-
Guest - BigFooty Tipping 2025 - Get on! - $500 first prize - Weekly Prizes - Click to Join
PLUS Your club board comp is now up!
The End of Holden
- Thread starter The Speaker
- Start date
- Tagged users None
- Sep 27, 2014
- 34,227
- 28,865
- AFL Club
- Essendon
Yugoslavia?
They sell their cars to the World not just Europe
Our problem was the brand being part of either an American or Japanese conglomerate didnt allow us to design a uniquely Australian product that the world wanted
- Sep 28, 2009
- 23,881
- 34,402
- AFL Club
- West Coast
- Other Teams
- Reading FC
Ford were the first to go and that was under Labor.
- May 5, 2006
- 63,036
- 70,461
- AFL Club
- West Coast
It's not an apples and oranges market looking at the 90s and 2000s and earlier compared to today. When Holden sold 94,000 Commodores it was 1998 and there were 18m people living here. Now there are 25m and the #1 selling vehicle of any kind sold half that number. From 1990-2010 there were 100-200k large sedans/wagons sold each year. Holden, Ford and Toyota (and Mitsubishi when the Magna was around) jostled for position in a healthy market. Demand for that type of vehicle has fallen off the face of the Earth. Holden tried to pivot with the Cruze but it wasn't cheap/good/interesting enough to spark much interest.
Toyota as the #1 marque last year sold 47k Hilux, 30k Corolla, 24k Rav4, 23k LandCruiser plus other models. Total Hilux sales were upwards of 300k, we just make up one segment of that. They sell around 10m vehicles a year worldwide. I don't think it would be viable for a local manufacturer to produce a range of models across 4 or 5 different platforms in those sales volumes of 20-30k per model.
I disagree that people have abandoned Ford and Holden just for cheaper imported models. Last I saw the locally made Commodore was still around $35k and you got a lot of car for that. None of the other marques were ever really interested in competing in that segment because the market for BMW 5 Series, Mercedes S Class etc. is pretty small and they are a lot more expensive. There are plenty of people getting around in cheaper small cars but look at the top 10 from 2019:
Toyota HiLux – 47,649
Ford Ranger – 40,960
Toyota Corolla – 30,468
Hyundai i30 – 28,378
Mitsubishi Triton – 25,819
Mazda CX-5 – 25,539
Mazda3 – 24,939
Toyota RAV4 – 24,260
Toyota LandCruiser – 23,024
At least half of those models cost more than a Commodore or Falcon did. People want dual cab utes and SUVs now. You can get small cars cheaper than the Corolla, i30 and Mazda3 but people know those are reliable.
- May 5, 2006
- 63,036
- 70,461
- AFL Club
- West Coast
The Greens: fossil fuels bad, govt bad.
Also The Greens: the govt should spend more money to encourage a multinational corporation to continue producing large sedans with V6/V8 gasoline engines.
Duh, reallllly?
Same cost as sending Euro cars here ???
Nuggs Bunny
Moderator
Essendon Player Sponsor 2024 - Archie Perkins and Nic Martin
Essendon Player Sponsor 2023 - Archie Perkins and Nic Martin
Essendon Player Sponsor 2022 - Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and Archie Perkins
Essendon Player Sponsor 2021 - Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and Archie Perkins
Essendon Player Sponsor 2020 - Orazio Fantasia, Anthony McDonald Tipungwuti, Shaun McKernan
- Oct 12, 2015
- 8,280
- 13,976
- AFL Club
- Essendon
- Other Teams
- Dallas Cowboys
- Moderator
- #112
If you look closely at the histories of Holden and Ford, there's a lot of strong signals that plans to up-stumps were in motion from as early as 2008.
If the product was desired it would price per unit
Australia exported a fair few cars to the Middle East
Toyota Australia exports one-millionth car to Middle East
Toyota Australia has exported its one-millionth car to the Middle East.
- Thread starter
- #114
If the product was desired it would price per unit
Australia exported a fair few cars to the Middle East
Toyota Australia exports one-millionth car to Middle East
Toyota Australia has exported its one-millionth car to the Middle East.www.caradvice.com.au
Correct, and this is why Toyota Australia ran at a profit and didn't want to leave. Had there been at least one other company still in business here, Toyota would have stuck around.
Give us our Grand Prix back!
- Sep 27, 2014
- 34,227
- 28,865
- AFL Club
- Essendon
At $360 a ticket after government subsidy, you don't want it back.
- Jun 22, 2008
- 24,580
- 21,290
- AFL Club
- Geelong
In 2007 I bought a 2 year old Mitsubish 380 VRX with 35,000km on the clock with 3 years of factory warranty and full books. It had everything that opened and closed, was a bit thirsty, but the 3.8 engine had plenty of go in it. It was around $45 or $50k new. At the same dealership in Werribee they had a BA Fairmont, (I had an AUII wagon so knew pretty much what that one was about) and they had a 2004 Commodore SV6.
I took the 380 out and when I came back, I didn't even bother with the Ford, I had a cursory look at the Commodore. It was a year older, had nowhere near the refinements in it and had 106,000km on the clock and an incomplete service history and no warranty left.
I bought the 380 for $17k, they wanted $26k for the Commodore, I didn't even get that far with the Ford but I think they wanted low 20s for it.
The 380 is still close to the best car I've owned.
- May 5, 2006
- 63,036
- 70,461
- AFL Club
- West Coast
Toyota overtakes Holden exports
JAPANESE giant Toyota has overtaken Holden as Australia’s biggest exporter of cars, eclipsing the 1 million milestone in less than half the time it took Holden to export 900,000 vehicles.
www.news.com.au
Toyota would not respond to claims that it loses about $2500 on every car it exports and makes up for the losses on its profitable imported cars.
But Toyota’s profitability on exports is understood to have improved given the recent modest weakening of the Australian dollar as well as cost savings in the production process.
Toyota Australia posts $137 million profit | Latest News
Toyota Australia has posted an after-tax profit of $137 million for the year ending 31 March 2018 (2016-17: after-tax profit of $99 million).
There were 229,258 Toyota and Lexus vehicles sold locally and 25,791 vehicles exported during the 2017-2018 financial year.
Toyota's export volumes did drop off.
- Thread starter
- #119
It's a shame that Mitsubishi never got real recognition for the good work they did with the later 90s/early 2000s Magna, into the 380.
Toyota overtakes Holden exports
JAPANESE giant Toyota has overtaken Holden as Australia’s biggest exporter of cars, eclipsing the 1 million milestone in less than half the time it took Holden to export 900,000 vehicles.
Toyota would not respond to claims that it loses about $2500 on every car it exports and makes up for the losses on its profitable imported cars.
But Toyota’s profitability on exports is understood to have improved given the recent modest weakening of the Australian dollar as well as cost savings in the production process.
Toyota Australia posts $137 million profit | Latest News
www.toyota.com.au
Toyota Australia has posted an after-tax profit of $137 million for the year ending 31 March 2018 (2016-17: after-tax profit of $99 million).
There were 229,258 Toyota and Lexus vehicles sold locally and 25,791 vehicles exported during the 2017-2018 financial year.
Toyota's export volumes did drop off.
Of course they did, the Australian dollar was very strong and they had reduced their production to only making Camrys and Aurions. The former wouldn't have been a problem today. The crucial thing is this: they didn't want to leave.
- May 5, 2006
- 63,036
- 70,461
- AFL Club
- West Coast
I've never driven a Magna/Verada/380. I remember in the 90s when WC were winning flags that Mitsubishi were a major sponsor of the AFL. In the 2000s the Lancer was a really popular small car. These days other than the Triton you don't hear much about Mitsubishi.
Main point RE: exports is that Toyota were doing well in a time when the others were also. Australian vehicle and engine exports really dried up across the board, it's not like Toyota were doing well while Ford and Holden were floundering.
- Thread starter
- #121
They stopped making sedans pretty much entirely, worldwide. In fact, most of their cars are SUVs.
Yes, but Toyota didn't see it as a serious problem as long as the Australian car industry still existed. They were proud of their Australian business and believed their future was viable, provided they weren't the only manufacturer in the market.
- Mar 11, 2018
- 8,149
- 12,482
- AFL Club
- Hawthorn
Front page of the HUN today. "Death of a Lion" or some such. Weird, because they've been dead since the day they announced that would cease manufacturing in 2014 or whenever it was. Same as their mates from Geelong. Nailing a badge onto the bonnet of a Daewoo is not the same thing.
All bar one of the vehicles I've owned has been glued together by bogans in either Geelong or Elizabeth. Because I thought it was important for Australians who wanted jobs to have one.
There's a bit of romanticism about our Aussie made cars. The thought of my old 253 still makes me smile. But let's be honest. By world standards, they weren't great cars.
Would still love an EH sedan retro-fitted with a modern 2.0L fuel injected VVT and sports auto though. In a second.
Sad to see, but surprised the charade lasted as long as it did - what 3-4 years?
I guess you should be able to buy a cheap Equinox soon. (People don't want to buy cars named after old Greek broads!)
All bar one of the vehicles I've owned has been glued together by bogans in either Geelong or Elizabeth. Because I thought it was important for Australians who wanted jobs to have one.
There's a bit of romanticism about our Aussie made cars. The thought of my old 253 still makes me smile. But let's be honest. By world standards, they weren't great cars.
Would still love an EH sedan retro-fitted with a modern 2.0L fuel injected VVT and sports auto though. In a second.
Sad to see, but surprised the charade lasted as long as it did - what 3-4 years?
I guess you should be able to buy a cheap Equinox soon. (People don't want to buy cars named after old Greek broads!)
- May 5, 2006
- 63,036
- 70,461
- AFL Club
- West Coast
Smart call really. If Holden had pivoted to build the Colorado/Rodeo here instead of the Cruze maybe they'd still be around...
I don't see why the other marques should be a factor. If there are no Falcons and Commodores then that only augurs well for Camrys and Aurions. Really I think they shut up shop because it wasn't worth it for the small volumes of sales (local and export) for the locally produced models.
- Thread starter
- #124
Because without any other local manufacturers, the Australian suppliers for their parts wouldn't have enough demand from Toyota alone to stay afloat. Most of them supplied for Ford and Holden as well. Without those components being made here, Toyota has nothing with which to build their cars here.
- Thread starter
- #125
I think we're just as likely to go in the other direction and downplay how good they are as well. They aren't perhaps classically 'great' in the way certain European cars that we fawn over may be, but no-one can doubt the build quality and solidity of the cars we were making. The Pontiac GTO (Monaro) and Pontiac G8/Chevrolet SS (Commodore) got very good reviews Stateside. We certainly had (have?) the know-how for making good cars.
Similar threads
