Several automotive companies in Australia swallowed millions in JobKeeper corporate welfare in 2020, despite returning multi-million-dollar profits in the same year. More taxpayer-funded welfare for the automotive industry, and a major regulatory failure by the Morrison Government.

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Mercedes-Benz managed to Hoover up almost $5 million in JobKeeper corporate welfare payments between April and September last year.

But COVID, frankly, was not a major hurdle for Mercedes: The company made $62.7 million in profit last year here in ‘Straya. And yet, it has no plans to give the JobKeeper funds back.

To qualify for JobKeeper, businesses like Mercedes with more than $1 billion in turnover had to estimate that their turnover would fall by 50 per cent or more.

It’s unclear exactly how Mercedes qualified for this support. Not that I can find.

Mercedes sold 38,684 vehicles in ‘Straya in 2019. In 2020, during the height of COVID, its sales were 36,233 vehicles. That’s hardly a turnover collapse.

​Moving on now, to Ford: Ford needed to upgrade its vacuum cleaner to Hoover up $38 million in JobKeeper it received last year. Ford Australia posted a $59 million profit, which it described as a (quote) “solid result” in its 2020 financial reporting.

Eagers Automotive made $156 million profit last year, $133 million of that was JobKeeper.

Toyota announced in January that it would repay the $18 million it received in JobKeeper.