Labor says the coalition government already has enough information to decide how to better support Australia's car industry.
The government on Wednesday appointed the Productivity Commission to launch an inquiry into the car industry, looking at how other countries support their manufacturers, and measures to cut costs and boost consumer demand and innovation.
Opposition industry spokesman Senator Kim Carr said manufacturers needed action and not more inquiries.
"This is a government that is now playing chicken with the automotive companies," Senator Carr told AAP.
"They are using this report as a ruse to get them past the South Australian election (on March 15, 2014)."
Senator Carr said the coalition government had been fully briefed on the major car makers' plans for the future and had very detailed assessments.
He said he had been told the board of General Motors, Holden's American owner, had met three weeks ago to discuss the future of Australian operations.
"The mood is bleak," he said.
The former industry minister said research conducted in 2011 showed Australia was well behind other car-making countries in taxpayer investment in the industry.
On a per capita basis, Australia spent $17 compared with $90 in Germany and $264 in the United States.
He said government claims that the carbon tax added $400 to the cost of a car had been proven wrong, citing an industry average figure of $49.72 which fell to $12.35 under a floating carbon price which Labor advocated at the election.
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