance.  Last year alone, the company secured $275 million in assistance from the federal, South Australian and Victorian governments to ensure the future of its local operations until at least 2022.

But that decision appears to have been placed on the shoulders of the workers.

"This is about giving Holden employees a direct say in their future," said Holden chairman and managing director Mike Devereux.

All this comes after Ford Australia announced the end is coming in three years, it would build no more cars down under, at a cost of 1,200 local car industry jobs.