Toyota is Gone. Goodbye Australian Car industry 1896-2017.

[Neat5L]

Since when did Toyota Hilux, and Ford Ranger get built in Australia,(both made in Thailand) and they are commercial vehicles, not cars.
Biggest seller at the moment is Mazda3, Commodore, and Falcon down the list.

Was talking about large cars in general. I never said they were made in Australia.

 

[SavVYute]

Well I hope one of the overseas manufacturers post 2017 makes a decent looking ute dammit.
All the imported ones at the moment look like .....ugly looking things. No style.

 

[ari666]

20 years from now, your kids even know what a "car" was

 

[iChris]

Listening to the radio the other day, and GE(I think) in the US is bringing its manufacturing back to the states from China, as the wages in China are increasing, and freight costs to get stuff back
to the US are getting to the point that with some new ideas, its just as cheap to produce in the states now

Apple has begun manufacturing computers again in the states for a few years now too. they only produce the small products overseas now. as these countries become more westernised, their production line workers too will demand what other 1st world production line workers have/had.

 

[NZ-GTR]

Come 2017 the Aussie car buyer will have a multitude of less expensive imported cars to choose from.
They'll all be manufactured in and come from lower wage earning countries.

Yeah right.......pigs might fly.

What do you reckon? Will the price of vehicles drop or increase without the local manufacturers in the equation?

Car manufacturing pulled out of NZ 20 odd years ago and we certainly don't see cheaper cars here. Holden s are 30% more expensive here than in Aussie, second hand cars hold their value way longer than they do across the ditch an 07 SV6 is still around 20+k . Big vehicles are still more expensive here than smaller cars even though our fuel prices are exorbitant ($2.159 per litre for 91 this week).

I think we will get cheaper and cheaper small cars like the TATA NANO in India where they have dropped the price for a new vehicle for under 3k. That's because there is simply more design energy going into smaller/cheaper to run platforms and the majority of the population really don't care what it looks like or how it drives, as long as its cheap and cheap to run.

And you will see the car enthusiast like us paying more for the larger vehicles, with those larger vehicles coming from more streamlined sources - i.e. the Ford Mustang and the general motors commodore platform and that's because these vehicles are for the more discerning buyer who are prepared to pay a premium for a vehicle which we love.

 

[Grennan]

Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger might argue with you there mate..

Thats a utility vehicle. They are for a specific use. When it comes to a to b transportation, big sedans are out for majority of Australians.

I see first hand the numbers Ford, Toyota and Mitsubishi bringing in from Thailand. People are moving towards dual cab utes because they have the functionality of a 4 door and a bigger cargo hold area than their current sedans/wagons. The numbers for retail purposes only show that.... Your telling me if Ford bring the V8 Mustang and F150 to Australia (which I have been told is on the cards) Aussies won't buy them because we want small fuel efficient cars. Pffftt yeah right

The Mustang will be a very niche market. Do you think Ford is going to make money hand over fist with it? Hell no. The aussies who will buy them are the people who are currently buying things like the new FPV's and HSV's. Ford and Holden need to sell Commodores and Falcons. Not Typhoons and Clubsports.

End of the day, we are a minority. We want a big sedan with a bit of power behind it and the Commodores and Falcons deliver that. Theres no brand loyalty anymore and people in the market for new cars just dont want what theyre selling anymore.

 

[Jesterarts]

I see first hand the numbers Ford, Toyota and Mitsubishi bringing in from Thailand. People are moving towards dual cab utes because they have the functionality of a 4 door and a bigger cargo hold area than their current sedans/wagons. The numbers for retail purposes only show that.... Your telling me if Ford bring the V8 Mustang and F150 to Australia (which I have been told is on the cards) Aussies won't buy them because we want small fuel efficient cars. Pffftt yeah right

Please, feel free to present this first hand data you have.

For the rest of us playing along at home, here is the sales data for the 2013 calendar year, up to November:

Toyota Corolla – 39,794*
Mazda 3 – 38,060*
Toyota HiLux –36,457
Hyundai i30 – 28,035*
Holden Commodore – 25,218
Holden Cruze – 22,959*
Nissan Navara – 22,177
Mitsubishi Triton – 21,491
Toyota Camry – 21,326*
Ford Ranger – 20,111

I have put an asterisk next to the small cars. And I have left the utilities in there even though I maintain that those vehicles are purchased because they are needed by the buyer for their load carrying capacity, thus are in their own market since those buyers are unable to purchase a small car.

Now, tell me again how Australians want big "cars".

I do agree that the dual cab variants are in high demand, for buyers looking for a ute, because they can also be used as a family car. But it's not the other way round where people looking for a 4 door car will decide to get a ute because the cargo area is attractive. If they wanted that, they would get a small SUV at most and not a Ford Ranger.

 

[Calaber]

Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger might argue with you there mate..

Sure, but look what those two are. Dual purpose vehicles, that carry large loads and a full complement of passengers. The Australian manufacturers build largish sedans. Australians don't want them anymore.

If, maybe about ten years ago, Holden and Ford had used a very good crystal ball, they might have seen what changes would occur in Australian car buyers habits, and started designing the cars people want today. They didn't, they kept building updated versions of the same ol' four doors and a boot.

And got the boot from buyers as a result.

It's not the only reason, but it's a biggie.

 

[Reaper]

lack of not being able to obtain a future model may also have had something to do with it seeing the camry was/is coming to the end of its life cycle.
the amount they used to export was pretty high.
would have been Head Toyota in Japan that made the call.

Eh??? The current platform is only now nearing mid life being released in 2011 (2012 in aus?? can't remember). The Camry is in the top 2 or 3 (often #1) in NA in non "truck" sales. Faaaaaaar from the end of it's life cycle.

 

[Rajesh Koothrappali]

I love this...

TOYOTA, A TELLING TALE...

A panellist on a current affairs program related an instance many would have missed. Toyota CEO, Akio Toyoda, was giving a luncheon address to a business group, (paraphrased):

“Two years ago we were working so hard to create conditions whereby we could stay in this wonderful country and produce cars.

"We had restructured the business and, despite acceding to recent union demands for even better wages and conditions, we were seeing a dim light flickering at the end of the tunnel.

“We were honest with our employees and had explained the seriousness of the company’s economic plight.

"They had assured us of their cooperation, so we determined to all pull together in a desperate attempt keep the company viable.

“There was an air of camaraderie, a feeling of hope.

“It was Australia Day that week and it fell on a Thursday. On the Friday thirty percent of our workforce didn’t turn up, thirty percent called in sick.

“That’s when I finally realised we were stuffed.”