Ford Closing.

[HK1837]

That is right, but I bet there are a lot of people out there who want a V8 auto 1-tonner capable of seating 3 people and tow over 2 tonne. If Ford and Holden locally built cars people wanted they would be selling them and they wouldn't be closing. All Ford would have had to have done is built a wagon, Engineered the Falcon for LHD and kept a V8 and they would probably still be going alongside Holden.
I may have to end up biting the bullet and buying a 4.0L 6cyl Ford cab chassis at the start of 2016 because that is when my Hilux will be 5 years old and ready to be changed, and I bet by that time the new Hilux will be out and they won't be offering a 4.0L petrol option. I think the only reason we have a 4.0L petrol Hilux now is it is the Tahoma in the US, and the car is designed and Engineered that way for construction in the USA (they don't get a diesel option). The fact it is so close in overall build to the Diesel variety, it is easy for the Thai plant to assmble the cars there and simply import the V6 and geabox as a whole drop in unit from the Landcruiser plant in Japan. I have a gut feeling it won't be that easy with the new shape Hilux/Tahoma when it arrives, and it'll end up like all the others with diesel only.
I'll still struggle with the whole idea of not only driving but owning a Ford, but I may simply have to deal with it! To me it'd be akin to dressing like an executive (suit, tie etc) or wearing pink clothes or wearing makeup or signing up to Facebook or other such polar opposite things that are simply not me!

[Innuendo]

Byron the market for what your aiming to own sounds to me to be too small for any of the car companies to care about. Locally your desirable car "could" have been manufactured. But with the shear amount of choice out there with all the imports etc, there is no reason for it to happen. The simply fact of the matter is people of today (me included) are spoiled beyond our dreams of the '70's-'80's and probably even the '90's. We have been geared up to own a new car (or a replacement) every 3 to 5 years. Mobile phones to be trashed before 18 months because of a new gimmick. Cameras to be swapped out because of the drip feeding of features that have been hidden in the digital cameras for years. The list goes on and on.

You can always build a car that suits your specialised requirements. For me, taxing the imports and giving breaks and incentives to local products should always be the Australian way.
I'm a Holden man, but I don't want to see Ford closing it's doors here in Australia. It is the people buying imports that are at least partially to blame.

If a car is built to a competing standard here in our country (and they are) we should all be proud enough to own one.

No import cars in my family!

[Valencia]

One words comes to mind with this topic GREED and doesnt matter what is said or done you aint going to change that

[HK1837]

Byron the market for what your aiming to own sounds to me to be too small for any of the car companies to care about. Locally your desirable car "could" have been manufactured. But with the shear amount of choice out there with all the imports etc, there is no reason for it to happen. The simply fact of the matter is people of today (me included) are spoiled beyond our dreams of the '70's-'80's and probably even the '90's. We have been geared up to own a new car (or a replacement) every 3 to 5 years. Mobile phones to be trashed before 18 months because of a new gimmick. Cameras to be swapped out because of the drip feeding of features that have been hidden in the digital cameras for years. The list goes on and on.

You can always build a car that suits your specialised requirements. For me, taxing the imports and giving breaks and incentives to local products should always be the Australian way.
I'm a Holden man, but I don't want to see Ford closing it's doors here in Australia. It is the people buying imports that are at least partially to blame.

If a car is built to a competing standard here in our country (and they are) we should all be proud enough to own one.

No import cars in my family!

You are dead right mate, the market is too small. This is why we get a woefully inadequate diesel engine in the current Nissan Patrol - simply our market is too small to justify something better. In this case it is also the Australian Euro emissions laws that create the initial problem, as the 4.2L TD is still sold in the middle east and South Africa but can't comply here, so Nissan just jams that 3.0L 4cyl piece of junk into them and leave the dealers here to try and sell them. They sell that badly they tried to sell me an ST coil cab when I bought the Hilux for something like $37000 drive away with a tray. One drive rules it out though!

But I still reckon if the cars we make here were desirable that people would buy them. The only reason the Commodore can still survive is it can be made in LHD, and the driveline is desirable and familiar in the USA. What they really need to do is get the utes LHD and over on sale as they'll sell well over there.

[Valencia]

Last time i checked i thought the new patrol was a v8 same engine as the v8 super car yes

[HK1837]

Not on cab-chassis.

[Alien DNA]

Byron the market for what your aiming to own sounds to me to be too small for any of the car companies to care about. Locally your desirable car "could" have been manufactured. But with the shear amount of choice out there with all the imports etc, there is no reason for it to happen. The simply fact of the matter is people of today (me included) are spoiled beyond our dreams of the '70's-'80's and probably even the '90's. We have been geared up to own a new car (or a replacement) every 3 to 5 years. Mobile phones to be trashed before 18 months because of a new gimmick. Cameras to be swapped out because of the drip feeding of features that have been hidden in the digital cameras for years. The list goes on and on.

You can always build a car that suits your specialised requirements. For me, taxing the imports and giving breaks and incentives to local products should always be the Australian way.
I'm a Holden man, but I don't want to see Ford closing it's doors here in Australia. It is the people buying imports that are at least partially to blame.

If a car is built to a competing standard here in our country (and they are) we should all be proud enough to own one.

No import cars in my family!

Couldnt have said it better myself.....bravo

[playwme]

Why would you buy an Aussie Falcodore for $40k that depreciates at the same percentage rate as a $15k Hyundai? The chances of me ever buying a brand new car are basically slim to none, but if I did it wouldn't be anything but a Toyota or possibly a Subaru. Not everyone can just throw money away every 5 years.
No government will raise Tariffs on all imports to the point that Aussie cars could compete. That would be political suicide.

[HK1837]

You have to pick the right car, and sometimes buy it when 12-18 months old, or if you can get a really good runout deal or buy on national fleet. My CV8 was $29,000 and 29,000kM when I bought it over 7 years ago. I'd probably get $16-$18k for it today at about 117,000kM. Not many imports will achieve that, nor would the equivalent VX SS which would probably be worth $1000! I also bought my VY SS ute for $34.5k new on national fleet (white, black leather trim, manual) and sold it after 12 months and 15,000kM for more than I paid for it. The VSIII S white V6 manual prior to that was under $25k new, I sold it after 2.5 years with about 60,000kM on it for $19,500 (this one was traded on the VY). I don't expect the Hilux to do anything as good as these, although I only financed about $49k for it as a demo, and it got written off and replaced with a 0kM new on 18 months later, so wrt to the original amount paid it'll do better than it should have. The major difference is the Hilux I can depreciate as it is a Chattel Mortgage rather than a lease, and it was also purchased under Government incentive bonus depreciation.

[Innuendo]

We always buy cars that are around 18 months old with remaining warranty.
Let someone else take the major depreciation knock (typically ex-fleet).