Quote:
Originally Posted by Sprintey
Also, the only hope for Holden would have been if the billionaire auto parts entrepreneur (think he owns a GM transmission plant in Belgium) was able to buy the Aussie production. That deal didn't go through.
If it did, they would still be making the RWD VF platform, there would be no FWD Commodore fiasco, Aussie who buy patriotically would still have an option, affordable RWD performance fans would still have an option (RWD wagon fans too!) - and there would still be large scale auto value-adding going on in SA. GM might benefit too, selling V8 motors and V6s to the concern with none of the manufacture/distribution risks. For the billionaire, the risk would be selling VF as a sedan as the segment continues to shrink, so the smart money would suggest they would have an SUV based on the platform at advanced development stage about now.
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Therein lies part of the problem, Aussies aren't patriotic when it comes to parting with their cash, they're price focused primarily.
Part of the demise of the automotive industry is unelected government bureaucrats and government sector employees, who've never created either a single job in their lives, or 'worked' a single day in their lives, conjuring up policies which disadvantaged local manufacturing to the advantage of overseas suppliers. The Falcon Ecoboost was a specific vehicle that came to mind, it met the 'CO2' emission target of less than 200g/km, so government agencies reduced the target for fleet vehicles, local produced vehicles were never going to get a look in.