Future Australian car industry?

[Boosted8]

Originally Posted by castellan

Yes I could be planning on bankrolling but I know a lot of wealthy people who will not invest in Australia any more, because they have been burnt to many times.

I know many people from other nations that are truly shocked at how we just toss away so many opportunity's not to mention the way most in Australia could not care less.

I am not in the 'hoping' to bring it back basket, but I do say that it did not have to be just tossed away.
Hope is only one thing, but I do say that this nation could of done a hell of a lot better and the fact is it did not have to close down and it did so, only due to a lot of foolishness.
Backward moronic unions have killed many business in Australia because their communist inspired and they have been working to destroy capitalism, not to mention the far right wing trash has only helped them do it.

General Motors said of Australia after WW2 that it did not truly want to invest in Australia on it's own bat, because it was too socialist, so they would never of came here, and only did as such because the government wanted them here.

TL;DR: No, you're not going to be doing anything about it so you're just as bad as the people you're talking about.

[Syndrome]

Nope. Can't see it happening.

[castellan]

Originally Posted by Bill M

A future car industry for Australia? Probably in niche form only.
I just helped build and pack medical instruments made in Australia for shipment to the USA.

There are other segments of manufacturing that are accelerating forwards.
http://aamc.org.au/2015-a-massive-ye...manufacturers/

Castellan, I have a disc copy of Holden's war record 1939 -1945, you might change your mind about what GM Holden's capabilities were in that time period upon reading it.
cheers
Bill.

Yes I know all about it and it's also good to read all about what was going on the USA with it's manufacturing capability's at the time as well, not to mention the Germans it just goes to show what can be done, if one has a will to do something.

Look into Germany before Hitler, what a 3rd rate place without a hope in hell, but then Hitler turned it all around in only so many years, from the most hopeless nation in the west, to by far the best in the whole world. yes before the war it was.

Australia could pick it's self up and power on to be a great nation, if it truly wanted to.

We don't have to be some backward dumping ground full of no hopers that our governments and media have only encouraged to create, all they do is toss everything in the too hard basket and if one wants to do something then them lot, will only give you have a hell of a time to get it off the ground or keep it viable.

What if and when our dollar is say like 40c US down the track and the Asian value will only increase in the future, we will be importing when we could be exporting.
Asia is only going to move up in the world and we are set to fall.

[castellan]

Originally Posted by Boosted8

TL;DR: No, you're not going to be doing anything about it so you're just as bad as the people you're talking about.

What the people who would love to invest and don't, because they have been burnt badly time and time again bad people are we

[Gurbachen]

Cost of living and wages are too high here, aren't they? I'd always read that was one of the biggest reasons why it all fell apart. Give it a hundred years, wages will rise in the 'poorer' countries as they get their **** together, ours will lower due to lack of industry, and we'll be the cheap country to build in again.

[last fairlane]

Castellian
You say talk to Dick Smith
Have you read about him
"I started with nothing"
so did I and I still have it
back in 1969 Dick had an idea about opening
an electronics shop anyone remember Dicks CB radios back in the seventies
thay all came from Japan (back in the day Jap stuff was crap)
like China stuff today
well back then in 1969 he went to his neighbour and asked
to borrow some money to open the store
well his neighbour lent him $60000 and guess what he kicked on
of course with that sort of money you were always going to make it
$60k back then would have bought you six houses
in todays terms thats about $2million
just work it out how talking to Dick Smith
is that going to help you understand about starting up a business
when its given to you on a platter
just my thoughts

[axe]

Interesting. Looks like SA might throw some cash at it.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-2...g-cars/7103566

[Wretched]

Moves afoot to develop national police car
The chief advisory agency for Australia's police forces has called on foreign car manufacturers to develop a national police fleet that would replace vehicles currently supplied by the likes of Holden and Ford.

The country's eight respective police forces have been almost exclusively dependent on large, Australian-built sedans with light modifications for their duties in recent decades. But with the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore both bowing out of production by 2017, there are calls to replace them with national-specification vehicles which offer the latest safety and technology, and conform to specific police requirements.

Under the plan devised by the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency, foreign car makers have been asked to put forward specifications for a national prisoner transportation vehicle, national highway patrol car and national general duties car. Submissions for the program closed Wednesday.

"It's about what the market can offer. This exercise is about drawing out ideas from manufacturers that can improve the specifications of police vehicles," said John White, chief executive of ANZPAA.

"There's a lot of complexity. This is the first step to see what's available."

Mr White said prospective vehicles must comply with strict policing protocols, such as a full-size spare wheel, additional seat bolstering to accommodate heavy weapons belts and, in the case of highway vehicles, a certifiable speedometer that is accurate to within 2km/h.

Holden has already developed a police vehicle for the United States. The Caprice PPV, as it is dubbed, is based on the long-wheelbase, locally-made luxury car with specific features for police use, such heavy-duty suspension, a more robust electric system, unique front seats, spot lights and inoperative inside rear door handles, locks and window switches.

Police forces typically replace one-third of their main fleets every three years, or after 60,000km on lease deals, providing an attractive supply opportunity for several overseas manufacturers. Fairfax Media understands Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, Volvo, BMW and Audi are among the foreign marques to submit specifications.

While it is hoped the scale of a national police fleet would enable sizeable cost savings, car makers are adamant they will not adversely compromise the specification of their vehicles to qualify for the programs.

"They don't want standard safety equipment deleted, which is a good thing, but we're not interested in taking specification out of cars to meet a price requirement," Mercedes-Benz Australia corporate communications manager David McCarthy said.

"If one model of the Mercedes performance range was going to be used as a highway patrol car, for instance, we're not interested in taking content out. Because then you have an AMG with full equipment on our roads, and one without - and that's going to affect resale value. It's going to come down to price."

Mercedes has submitted applications for all three duty vehicles.

Withstanding price pressures, car makers agree that securing police contracts is an easy way to lift their public profiles and vindicate their vehicle's safety and performance. ANZPAA plans to use the exercise to "challenge the notion" of what police cars ought to be, with Mr White citing V8-powered highway patrol cars – which are now becoming less occupied in high speed pursuits – as one major example.

Around two thirds of Australian police vehicle fleets are the six and eight cylinder locally-made configurations scheduled to disappear in 2017. Between then and the expected roll-out of a national police fleet, there is speculation several police forces plan on stock piling large numbers of Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons for highway patrol vehicles.

Read more: http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/m...#ixzz3xpfzOWKr

[goo33]

Every imported car was another nail in the coffin to Norlane; Elizabeth and Altona.
You'd feel sorry for the Nation that killed off its own car plants for the gratification of buying an imported new car for its own sake.

[Qwerty321]

Originally Posted by goo33

Every imported car was another nail in the coffin to Norlane; Elizabeth and Altona.
You'd feel sorry for the Nation that killed off its own car plants for the gratification of buying an imported new car for its own sake.

Holden might still survive. That Belgian guy trying to buy the plant seems to be making quite a lot of progress. Plus, he own the factory that supplies the tranny's for the Commo 6's, so that'll cut down production expenses. Honestly there is a very good chance GM will sell the operations of Elizabeth and the Commodore onto him. The plant will also be contracted by GM to make Holdens in the future. He's got a pretty good business case, good track record and relations with GM (Bought the tranny plant when it was about to close from GM and has no turned it around) and government backing.

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by axe

Interesting. Looks like SA might throw some cash at it.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-2...g-cars/7103566

Too little, too late. Fuel prices and exchange rates are moving in our favour but the damage has already been done. Doing it now is like giving chemotherapy to a terminally sick patient.

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by goo33

Every imported car was another nail in the coffin to Norlane; Elizabeth and Altona.
You'd feel sorry for the Nation that killed off its own car plants for the gratification of buying an imported new car for its own sake.

May be car buyers became a little more frugal when buying their car. Not just buying the default and actually looking at a number of things. Others also with a little more cash decided to splash out on better quality.

The market moved too quick for the local industry to catch up. They got left behind and never really caught up.

[Qwerty321]

Originally Posted by Wretched

May be car buyers became a little more frugal when buying their car. Not just buying the default and actually looking at a number of things. Others also with a little more cash decided to splash out on better quality.

The market moved too quick for the local industry to catch up. They got left behind and never really caught up.

At the end of the day Ford and Holden build **** cars. I'm not going to lie, Ford and Holden have atrocious build quality. I've owned japs which feel tight as a drum 20 years out of the factory line, and Ford's and Holden's fall apart 2 yards from the factory line. The only reason people bought Ford and Holden cars was cause they did something the other manufacturers didn't do. They offered RWD large sedans at an affordable price. Nobody else did that. If you wanted a big RWD sedan at affordable rates, especially if you wanted a V8, you HAD to get a Falcodore.

Now I love Ford and Holden's on a sentimental front, so I'll always buy their stuff. Plus, I love a RWD sedan, so if the Belgian does keep the Commodore going, I'll surely buy those in the future. Ford and Holden make amazing engines and rock solid tranny's, but interior wise, everything breaks. The average consumer will notice shoddy interiors, but won't notice bad engines or trannys.

[Brazen]

I would rate VF build quality better than comparably priced Japanese cars.

[au2000]

Originally Posted by Brazen

I would rate VF build quality better than comparably priced Japanese cars.

sorry gotta disagree with you on this one.. test drove a vf ssv yesterday, 12 mths old with 7000 on the clock, leather trim peeling off the steering wheel already, H U D system took the dealer 3 goes to get activated ... sorry but that although based on one car, i see it as a reflection overall, I have plenty of mates with VE's that needed new motors past 100,000 & can recall plenty of problems with them.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by au2000

sorry gotta disagree with you on this one.. test drove a vf ssv yesterday, 12 mths old with 7000 on the clock, leather trim peeling off the steering wheel already, H U D system took the dealer 3 goes to get activated ... sorry but that although based on one car, i see it as a reflection overall, I have plenty of mates with VE's that needed new motors past 100,000 & can recall plenty of problems with them.

I'm in these things all the time. Rate the VF better than Mazda and Toyota, less than Volkswagen for interior build quality.

[Express]

Originally Posted by au2000

......I have plenty of mates with VE's that needed new motors past 100,000......

If you take into account that just plenty of your mates alone have had failures and they are a typical cross section of owners then the percentage of failures among all owners must be massive.

Thanks for the very interesting warning for those of us that were not previously aware of this.

What is it that fails on such a large scale in these engines that requires their total replacement?

[Bill M]

I know of a few VF Commode owners who are very pleased with their vehicles after racking up many kms.

[Tonz]

No one has mentioned the wages us Aussies get in comparison to USA and Asian workers. in factories. Yes there are two sides to every coin.
If we still had low wages we would all be living comfortably in our circumstances, and manufacturing would still be competitive.
But we had the unions jumping, mainly gratifing their own egos.
Then we had business that started answering to their shareholders to make more profit above all else and damn the workers.

Unfortunately we are in a no win position, no one wants to lower their wages, business doesn't want to cut profit any more than they have to, so we all scream and bicker at each other

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by Bill M

I know of a few VF Commode owners who are very pleased with their vehicles after racking up many kms.

I know of a few VF Commode owners who are not pleased with their vehicles after racking up many kms.

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by Tonz

No one has mentioned the wages us Aussies get in comparison to USA and Asian workers. in factories. Yes there are two sides to every coin.
If we still had low wages we would all be living comfortably in our circumstances, and manufacturing would still be competitive.
But we had the unions jumping, mainly gratifing their own egos.
Then we had business that started answering to their shareholders to make more profit above all else and damn the workers.

Unfortunately we are in a no win position, no one wants to lower their wages, business doesn't want to cut profit any more than they have to, so we all scream and bicker at each other

Not just wages, doing business here is expensive. The cost of red tape, tax, etc, i don't know why some even bother. I wouldn't.

[Express]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

I know of a few VF Commode owners who are not pleased with their vehicles after racking up many kms.

I know many ex Ford owners.

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by Express

I know many ex Ford owners.

We are not playing "mine is bigger than yours"............

[LoudPipes]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

We are not playing "mine is bigger than yours"............

In that case what was your post #50 about?

[olds]

Originally Posted by au2000

sorry gotta disagree with you on this one.. test drove a vf ssv yesterday, 12 mths old with 7000 on the clock, leather trim peeling off the steering wheel already, H U D system took the dealer 3 goes to get activated ... sorry but that although based on one car, i see it as a reflection overall, I have plenty of mates with VE's that needed new motors past 100,000 & can recall plenty of problems with them.

Most mitsubishi tritons need new motors at 40 K

[Express]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

We are not playing "mine is bigger than yours"............

Sorry to offend as my comment was just a poor effort at repartee.

And even though I never like to miss the opportunity to hop in and have a say, in truth my heart isn’t in it and I can easily jump from one side of the argument to the other as I’m a rare breed that likes both Fords and Holdens and can accept the good and bad in both.

[axe]

At least GM didn't automatically say No.

"The future of our Adelaide plant remains a work in progress," Flintoff said.

"If a party is interested in the ongoing use of one our sites, Holden and GM will assess any detailed plans, should they be submitted."


http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/h...22-gmbycf.html