Funding to encourage ongoing investment and innovation in the Australian automotive industry

You can claim assistance up to:

• 50% of the value of eligible investment in research and development
• 15% of the value of eligible investment in plant and equipment

If you’re a motor vehicle producer, you can also claim assistance for allowable production of:

• motor vehicles for local and export markets
• engines and engine components for local and export markets

Registered participants will receive quarterly cash payments.

ATS funding

The ATS has capped assistance of $1 billion from 2016 to 2020.

Yearly funding allocation:

• 55% will be available for motor vehicle producers (MVPs)
• 45% will be for automotive businesses that are not motor vehicle producers (non-MVPS)

We modulate payments to make sure we don’t exceed the year’s available funding (see modulation rates). You can't receive funding exceeding 5% of your previous year’s reported total sales value for automotive goods and services. If you’re in an eligible start-up period, funding will not exceed 15% of your eligible start-up investment.

A further $337 million is available in uncapped assistance to motor vehicle producers. 

What are the eligibility criteria?

Applications for registration in the ATS are open to:

• Australian motor vehicle producers (MVPs)
• Australian automotive component producers (ACPs)
• Australian automotive machine tool and automotive tooling producers (AMTPs)
• Australian automotive service providers (ASPs)

Businesses including individual companies or a group of companies can apply.

Motor vehicle producers

You must either:

• produce at least 30,000 motor vehicles annually in Australia, or
• produce at least 30,000 engines annually in Australia.

Automotive component producers

• You must produce at least one kind of automotive component in Australia for use as original equipment in at least 30,000 motor vehicles or engines annually, and
• The production value for that component must be at least $500,000 in the previous 12 months 

Or:

• You must produce automotive components in Australia for use as original equipment with a production value of at least $500,000 annually, and
• The production value must be at least 50% of the value of all automotive components produced by you in that period.

Automotive machine tool and automotive tooling producers

• You must produce automotive machine tools or automotive tooling in Australia with a production value of  at least $500,000 annually, and
• At least 50% of that production value must be for tools and tooling used to produce original equipment.

Automotive Service Providers

• You must provide automotive services in Australia with a production value of at least $500,000 a year, and 
• At least 50% of that production value was for services related to production of motor vehicles or original equipment

Applications for registration may also be assessed on forward sales and production values.

If you do not meet the eligibility criteria

You may seek Ministerial permission to apply for registration in the national interest. The details of how to apply are in Customer Guideline 4 – Registration in the national interest.

How do you apply?

To apply, you’ll need to complete an application form and provide a business plan.

Make sure you select whether you’re applying as an MVP, ACP, AMTP or ASP on the form. Customer Guideline 3 – Registration will help you to complete the form. ATS is a legislated program, so you may wish to refer to the following legislation when completing your application:

• Automotive Transformation Scheme Act 2009
• Automotive Transformation Scheme Regulations 2010
• Automotive Transformation Scheme Order 2010

The business plan will need to contain:

• A 5-year business plan to carry on sustainable operations in the Australian automotive industry, starting 1 January of your registration year.
• Operational plans and details of financial commitment and controls, financial projections and assumptions for the forecasts contained in your business plan.
• Details about how you’ll help the industry be economically sustainable, improve environmental outcomes and promote development of workforce skills.
• Current employment information.

Lodging your application

You must apply before 1 January to register for that year. For example, to register in 2020 you must apply by 31 December 2019.

You can lodge your form and business plan by:

• email to ATS@industry.gov.au
• post to AusIndustry, GPO Box 2013, Canberra ACT 2601
• delivery to any AusIndustry office during business hours

If you don’t meet the criteria

To apply for permission to be registered where you do not meet the eligibility criteria, you must complete the Registration in the national interest form.