The Australian Car Manufacturing Scene
So where to from here for those involved in the current Australian car manufacturing scene? With Ford’s manufacture of cars in Australia closing in 2016, and Holden and Toyota closing their manufacturing operations in 2017, this will leave Australia without any major car manufacturing going on.
With premium car manufacturing being so expensive to perform in Australia, the cost of physical labour in Australia is unlikely to become competitive on a global scale anytime soon. That’s not a particularly bad thing though, because I bet there are not many Australians who would want their wages to drop to the equivalent level of those in some other countries around the world.
Maybe the answer lies in the consumer. How can we ensure that we support the buying of cars designed and manufactured in Australia? Supporting Australian manufacturers and suppliers has got to be the best thing that we can do to keep Australia on its feet and going forward. Wouldn’t it be great if Australia could be a whole lot less dependent on cheap labour and goods from overseas?
There are some small scale car designers and manufacturers currently active in Australia. Has anyone heard of the Australian Kit Car, Bullet, Carbontech, Classic Revival, Daytona, Deuce Customs, Devaux, DRB, Elfin, G-Force, Kraftwerkz, Nota, Python, Roaring Forties, Skelta and Tomcar? We need to get alongside these guys and support them in what they do. I wonder if one or two of the people losing their job in the big gun names might be able to use their skills with any of these small scale car manufacturers.
Also fully producing vehicles of a different kind are Australian truck manufacturers IVECO, Mack Trucks and Paccar Inc.
Here’s to seeing some life breathed back into people who are entrepreneurs of the car scene in Australia; and for seeing life some breathed back into Holden and Ford. It’s great to see smaller scale Australian car manufacturers, and the truck manufacturers, doing so well. Take a look at some of the interesting small scalers mentioned above. All of these vehicles are available in Australia, and made by Australians:
Bullet Roadster
Devaux Coupe
Elfin
Python Amphibious Vehicle
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