Author archive
Danger Lurks In Chinese Imports
The automotive press have got stuck into the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for not taking decisive action against Chinese auto makers Great Wall and Chery.
Great Wall is the most successful Chinese brand in Australia, ranking in the top half of all imports, and is continuing to make significant inroads into the Australian market. So, are the press, and the motor repair trade justified in getting het up, or is it just a media beat up?
Let’s look at the facts-and it’s all about the asbestos content in the engine bays of these cars:-
• Asbestos was frequently and almost universally employed in motor vehicles for brake pads, engine gaskets and other parts for many years.
• Use of asbestos was banned for all motor vehicles sold in Australia in 2004
• Ateco imports Great Wall and Chery cars into Australia. They were given ‘written assurances’ that these vehicles complied with Australian design rules (and therefore did not use asbestos) before they signed the import licence agreements in 2007.
• But that was not the case, as it appears that these vehicle did have asbestos in them, thereby contravening various regulations.
• The ACCC was therefore brought into play to determine what action should be taken.
• Repairers called upon the ACCC to issue a full recall and replace all offending parts immediately. That would have cost many millions of dollars.
• The ACCC demurred, instead directing that warning stickers be attached to the offending parts at the next scheduled service- a much more watered down solution that some demanded. The ACCC said that the gaskets were sealed within the engine and presented no risk whatsoever to drivers.
But asbestos is deadly so is the ACCC acting irresponsibly?
The “YES” lobby says they are because the dangers are exemplified in later years when mechanics and possibly handymen owners start to mess around in the engine bay. Stickers may have come off, and owners/mechanics will have a false sense of security as they would be thinking that asbestos is banned, and therefore not a problem.
The “NO” lobby says that the ACCC has done all that’s necessary, that there is no immediate danger, and that mechanics have become well aware of the handling requirements of gaskets, and current imports of these cars now comply absolutely.
But a wider point of view asks how a car maker can be so unaware of the dangers of its own products and is casting doubts on the manufacturers themselves.
Of course the competitors to these two makers are happy to join in the fray, as there’s no doubt that Great Wall, particularly, is causing them a headache. Breaches with Customs and Border Protection have even been mentioned, and here the fines could be many, many millions of dollars.
We think the bigger picture is at play, that competitors are using every trick in the book to decry Chinese imports, which prompts us to ask how good they really are? Certainly they have a very big price advantage, but are they value for money, do they perform well and reliably?
If you have a Great Wall or a Chery, or you know of someone who has, we’d love to hear from you.
We also want to know what you think of the ACCC’s initiative, so have your say below.
Small SUV's Flavour Of The Year
Figures released today by the Federal Chamber Of Automotive Industries (FCAI) reveal that small suv’s are outpacing their bigger counterparts , showing a sixty one per cent increase in sales over last year against thirty two per cent for the whole segment.
Cars in this smaller SUV segment include the Suzuki Grand Vitara, Nissan X Trail, Mazda CX5 and Hyundai IX35.
The sales performances for last month still show the Toyota Hi Lux as the best selling vehicle, followed by the Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla. Toyota as a brand outsold Holden by almost two to one with Mazda snapping at Holden’s wheels in third place.
The Real Picture
Ford has made great play over its pricing policy when announcing the price of its performance Focus ST. The rival to the VW GTI, Subaru WRX and others is ‘competively priced’ at $39,290 plus on road costs when it goes on sale in October. Sure, it does have a price advantage over its main competition, but that’s not the whole picture.
We’ve complained bitterly before about the huge premium that Australian car buyers have to pay against their overseas counterparts (see the comparison chart here). The new Ford Focus ST is no exception. It’s a brand new car, so the old excuses of ‘exchange rates’ or ‘Luxury Car Tax’ (it doesn’t reach the threshold) can’t be trotted out. Yet it still imposes a massive sixty eight percent premium over the US$23,700 price charged to Americans.
Ford To Cease Car Production In Australia?
Rumours are rife at the moment that Ford are planning to cease local production of their Falcon and Territory vehicles in Australia in the fairly near future-2015 is mooted.
They will be following in the path of Mitsubishi, who closed their manufacturing plant after the failure of their ‘saviour’ the Mitsubishi 380.
That leaves just Holden and Toyota holding the local manufacturer mantle. Whilst neither of these two are under threat of closure Ford cannot take a trick with the Falcon, which used to vie with the Commodore to be Australia’s largest selling car, but it now languishes out of the top ten.
Critics of local manufacturing will give a huge sigh of relief, citing the many millions of dollars that we’ll save in Government assistance, but it should be balanced by the fact that, in per capita terms, assistance given to the local car industry falls well behind those of most other car manufacturing nations.
Apparently planning is already underway to ease the distress created by such a closure with local parts manufacturers.
Level 2, 9 Help Street