Suggestions on how to lift Aussie-made car sales

[turbodewd]

1. Email your state, local and federal govt reps and ask that they only buy Australian made. The Falcon, Commie, Cruze, Terri and the Toyota offerings should fill almost every niche required. No reason to buy a Lancer or Kluger or Prius.

2. State governments should make a new vehicle rego classification - 'family car' and that 'working families' who use them shouldnt be taxed at highest rate. If any car seats 5 and is a minimum of 1600kg then its a family car and may get the equal lowest rego rate. Example: in ACT/NSW rego goes up according to car weight.

3. Similar to the above, LPG powered cars should also be given the lowest rego rate. Again, virtually only Aussie-made cars run LPG.

Any other ideas out there? These ones are rationale and achievable.

[WPR1]

Great ideas!

Also give a lower FBT rate to Aussie made cars. This would give all the people who salary package cars a big incentive to buy Australian.

[turbodewd]

Well I just put my idea into action and emailed the my ACT federal senator, here was my email:


Senator,

I write concerning the state of the Australian auto industry. I am somewhat concerned that it is struggling to compete with competition due to various factors such as the high AUD and huge range of vehicles on offer. Accordingly I would like to ensure that the federal government only buys Australian-made vehicles wherever possible. Australia now produces small (Cruze), medium (Camry) and large cars (Falcon, Commodore); and an SUV (Territory). Now I presume most federal government departments probably do buy Australian made most of the time, however I would like to see this as mandatory unless there is simply no local offering, eg 4WD offroad vehicle or 4WD utility. Australia’s 3rd or 4th biggest area of imports is passenger motor vehicles, this is a sector that could keep a lot of dollars in Australia if the incentives are right.

Senator, does the Federal government have such rules already? Is there any reason they cannot be arranged?


regards

(me)
Amaroo, ACT

[flooded one]

i was thinking of rasing import tariffs. would put some people off buying imports although we wouldnt have as many new cars too choose from if it did go up but toyota ford and holden would benefit.

[turbodewd]

Originally Posted by wildrider

i was thinking of rasing import tariffs. would put some people off buying imports although we wouldnt have as many new cars too choose from if it did go up but toyota ford and holden would benefit.

Alas we cant do that as the Fed govt long long ago committed to reducing tariff barriers to open things up to competition across heaps of industries. And I believe that has worked.

However, Australia's 2nd biggest area of imports by value is passenger motor vehicles ($14 billion!). Keeping some auto sales as Australian will prevent many millions of dollars going overseas.

So far Ive emailed both ACT senators and the Vic minister for Industry with a similar email as the above one. Gonna email ACT govt asking why they cant offer slight discounts on stamp duty and car rego for Aussie made cars.

[39ClevoUte]

Don't forget trade and $ are simply bartering. The fact that we can spend ($14B) with another country is because they have spent that with us, either dirrectly or indirrectly (assuming balanced trade).
In the end, at some point foriegn $ need to be spent in foreign countries.
We have to buy something with the $ we receive.

[ken1939]

Governments view of taxes is that its not your money to begin with, so to let you keep your money is not exactly in their plans.

However, I can only speak of our domestic auto industry. We have the Major players, Ford, GM, Chrysler and we also have Toyota, Honda and Nissan plants in the USA.

The recent bailout to the unions at GM and Chrysler were political in nature. Ford on the other hand, raised their own money and it has paid dividens. Most people I talk to think of Ford now for not only not taking taxpayer money (it always has a hitch or hook) and the product they have been producing is really top notch.

GM has improved its product as well, by eliminating Pontiac and Olds it has been able, like Ford phasing out Mercury, to focus on better overall products. Thats how they gain market share via sales, a better product than the imports. But some in this country will always think imports are better and you cant change their minds.

From where I sit I think Ford AU is making some very nice vehicles. I cannot get my head around your prices for new cars, so I cannot comment on value. The only thing I know of Holden is what GM has brought over here to re-use, GTO for one. I know that most of their early utes are not pretty as Ford, but the 90s started to turn that look around.

The "Buy American First" or in this case, "Buy Australian First" Keep jobs here is always a good starting point. You wont get the media behind you, well in speaking of ours, its so left of center, you never hear anything good about the US and its crap. I dont think that the AU govt subsudy of purchases is a long term strategy. Its like when in the 80s car manufacturers started Rebates. Now they cant stop doing it cause its expected. I bought a Chevy Volt, and dont even own one, as they Govt gives $7500 toward the purchase of the $40000 electric/gas car. If you want to be green pay for it yourself.

National Pride in what you produce is not a bad thing. There's nothing like Australia! Or so I see on TV, so I have to think that an honest effort to promote AU products first would be the best way. Also major comparisons to the competition in all the key ares, initial cost, features, economy etc.

That and I think we need to let AU sell its cars in the USA!

[RASER]

Originally Posted by turbodewd

Any other ideas out there? These ones are rationale and achievable.

Yeap, Ford should start making cars that PEOPLE WANT TO BUY, the Falcon is no longer one of them.

Holden have read the market and making the Cruze, AND being pro active and finding export markets for the Commodore/Statesman.

Same industry, same market segments, one has read the market, the other has its head in the sand

[XP6]

What are our import tarrifs comared to other countrys... are we on a level playing field?

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by XP6

What are our import tarrifs comared to other countrys... are we on a level playing field?

No...


but other countries subsidise their car industries a lot more then we do.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by RASER

Yeap, Ford should start making cars that PEOPLE WANT TO BUY, the Falcon is no longer one of them.

Holden have read the market and making the Cruze, AND being pro active and finding export markets for the Commodore/Statesman.

Same industry, same market segments, one has read the market, the other has its head in the sand

is cruze profitable? hows those commodore exports going??

[Dr Smith]

Probably the first thing the locals should do is build cars that more Australians would buy. That is the segments with the most sales, it's not large cars (Falcon, Commodore, Aurion, Accord, Maxima, etc), it's small cars and suvs. Then comes the question how does a locally built small car or suv compete with Korean or Thai sourced vehicles. Because Holden has shown that without direct Fed assistance the Cruze couldn't/wouldn't be built here either. Our vehicle market has so many options it's incredible and sadly large car sales will never get to the numbers seen in the late 90's & early 00's. For Falcon to increase sales it needs to pinch them from it's opposition or bring back buyers to large cars. It's probably easier to pinch sales from the opposition then increase buyers in the large car segment, however if you pinch sales only you're not increasing the segment numbers overall and with some cheaper competition or superior product you might not increase your sales anyway. If Falcon pinced all the sales of the large car maret it would come to about 70-80K cars per annum, sure that's more then enough for Falcon to keep going but would Holden and Toyota or the importers give it up at all. They are all fighting for a slice of shrinking pie.

[RASER]

Originally Posted by prydey

is cruze profitable? hows those commodore exports going??

The Cruze profit would be less than a Commodore [esp. the V8's and Luxo models, lots of fat in them], still, read between the lines, they did it to get more dough off Julia, i would say it would have been much cheaper to import it from Korea [like the other Daewoo Korean trash Holden have]

The Holden police market in USA has stalled, they all like the car but not buying it, maybe they prefer "Made In USA" even if its inferior

Full marks to Holden though, they are pushing Holdens to any market/country that they can,,,,,,,unlike the blue team with its Falcon

[prydey]

Originally Posted by RASER

The Cruze profit would be less than a Commodore [esp. the V8's and Luxo models, lots of fat in them], still, read between the lines, they did it to get more dough off Julia, i would say it would have been much cheaper to import it from Korea [like the other Daewoo Korean trash Holden have]

The Holden police market in USA has stalled, they all like the car but not buying it, maybe they prefer "Made In USA" even if its inferior

Full marks to Holden though, they are pushing Holdens to any market/country that they can,,,,,,,unlike the blue team with its Falcon

commodores exports are almost down to the same level as falcons, that is, nz only. also, their police car program didn't stall, it hardly started.

have a read of Dr Smith's post before yours. building small cars here isn't a smart thing to do. you have to sell nearly twice as many to make the same profit.

[HUNTER8]

Originally Posted by RASER

Yeap, Ford should start making cars that PEOPLE WANT TO BUY, the Falcon is no longer one of them.

Holden have read the market and making the Cruze, AND being pro active and finding export markets for the Commodore/Statesman.

Same industry, same market segments, one has read the market, the other has its head in the sand

These sort of comments really crack me up.

Large car market is DYING!!!!!
Growth segments are small cars and SUV.
Ford have Focus and Fiesta 2 of the top 5 cars by sales WORLDWIDE last year. Supply of both are limited in Australia at the moment but will change once manufacturing moves.
They have the Territory, now the KUGA with the Ecosport coming.
There advertising is concentrating on the Focus and the Fieast which are growth markets.
So in comparison what are Holden doing?

[wrongwaynorris]

Reintroduce tariff protection . Japan has huge tarrifs against imports yet we lay back and spread our legs like the whore of Asia when it comes to imports .

Also when people on a Ford forum continually sink the slipper into Ford and buy Korean and Japanese cars what bloody hope is there ?

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by RASER

The Cruze profit would be less than a Commodore [esp. the V8's and Luxo models, lots of fat in them], still, read between the lines, they did it to get more dough off Julia, i would say it would have been much cheaper to import it from Korea [like the other Daewoo Korean trash Holden have]

The Holden police market in USA has stalled, they all like the car but not buying it, maybe they prefer "Made In USA" even if its inferior

Full marks to Holden though, they are pushing Holdens to any market/country that they can,,,,,,,unlike the blue team with its Falcon

Caprice PPV is a logistics nightmare, this was indicated in a recent article where the gap between an order,
Holden making the vehicle and third parties supplying necessary parts and deliveries to USA where other
suppliers add more parts means ridiculously long waiting periods..

[39ClevoUte]

Originally Posted by wrongwaynorris

Reintroduce tariff protection . Japan has huge tarrifs against imports yet we lay back and spread our legs like the whore of Asia when it comes to imports .

Also when people on a Ford forum continually sink the slipper into Ford and buy Korean and Japanese cars what bloody hope is there ?

We sell a lot of coal and iron ore etc to Japan. What are we supposed to do with their money if we don't buy something back off them?????

[Fiesta_Man69]

1. Build cars that the market wants: unfortunately thats not the Falcon (which IS a good car) at the moment. If that's funky 2 to 1 door hatches then Ford needs to embrace this (Hyundai cannot keep up with demand for the Veloster, while Falcons sit in yards not moving...) so use the excellent Focus platform and build something not so conservative for the range...

2. Ford needs to directly run their dealerships so that the standard of service is improved and people want to return (look at the 'Dale Ford rip' thread and see why it failed....) Once stung twice shy.

This way hopefully the Aussie workers in Geelong will have a job after 2016...

[_Ben]

IMO ford needs to be a lot more proactive in advertising the Ecoboost and ECOLPi FG. They both have a lot of potential for people looking for a large sized car, with relatively low running costs.

[Fiesta_Man69]

Originally Posted by HUNTER8

Ford have Focus and Fiesta 2 of the top 5 cars by sales WORLDWIDE last year. Supply of both are limited in Australia at the moment but will change once manufacturing moves.

LOL: any excuse!

There is no supply issue with the Thai built Fiesta. It is getting outsold by the inferior Mazda 2 2 to 1 (as well as the Yaris, usually). When it is the best car in its segment (the Polo prices itself out, esp. considering servicing costs) this is unacceptable and Ford have done nothing to fix this since the WS was launched 4 years ago: obviously the current advertising/price/service campaigns aren't working.

The Fiesta in Europe is made in Germany, Australia's is in Thailand. They are very different cars in build quality and spec and price in the market place. The fact that the German Fiesta is a great seller in Europe doesn't help Ford Australia one iota.

[BadMax]

Build cars people want.
Build cars with comparable quality to imports.
Invest in smaller cars.

[4.0i OHC]

Originally Posted by Fiesta_Man69

The Fiesta in Europe is made in Germany, Australia's is in Thailand. They are very different cars in build quality and spec and price in the market place.

So...just because the European Fiesta has a soft touch dashboard and ours has better air conditioning means that they are very different cars in build quality and spec and price? Our Fiesta is much better specced than that of the UK.

[99AUXR]

Originally Posted by Fiesta_Man69

The Fiesta in Europe is made in Germany, Australia's is in Thailand. They are very different cars in build quality and spec and price in the market place. The fact that the German Fiesta is a great seller in Europe doesn't help Ford Australia one iota.

To be honest where it's made doesn't matter nearly as much as the fact that the product is made under license and that the plant/factory have good quality control on parts etc.

[jpd80]

Survivability plan

1.Convert Geelong engine to I-4 Ecoboost and PSA I-4 TDCI production for the region

2. Start making CD4 Fusion/Taurus/Edge here with I-4 EB, V6 and 2.2 TDCI.




Hey, it's different but why not try something new....

[Nikked]

I like that, though, im not sure about a CD4 platform, rather an all new platform capable of F/A/RWD...

Just like GM's epsillon platform...

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Nikked

I like that, though, im not sure about a CD4 platform, rather an all new platform capable of F/A/RWD...

Just like GM's epsillon platform...

CD4 Fusion (Mondeo) is AWD as well as FWD

[Mechan1k]

Offer better finance incentives ... then you WILL sell more vehicles.

Ford's finance compared to say Toyota ... there's a massive gap right there.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

Offer better finance incentives ... then you WILL sell more vehicles.

Ford's finance compared to say Toyota ... there's a massive gap right there.

I agree, recent 2,9% financing campaigns are certainly a factor in buyers selecting Toyotas..

[Crazy Dazz]

Firstly, the government needs to decide whether it really wants Manufacturing in Australia, or is just going to continue paying lip service and maybe the occasional political donation.
Similarly they also need to decide whether the Large Australian Family Car is something worth preserving?
Also, whether they are serious about fuel economy or just want to rip us off with taxes.
So, assuming they do:
1. Get rid of all the bureaucracy and redtape surrounding compliance, esp around things like Euro V.
We miss out on viable and simple model alternatives because it is just too expensive to comply different variants that may not sell in high enough numbers.
2. Put some of our fuel tax dollars to work (maybe via the CSIRO) with the local manufacturers to drastically improve the economy of Australian engines.
3. They need economies of scale, and that means exports or massive platform sharing.
The simplest way to incentivise exports is to reduce income tax on exports.
4. Give tax breaks on employment in the manufacturing sector.
This enables manufacturers to pay a decent wage, but still reduce costs to be more competitive with overseas manufacturers.
5. Encourage long-term investment.
These corporations aren’t interested in accelerated depreciation when they are taking a 10+ year view of new investment. They need to allow tax write-offs of 150~200% on long-term capital investment.
6. Place punitive tariffs on manufactured goods from countries that don’t adhere to basic conventions on labour exploitation.
7. Apply FX tariffs on currencies that are artificially depressed, such as the Chinese Yuan.