True, but then again successive governments have been doing themselves out of (even token) income from measures that may mean that local manufacturers possibly wouldn't find themselves in the position they do now.

SUVs became popular for their elevated driving positions, towing ability etc and all of a sudden they were the Mum'sTaxi of choice. Ford, through either very good (or bad) luck - depending upon the way you saw it at the time, had great success with the Territory, however that came at the expense of the wagon. They originally shared platforms but the way that the Territory flew out the showroom doors meant that the tooling required to press common parts between the sedan and the wagon was only ever going to supply the sedan range from then on. So in effect, the Territory put even more pressure upon the sedan to sell and sell well. People are still buying large sedans, it is just that they are European Mercs, Audis, Bimmers etc - made in Hungary, Turkey, Poland, Thailand or wherever the cheapest labour is for them to do so.

The milk is well and trully spilt now, it remains to be seen just how bad the fallout is. My guess is that when it is all said and done, there was no one thing that lead to the demise of the home grown industry, just a few bad decisions that allowed cheap imports to flood the market and a market that changed significantly.