Engineers call for new Australian auto policy

[mik]

Originally Posted by UberKnee

Just seems like a case of grass is always greener on the other side; Australia isn't 'flooded' by different car makes anymore than any other country. Manufacturers/models that only build LHD are unavailable here outside of select importers and then they cost 2 or 3 times more than they're worth/would sell for her otherwise.

A basic Mercedes/BMW/Audi/etc. that sells for peanuts everywhere else is a $100k+ here which keeps it out of most peoples reach.

Overall the biggest sellers here are generally Ford/GM/Toyota/Nissan/Mazda with everyone else selling in small volume.

So local manufactures still have plenty of opportunity, you look at America where typically Pontiac/Chevy/Ford/Dodge/BMW/Mercedes/Jaguar and several others are all the big volume players.

America has a flooded market, every manufacturer in the world sells there yet its still the American brands that sell the biggest due to building the right cars/advertising/etc.

Australia really doesn't have it that bad, most of these cars supposedly 'flooding our markets' are priced for footballers, not the average buyer.

The way to save local manufacturing is not by making life harder for imports but by local manufacturers building cars that are relevant to the times. 400kw GTS's and blown GTs might appeal to performance enthusiasts by the average buyer either doesn't care or it just ins't practical enough for a modern day family. Rather than focusing on the near dead large car market focus on SUVs that out sell them hand over fist.

America has half the amount of imports australia does.