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GM walking away from Australia
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vk6zgo:

--- Quote from: Someone on February 19, 2020, 09:25:32 pm ---
--- Quote from: coppice on February 19, 2020, 12:57:32 pm ---
--- Quote from: tautech on February 19, 2020, 10:28:57 am ---Over here Toyota are well known for bringing in the base/basic models of a new series and dribbling onto the market over the next few years better models when the home Jap market has already had the top models for years ! :rant:

--- End quote ---
They offer what sells well in each market. No car maker offers all its options in every market. This can be frustrating if you are one of the outlier customers who wants an option that isn't offered locally, but its no different than buying clothes when you a physical outlier. It sucks, but its understandable.

--- End quote ---
To be fair that should be:
"They offer what they think will sell well in each market"
Holden stood firm in their misguided belief that Australians wanted V8 sedans and utes.

--- End quote ---
Remember, though, that Holden had become a large importer of cars, so that by the end, the large locally built cars & utes were in the minority, & even of them, most were V6s, not V8s.

--- Quote ---Being both small markets and geographically distant Australians and New Zealanders have been offered weird mixes of models from manufacturers. Aside from engines and trim levels body shapes are also artificially constrained, such as wagon (estate) bodies at 3% of used cars compared to 7% in the UK. Demand is so high for wagons that they carry a significant price premium.

--- End quote ---
Historically, wagons made up a fair percentage of locally made vehicles.

By contrast, factory made wagons in the UK were rare, with most made by small  coachwork companies, & looked it, being pretty much a compromise, using the car rear doors and so on.

The only time an Australian factory did the same thing was with the FB/EK Holden wagons, & they were rightly widely criticised for it.

--- Quote ---And then the import/registration restrictions preventing people bringing over the models they want.

--- End quote ---
KL27x:

--- Quote ---Holden stood firm in their misguided belief that Australians wanted V8 sedans and utes.
--- End quote ---


--- Quote ---... the large locally built cars & utes were in the minority, & even of them, most were V6s, not V8s.
--- End quote ---

Wonder if these guys watched Mel Gibson and a dog kicking tail across the Australian outback in one of the last-remaining and highly coveted V8's, sometime back in 1979?
Circlotron:

--- Quote from: vk6zgo on February 20, 2020, 02:01:00 am ---They also sent a few Statesman bodies complete with every thing but the engines to Mazda in Japan, who put twin rotor Wankel engines in them.

--- End quote ---
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=mazda+roadpacer&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwit787olt_nAhVhJzQIHcxoDRAQ_AUoAXoECAwQAw&biw=1222&bih=954
Someone:

--- Quote from: vk6zgo on February 20, 2020, 02:35:49 am ---
--- Quote from: Someone on February 19, 2020, 09:25:32 pm ---
--- Quote from: coppice on February 19, 2020, 12:57:32 pm ---
--- Quote from: tautech on February 19, 2020, 10:28:57 am ---Over here Toyota are well known for bringing in the base/basic models of a new series and dribbling onto the market over the next few years better models when the home Jap market has already had the top models for years ! :rant:

--- End quote ---
They offer what sells well in each market. No car maker offers all its options in every market. This can be frustrating if you are one of the outlier customers who wants an option that isn't offered locally, but its no different than buying clothes when you a physical outlier. It sucks, but its understandable.

--- End quote ---
To be fair that should be:
"They offer what they think will sell well in each market"
Holden stood firm in their misguided belief that Australians wanted V8 sedans and utes.

--- End quote ---
Remember, though, that Holden had become a large importer of cars, so that by the end, the large locally built cars & utes were in the minority, & even of them, most were V6s, not V8s.
--- End quote ---
Automotive has a fairly long lead time for new product introduction/development, so things can't change quickly. But the writing was on the wall in the 90's that the Australian market was not going to stick with larger cars and voluminous+inefficient engines, that they started importing the majority is the big red flag that they failed to follow the market. I've had some contacts inside the industry and saw/heard some mind numbingly stupid ideas/decisions.

But its good to see the media picking up on the history of subsidies/grants that flowed straight though the place to the parent in the US.
Mr. Scram:

--- Quote from: Ed.Kloonk on February 18, 2020, 04:38:15 am ---

--- End quote ---
Please include a summary of videos you post, especially in a thread start.  :) It prevents everyone from having to watch to find out what's it about and a good summary with a personal view attached tends to foster better discussions.
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