Cheap imports, who remebers the Lada Niva? What a beast - NOT! When I see the Great Wall I feel the same way about that machine, despite the fact it is built from the left over plant from the old model Isuzu/Colorado.

The problem is that some of the imports set the bar a little higher than our local home grown cars were at in terms of fit, finish, appointments and refinement at a time when Holden were offering us the first installment of the Buick V6 which, while they went OK and were reasonably torquey were harsh, resonating fuel guzzlers that leaked through just about every casting hole of the engine and rattled like a chaff cutter when the timing chain tensioner broke (which they did - often) and stopped at every other set of traffic lights or car park with a knackered fuel pump or relay.

They eventually evolved the engine to a reasonably refined package but the horse had bolted a bit as people seemed to become more accepting of imports and by the time they were looking to replace their first import purchase they were spoiled for choice in the market as the cost of imports had dropped markedly by then.

To balance the discussion Ford were able to refine their 4.0lt straight six into a big loping smooth effortless cruiser (more the 4 speed automatic toned the engine down a bit) but were let down by fit and finish (as well as a few handling defects in the early 90's Falcons that were very quetly addressed in great haste) as well.

I guess it is a fine line between building to a price point and expecting it to sell but bland is just plain bland and as exciting as jamming your nether regions in a vice to most people so they voted with their wallets and looked elsewhere.

I agree that the buck stops with the management of the time, however as people now have a greater choice of vehicles to choose from, the market share that the large car dominated up until around 10 years ago has dwindled almost to the point of now (almost) unsustainable levels so what happens now?

Dave.