''When you compare the incentives that the automotive industry has received with others, I don't know whether that is the appropriate conclusion.''

Holden has estimated it has received more than $2 billion worth of taxpayers' funds over the past 12 years, and rival car makers Toyota and Ford have also benefited from government handouts.

Mr Nasser lamented that Australians were not ''emotionally connected'' to the car industry.

''I'm disappointed in some of the rhetoric that I hear, where it's clear that the general feeling in Australia is that they're not patriotic around their automotive industry. In most countries around the world, they are emotional about their automotive industry,'' he said.

Contraction of the industry has been blamed on the strength of the Australian dollar and fierce competition from overseas rivals who enjoy lower costs on wages, power and raw materials. Some manufacturers have called for industry to get access to cheap gas by government decree, but large resources companies such as Santos and BHP have fought such a market intervention.