For those about to ute, he salutes you!
Earlier this year Chris Harris took some time off and came to Australia. Turns out he got himself a little bit of play time at the wheel of a 430kW/740Nm HSV GTS Maloo while he was here. All that power being sent to an unladen pair of rear wheels, an empty race track, what do you think happened next?
And Chris, for next time, a male sheep is called a ram. Of course, he would be a wether if his ghoulies had been snipped.
[Thanks to Stu for the tip]
Cameron Smith has just been appointed to a new role as an HSV ambassador. To help him get into his new gig HSV sent him along to Sandown to a drive day where members of the public could pay for a few fast laps behind the wheel.
The rugby league legend shared his car with some bloke called Barry Ford. Watch the clip below to see what happened next.
It hasn’t been officially announced yet, but already the limited-edition HSV GTS Maloo ute with an $85K+ price tag has reportedly sold out. With only 150 examples of the you beaut ute to be made (or is that 155?) it’s no surprise to see the enthusiast market has mobilised quickly after news of the GTS Maloo broke late last week.
In basic terms the GTS Maloo is the coupé ute version of the Gen-F GTS sedan, which brings with it the 430kW/740Nm 6.2 litre supercharged V8. It’s going to be totally obnoxious, but also very, very cool.
At least five AUSmotive readers have got their name on the buyers list and hopefully one of them will be nice enough to let us have a fang when their new toy arrives.
[Source: news.com.au | Thanks to John for the tip]
The Holden ute is an Aussie icon, and while its passing will be a sad day, HSV is going to send off the ute by creating the greatest and fastest show pony it has ever made. The exact model name is yet to be confirmed but the working title of HSV GTS Maloo seems to make sense.
We’ve known about this you beaut ute for some time but have been sworn to secrecy. Thanks to news.com.au who have broken the ice we can now share news of the GTS Maloo and perhaps a little bit more.
The GTS Maloo will be limited to 150 units and despite the expected mid-80s price tag it’s likely to become one of the most collectable HSVs of all time. Only 120 of those may be sold in Australia with up to 30 being allocated for New Zealand buyers.
It’s an HSV ute, right, so its closing party trick has to be big power. Big, big power! Essentially the ute will simply knock-off the drivetrain from the GTS sedan, including its 6.2 litre supercharged V8. That means it will bring a mighty 430kW/740Nm to the table. For the old skool readers among you that’s 576hp!
Predictions for the GTS ute’s 0–100km/h time are in the mid-4 second bracket, but it’s the in-gear acceleration that 740Nm of torque will bring which should bag the biggest smiles this ute has to offer. Oh, aside from the silly sideways stuff that is.
HSV’s Magnetic Ride Control will be fitted standard and will help ensure all that power can get to the ground with some degree of decorum, while massive racing-inspired AP brakes will help to slow things down.
There will be a choice of manual and automatic transmissions and if you want the slushbox you’ll be getting flappy paddles for the first time in an HSV.
We assume Torque Vectoring and Launch Control (manual transmission only) will also carry over from the GTS sedan, although our source has not been able to confirm this.
Cosmetic enhancements for the GTS Maloo will also follow the lead from its four-door counterpart, both inside and out.
We’ve been told that the HSV dealership network has already been notified of their allocations, colour choices and options. So even though there has been no official announcement, if you just want one, we suggest you act now.
In other VF ute related news it’s understood the end of Commodore ute production will be brought forward to 2015, rather than 2016 as previously reported. This is due in part to fact the ute is one of the most expensive products in the Commodore model range to manufacture.
[Source: news.com.au | Thanks to Shaz for the tip]
The 2014 NASCAR season has begun with the bizarre sight of the Chevrolet SS (née Commodore SS) Pace Car catching fire while it was leading the field around Daytona International Raceway.
“Tower, we’re on fire,” came the confirmation from Brett Bodine behind the wheel of the flaming Pace Car.
Feeling a bit sorry for the Pace Car, and perhaps Holden’s plight, racing legend Dale Earnhardt Jr came to the Chevy’s defence: “I guess it was the batteries in the back for the lights, because cars just don’t catch on fire like that,” Earnhardt said.
“It was pretty weird.”
A faulty battery pack to power the safety lights has been blamed for the fire.
The light-hearted incident was best summed up by Brad Keselowski who was the driver behind the Pace Car at the time: “When you think you’ve seen it all, then you see that!
“That was an interesting one; I just saw the whole back of the car on fire. I thought it was a race car, and then someone said it was the pace car and I just started laughing.”
You can see video of the incident after the break.
[Source: SB Nation]
The Australian Automobile Association hasn’t wasted any time shedding tears for the demise of Australia’s car making industry. No, they’re starting the call for making our imported cars cheaper.
To be fair the AAA has anointed itself to represent “the interests of all Australian motorists nationally and internationally” and so giving too much thought to the origin of the cars we drive isn’t too high on its agenda. Just make them bloody cheaper!
Firmly in the AAA’s sights are the last few dregs of import tariffs charged on imported vehicles. Unsurprisingly, it is the Australian public’s thirst for imported vehicles—which nobody really wants to mention while crying over the spilt milk left by Ford, Holden and now Toyota as they get set to march their token manufacturing operations off shore—that’s a real nail in the coffin for local assembly lines.
Last year 90% of all new vehicles sold were imported; as the saying goes, money talks and bullshit walks. As a result the AAA says now is the time to lift tariffs.
“With local manufacturing coming to an end it is only fair that tariffs on imported vehicles must also stop,” said Andrew McKellar, AAA Chief Executive. “If tariffs were designed to help protect the local industry then there is no longer any justification to maintain them.”
“The removal of tariffs could save the average new car buyer between one and two thousand dollars on the cost of a vehicle,†Mr McKellar added. “The Government must use the upcoming Federal Budget to announce the end of vehicle import tariffs in order to improve motoring affordability.”
We think the people cheering the loudest over this call to arms will not be the public, but the car dealerships who will, of course, pass on any savings to the buying public. Wink, wink.
According to the motoring.com.au website the V8-powered VF Commodore SS may have a life beyond the closure of Holden’s local production operations in 2017:
Holden fans will still have the chance to drive a rear-wheel drive V8 sedan with the Lion badge on the nose after the death of the VF Commodore in 2017 if a General Motors plan to build a second generation Chevrolet SS gets the green light.
GM is currently studying the feasibility of developing and building the next SS in the USA, taking over from the current Commodore VF-based version that is built in the doomed Elizabeth plant.
If the business case does stack up it will definitely be exported to Australia and sold as Holden.
Keeping the SS alive would also provide a lifeline for Holden Special Vehicles (HSV), which is facing an uncertain future without a rear-wheel drive Commodore to hot up into Clubsport, GTS and the like post-2017.
If you read the full article you’ll see there’s still quite a bit of water to pass under the bridge to make this happen. But if you like your Aussie V8s maybe you can still just want one.
[Source: motoring.com.au]
As the fallout and childish finger pointing from politicians tries to pin the blame for the decision from Ford and now Holden to stop making cars in Australia, this graph from News Limited, first published in January, tells us all we need to know.
Yes, the graph stops at the end of 2012 and so doesn’t include increasing sales of the new VF Commodore, but c’mon, does anyone really expect the VF to reach the peak of 90,000+ annual sales from the late 1990s?
If you don’t like the graph, Autocar has summed up the sales woes of the Commodore in words:
Holden’s failure to sell enough cars in its home market is its ultimate downfall. In 2002, Holden sold 80,000 Commodores (its staple large saloon, built locally). Last year it sold just 30,000. With a break-even figure of 40,000, this has been a long time coming.
Of course issues such as union-backed wage increases, the high Australian dollar, increasing fuel prices, the rise and rise of SUVs and other factors have all influenced the purchasing decisions of Australians in recent years.
Whatever you believe to be the cause, the effect of dramatically declining sales for the Commodore and Falcon paints the true picture. Couple that with a new car sales market in Australia that is otherwise quite healthy and the decision for the two US auto giants to abandon ship was a bit of a no-brainer.
It still sucks, though.
[Source: News Ltd]
News has come through from General Motors in Detroit confirming the inevitable: Holden will stop making cars in Australia in 2017.
GM’s full statement can be read after the break, but here’s a few snippets:
“We are completely dedicated to strengthening our global operations while meeting the needs of our customers,†said GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson. “The decision to end manufacturing in Australia reflects the perfect storm of negative influences the automotive industry faces in the country, including the sustained strength of the Australian dollar, high cost of production, small domestic market and arguably the most competitive and fragmented auto market in the world.â€
…
Holden will continue to have a significant presence in Australia beyond 2017, comprising a national sales company, a national parts distribution centre and a global design studio.
…
Since 2001, the Australian dollar has risen from US$0.50 to as high as US$1.10 and from as low as 47 to as high as 79 on the Trade Weighted Index. The Australian automotive industry is heavily trade exposed. The appreciation of the currency alone means that at the Australian dollar’s peak, making things in Australia was 65 percent more expensive compared to just a decade earlier.
This may have been a day we knew would come, but it doesn’t make it any easier to accept. We hope those many thousands of workers who will lose their jobs are able to minimise the impact they will face.
Ford 2016; Holden 2017; how long until Toyota pulls the plug?
[Pic: GM Corp]
While fronting the Productivity Commission earlier today Mike Devereux, GM Holden Managing Director, was asked if the company had already decided to close down its local manufacturing as soon as 2016. His reply: “No decision has been made.”
He went on to compare government subsidies with other sectors, suggesting the cost of losing the automotive sector in Australia would have ramifications well beyond the outlay of any subsidies received: “The $3 billion a year that goes into mining companies … I’m not criticising that … or $5 billion in subsidies for negative gearing. But the budgetary cost of losing this industry would dwarf the cost of losing it.”
Devereux claims it costs Holden around $3750 more per car to manufacture in Australia, which equates to around $300 million each year. The magic number reported to keep Holden happy to keep making cars in Australia is an extra $150 million per year in government support.
There are many very sound arguments for fighting to keep the automotive manufacturers in this country, and keeping some form of subsidies, by any rational measure, seems to be a no-brainer. And yet, the question still remains, are there enough people in Australia who want to buy locally made cars in sufficient numbers to keep the industry viable?
Component manufacturers need local contracts to stay afloat. Economies of scale will increase if, or should that be when, Holden ends local production. As well as the Commodore and the Cruze, it’s easy to predict Toyota would cease local manufacturing of its Aurion and Camry models should Holden follow Ford off-shore.
One thing is clear, we’re a long way from Devereux’s tweet from March 2012 responding to a Federal Government funding boost which said: “Today’s announcement secures Holden manufacturing in Australia for at least the next 10 years…out till 2022.”
For their part the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce unsurprisingly supports continuing government subsidies to help keep Holden making cars in Australia. The VACC issued a statement early this morning, which has been made available below.
Holden will close its local manufacturing operations in 2016 according to the ABC. The national broadcaster says senior government ministers have confirmed their belief that General Motors, Holden’s parent company, has already made the decision to stop making cars in Australia.
For their part Holden is not making any comment and says its unlikely to do so until at least next week after it has faced the Government’s Productivity Commission. One of the issues concerning the future of Holden is the uncertainty over Federal Government subsidies, which it claims it needs to keep local manufacturing viable.
The elephant in the room seems to be that local carmakers—Holden, Ford and Toyota—aren’t making cars that people want to buy. A criticism aimed more at Holden and Ford, rather than Toyota, which is comfortably the country’s best selling manufacturer.
Local car making peaked in 1970 when around 475,000 vehicles were made. By 1980 that number had dropped to 360,000. In recent years the industry last peaked in 2005 when almost 390,000 cars rolled off the line. By 2011 that number had plummeted by over 40% to just 224,000.
Outwardly at least, it would seem Holden and Ford have been too slow to react to consumer demand and no amount of government handouts can make the decision to build cars that people actually want to buy. Cracks in sales numbers might be papered over by models like the VF Commodore, but the overwhelming trend doesn’t lie. Buyers no longer want Commodores and Falcons. Couple that with the fact that no sustainable export markets can be found then it’s a fairly bleak outlook for Australia’s once iconic family sedans.
Ford has already announced it will stop making cars in Australia by 2016. We expect Holden will follow suit. And then it becomes a matter of time until Toyota does likewise.
Unless something unforeseen happens it will be a sad day when local car manufacturing ends in Australia. It’s a business sector that has, at times, been one of great pride for Australians. But not any more. Sales figures don’t lie.
[Source: ABC]
The future of Australia’s automotive manufacturing sector has been in the news quite a bit lately. The decision by Ford to cease local manufacturing in 2016 has certainly helped. But increased scrutiny has also brought government assistance to the automotive sector into the spotlight.
In the face of declining sales the public is asking why the government is spending so much to support local manufacturing if the multinational companies making merry with our taxpayer’s loot are just going to leave anyway.
So the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries is here to put things right. They’ve commissioned a report to investigate what would happen to the local economy if Holden and Toyota were to follow Ford’s lead and close down their factories by 2018.
The magic number produced by the FCAI report is $21.5 billion. Apparently that’s the size of the hole our economy would find itself dealing with if cars were no longer made in Australia.
As it currently stands Australians contribute $18 each on a per capita basis to come up with the $500 million passed on to the automotive sector. According to the FCAI report that investment gives a return of $934 per person, bringing us back to the impressive $21.5 billion figure.
That’s a pretty good return on investment, don’t you think.
You can download the FCAI report here (1.8mb PDF), all 86 pages of it. Yet in the whole report just two thirds of a page is set aside to discuss the demand for the motor vehicles made in Australia.
It’s true a potential $21.5 billion hit to our economy is no laughing matter, but unless the FCAI can come up with some buyers, you know, actual people who want to buy our locally made cars in sufficient numbers, then isn’t the end inevitable?
[Pic: GM Corp]