If only someone would do something to resurrect the Australian motor industry. GM, Ford, and Chrysler, may no longer be producing cars in Australia, but with the right financial help, and the determination, I think it's possible to start from scratch and start building cars again.
I’m not Australian but I do kinda admire Holden They were basically one of those forbidden fruits in the US In that I mean we never got to see cars like the Ute in America I know they probably wouldn’t sell very well here but it still would be hilarious to see a sedan with a pickup bed in America In any case it sucks Holden isn’t making cars anymore The automotive world lost a big part of its culture And that really sucks
If only cars were built in Australia once again. Indeed it costs money, but that money would go into the Australian economy, rather than somewhere else.
So long as those dipshits at GM headquarters own the company, nothing will change. What we really need is to reintroduce tariffs to make the market fair. So long as cheap shit from China and Korea are so cheap that local manufacturers have no chance whatsoever from competing
Jason Carpp Its mathematics We are 4 times more expensive as a cost compared to where else they can build cars. If the Aust superannuation companies invested, if ALL Aust government bodies committed to buying the locally made car only, if all of the companies employees owned the car they make, then you would the bases of a car industry in Australia. Then the Aus Gov't wouldn't have any problems supporting the industry, same as Germany does and does it very successfully. It's that simple Jason.
+Mechknight73 Australian Labor Syndicates and the Australian Government over-reach is what killed the Australian car Industry. Even Toyota is closing-up shop...cost too much to build big-ticket consumer products in Australia. Here in the USA, early Commodores(badged as Caprice here) sent here as law enforcement Cruisers are a joke.....build quality is a joke;shoddy paint,poor panel stampings,bad alignment. That's why Australia has no more car Industry. Pontiac version had/has a bad reputation........horrible reliability-durability All Commodores will be assembled in the USA.
The first Holden badged motor car was not in 1932. Although the Holden Motor Body Builders did build bodies for many different makes of cars for decades before 1948.
Political individuals don’t design tariffs , unions and other groups come up with that , the political individuals then give them the stamp of approval based on political pressure. A highly flexible system completely overtaken by Japanese imports post World War Two.
"The undertaking was dropped" polite way of stating an impolite reneg on agreement to let design be local Australian, "they did the lot" what we got was American design and engineered on an existing compact Chevrolet prototype disguised to look like Australian concept, the era of lightweight unibody was born, and Australia was still stuck with American approval for design direction for years, instead of running with the " ahead of the game " design capability the local team has shown it was capable of, maybe Holden might still be in the game now had it been given its wings back then, 37mpg in 1948 ! What fuel crisis??
I know mine is 6 years after you posted but?? If Holden is Aus owned, why did GM from America have the say in everything Holden did including where they could export and the final instruction. its time to close down manufacturing.
