VOA慢速英語:豐田汽車制造商退出澳大利亞使得該國經(jīng)濟(jì)受到?jīng)_擊

[ti:Pull Out of Japanese Car Maker Toyota Latest Hit To Australia's Economy] [ar:Mario Ritter] [al:Economics Report] [by:www.chinavoa.com] [00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, [00:02.28]this is the Economics Report. [00:05.23]Automobile manufacturing in Australia is in trouble. [00:10.44]Japanese automaker Toyota recently decided [00:14.76]to stop manufacturing cars in the country. [00:18.36]Industry experts and trade unions are worried the decision [00:24.17]could push parts of Australia into recession. [00:28.43]Last May, Ford Motor company said [00:32.49]it would stop manufacturing in Australia. [00:35.25]General Motors announced late last year that it also plans [00:40.84]to suspend factory operations in the country. [00:44.65]Toyota says more than two thousand of its workers [00:48.95]will lose their jobs, but trade unions say [00:52.91]the company's decision to end production [00:55.82]could leave 50,000 Australians jobless. [01:00.28]They say the decision could take $19 billion away [01:05.49]from the Australian economy, [01:07.65]the states of Victoria [01:10.42]and South Australia would be hurt the most. [01:14.53]Australia's car manufacturing industry was once very strong. [01:20.89]In recent years, [01:23.09]Australia produced about 200,000 vehicles a year [01:27.53]for sales at home and for export. [01:31.20]The industry spent more than $540 million [01:36.61]on research and development. [01:38.66]John Spoehr is executive director of the Australian Workplace, [01:44.82]Innovation and Social Research Center [01:47.63]at the University of Adelaide. [01:50.34]He says carmakers have found it difficult to operate in Australia. [01:56.74]"We now have one of the most competitive auto markets [02:00.70]in the world with at least sixty different models here. [02:03.31]In addition, we had declining demand internationally [02:07.06]as a consequence of the global financial crisis, [02:09.01]and the rise of low-cost manufacturing in India, [02:11.93]China and Thailand," said Spoehr. [02:13.23]The collapse of Australia's car industry [02:16.73]has also raised concerns in the Australian parliament. [02:20.88]The opposition has accused Prime Minister Tony Abbott [02:25.74]of not doing enough to persuade Toyota [02:29.25]not to close down its factories. [02:32.06]Mr Abbott has argued that he cannot be blamed [02:37.38]for the industry's long-term decline, [02:40.13]because he has been in office for only a few months. [02:44.49]Traditionally, Australia's car industry [02:48.54]has received billions of dollars in government assistance. [02:53.10]The government has asked its productivity commission [02:57.97]to investigate public support for the automotive industry. [03:02.43]The commission carries out research, and makes suggestions [03:07.73]on economic, social and environmental issues. [03:12.04]The group has noted that big changes [03:15.84]are taken place in Australia's car industry. [03:19.46]It says the changes are affecting [03:22.91]both industry employees and manufacturers of car parts. [03:28.33]The commission is planning to give its final report [03:32.83]to the government by the end of March. [03:35.69]And that's the Economics Report from VOA Learning English. [03:41.40]For more VOA Learning English programs, [03:45.26]visit our website, chinavoa.com. [03:51.62]I'm Mario Ritter.

00:00

00:00

MP3下載 文本下載