Failed policy but at least they had one !

[olds]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/technolo...-1227138708214
Interesting read on support for the Aus car industry What they fail to discuss is the alternative and what's happened since this support has been removed.

[Vekgib]

Josh Dowling.........ffs

[Brazen]

Please don't click on the link, don't give that stupid article air.

[robertjp]

Yeah I saw the article, does this muppet think that it is cheap to engineer cars. When Ford, Holden and Toyota are gone from local manufacture, who will he drivel about.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by tempted

I would say this was a Ford marketing failure rather than a government policy failure.

There were a number of failings, government policy and Ford's marketing prowess were just two of them.

[XR Martin]

People just dont want large sedans, unless they are hi-po models.
I reckon it would have been more successful putting the engine into the Territory.

[commodorenutt]

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

People just dont want large sedans, unless they are hi-po models.
I reckon it would have been more successful putting the engine into the Territory.

Agreed.
Even an LPi Territory would probably have outsold the FG LPi.

[Bill M]

The Ecoboost 4 cylinder Falcon replaced the proposed local Focus build.
I have a hunch the Focus would have done better in sales but the small car small profit bugbear would still have been an issue.

I do believe that the then Labor govt was very keen on supporting Ford with grants for a Focus production/assembly line.

[mik]

Well he has one thing right, the ddud government after giving the hand outs and then only buying 7 of the eco boost " green falcons " is a pretty sad effort.

[esppwr]

Local manufacturers needed volume not government handouts, the handouts just delayed the inevitable when the volume became unsustainable. The government killed the local car industry with novated leases. If tax deductions & salary sacrificing were only available on local vehicles they would still be selling like hot cakes.

[commodorenutt]

The other issue was government fleets (all 3 levels) turning their backs on Australian cars.

Back in the 80s & 90s, both my parents had govt jobs, and the fleet cars ranged from Valiants, to sigmas, bluebirds, coronas, VK, VL commodores, JE camira, ea falcon, pintara superhatch, and several other Aussie cars up to a VS commodore.

My wife has worked for nsw health for over 2 decades now. She used to use an EL wagon, then a VT wagon, and several camry's. Then the fleet fools went "green" and shifted to corollas. Now that's alright when they are locally assembled, but these were the imported ones. So too the imported hyundais, mazdas, and other 4 cyl junk they threw into the fleet pool. No mention that an AUSSIE MADE LPi falcon is cheaper to run than any of those imported 4 cyl cars - they no longer cared, and patriotism was well & truly dead.

If the govt fleets were forced to buy Australian where a suitable car exists (all those 4 cyl imports could be Holden cruizes, or Camry hybrids) then we would have gone a lot closer to retaining a sustainable volume, instead of propping up other country's car industries.

Even the local cops are running around in Honda CR-Vs, Nissan X-trails, and Hyundai i45s. They should be territory diesels & LPi falcons instead.

[Bill M]

Mr Joshua Dowling's article would have had more credibility if he had covered the time over the last 14 years on both governments support rather than score a cheap point on krudd. This is just filler between dealer advertisements.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by mik

Well he has one thing right, the ddud government after giving the hand outs and then only buying 7 of the eco boost " green falcons " is a pretty sad effort.

At least they actually supported local manufacturing, even if it was throwing tax payer $$$ at the manufacturers, surely it could have been done a bit better but they still supported them in some way (even if it was done wrong).

Remember they all announced throwing in the towel on this government's watch.

[XR Martin]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

At least they actually supported local manufacturing, even if it was throwing tax payer $$$ at the manufacturers, surely it could have been done a bit better but they still supported them in some way (even if it was wrong).

Remember they all announced throwing in the towel on this government's watch.

Nope, Ford announced it under the previous Gov.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Nope, Ford announced it under the previous Gov.

Sorry, 2/3 announced it under this Government

[Pedro]

I didn't bother clicking on the link as I prefer to read intelligent material.
However, he wrote an article in the Saturday Cars Guide in the Courier Mail about ... wait for it ... the last Falcon. Now I usually flip the page when I see his name as the writer but I couldn't resist seeing how many last barbs he could fire at it.
Sure enough ... he started the story with a tale of misery about attending a "last Falcon" speech at Ford that was held during an horrendous storm, and so it set the tone for the end of Ford Aust. With this lead-in he dusted off some old statistics, but then says Falcon didn't deserve to die and is the best model yet.(Wow really). But then he adds that it lacks mod-cons available in even basic imports (got to sink the boot in), and adds that it's only a cosmetic change from FG and now has Chinese auto-box. He then goes on with his usual diatribe about the seats are too high, the wheel too low, and too far from the driver (what, did he stop growing at 5 years old ??)
Funny thing was there's a side box to his story head-lining Ford can't keep up demand for the XR8 and is urgently trying to double production.
What a tool!

[commodorenutt]

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Nope, Ford announced it under the previous Gov.

Exactly - but Shorten would like everyone to think otherwise, and cranked up the machine to do so...

It was hilarious when Holden & Toyota announced their closures, and the unionist propaganda machine spread memes on facebook about Abbot scoring the "trifecta" of closures, with images of all 3 badges.

Seems it was so easy for them to pull the wool over the eyes of people and fool them about events that had unfolded only 6 months earlier under Rudd - a full 3 months before the Liberals took power.

Best one I read was "only took Abbot 90 days to close down the big 3 car manufacturers" - funny how Ford had announced it 6 months earlier (ie, 180 days...)

It made it easy to spot the fools on facebook - all the morons who spread it without a second thought.......


This is all a product of the Button car plan. A plan launched under the Hawke Labor govt, by a Labor Senator (John Button) who came in under Whitlam. But let's not let those facts get in the way of blaming Abbot

[Bossxr8]

The Button car plan was a good thing when it was done, and for what, a decade after? It was the fact it was never updated to suit the current environment that it resulted in the current predicament. It should have been reviewed and changes made at least 10 years ago when the market started to shift.

The benefit of hindsight though.

[EB#]

I read that the 4 cylinder Falcon ended up failing to meet some governments' environmental
criteria for fleets..... Then I read that Ford started pressuring these government bodies to
drop their rating system.

Refer:
http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/f...717-228j5.html

http://www.news.com.au/national/ford...-1226542338480

It is likely difficult to discern the real situation just by reading a few articles by (possibly
biased) writers. However, given the market perception, communication with government
departments, funding issues, promotion and advertising etc etc the 4 cylinder Falcon story
presents like a #$%*UP of mercurial proportions.

Unfortunate, because it seems like a good car!

[Giant Cranium]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Sorry, 2/3 announced it under this Government

Let's not forget Mitsubishi. Labor and liberal can have two locals each.

[Davehoos]

Not having a policy is having a policy---
having a bad policy to buy votes is --the way its been done.

Ask what was the return to public purse not return per product built-as 4 cyl falcon missed all the measure of a worthwhile build.

I would say this was a Ford marketing failure rather than a government policy failure.

[Davehoos]

The guideline specifically states that fleet managers MUST "Develop a program to systematically replace large passenger vehicles with medium or smaller models." This is irrespective of a large car being more efficent than a smaller one.

last year we replaced falcon with D-Max. because its smaller.

[mik]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

At least they actually supported local manufacturing, even if it was throwing tax payer $$$ at the manufacturers, surely it could have been done a bit better but they still supported them in some way (even if it was done wrong).

Remember they all announced throwing in the towel on this government's watch.

yeah but the very same mob(labor) decades ago where instrumental in setting in place policy that destroyed our manufacturing in the first place, do you not see the irony in this ???

[Bill M]

Looks like putting all ones eggs in the mining basket is failed policy also.
The goose that lays the golden eggs is choking on an oversupply.

Iron ore price plunge








N.B This comment is a non partisan view of the limited forward vision shown by govts of both sides.

[1TUFFUTE]

Originally Posted by Brazen

Please don't click on the link, don't give that stupid article air.

Don't worry the second I saw josh doweling in the comments...no way in hell I'm reading that muppets garbage!

[zilo]

might become a rare collectors' item?

[Sprintey]

The Secret of Germany's Success:

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articl...rmanys-success

This is how you do it.