Holden will retain the Commodore nameplate for its next-generation large sedan, even though the new “Commodore” will bear no resemblance to the large, rear-drive car currently sold in Australia.
Just-Auto is reporting that the new Commodore will be a front-drive vehicle based on the next generation Opel Insignia/Buick Regal. While Holden previously stated that the new Commodore would be built in Australia, the end of Holden’s manufacturing operations has now made it necessary to import it from another location.
Some reports have suggested that China may be the location of the Commodore’s assembly. According to previous reports, the new, Chinese-made Commodore would have a standard 4-cylinder engine, with an optional V6. Though it would be close in size to the current car, it would look more European, with coupe-like styling rather than the current car’s brawny, slab-sided proportions. Holden is currently importing the Insignia VXR as a high-performance model, and perhaps as a test case for a future Commodore.
That’s what happens without a protected market, hopefully the U.S. never loses its protection.
No matter what the Aussie jihad says, I’d rather have a protected market than countless lost jobs.
Forbidden fruits aren’t so sweet once availible.
The US has one of the world’s lowest tariffs, no quotas and no local content requirements, plus it is relatively easy to establish dealer networks. Not much protection at all.
Personally, I like the low prices associated with free trade.
Americans are getting hosed compared to the Aussies, with their higher prices, higher tariffs and luxury car tax. Or something like that.
Thems trigger words for our B&B brothers from Down Under.
I can see that one of the duo has arrived. Keeps pulling the trigger, but he can’t shoot straight. (You should be thankful that there is no Second Amendment in Australia.)
“You should be thankful that there is no Second Amendment in Australia”
Oh dear lord they’d blast themselves off the face of the earth
I continue to be unimpressed by those who think that 10% and 5% are lower numbers than 2.5%. This is a basic arithmetic error that should not be repeated as often as it is.
Maybe we should open a chain of Payday loan outlets there, win/win
Do they have all UAW trolls on this board at the same time or do you take turns writing rubbish?
What Free trade? I did not know the U.S. has signed FTA’s with China, Japan and the EU your major trading partners?
DevilsRotary86 Maybe one day the U.S. will become a normal country and allow those freedoms
You are right, but it still stinks that they outright tell me “you can’t buy that car on the grey market”. And as PCH101 pointed out, the tariffs in this country are low… so long as you are an OEM. If the OEM chooses not to offer something in the US then well I am out of luck I guess.
I mean, I can look at this website for days dreaming:
http://www.goo-net-exchange.com/usedcars/
It’s torture, I find stuff like this:
http://www.goo-net-exchange.com/usedcars/SUZUKI/CAPPUCCINO/700040313830150117002/index.html
A 1994 Suzuki Cappuccino. But nooooo, Mr. Government say “no, you can’t have it!”
I am not asking for a full open market. Make it like the old days when you could buy it in a foreign country, bring it here, pay the tariff, pay to have it converted to US lighting and emissions. Charge me a 10, 20, 40% tariff, and make me bear the cost of compliance. I know at the end of the day that $5,000 Cappuccino would be $10,000 but I am willing to bear the cost for something special. I just hate being told “no, because I said so”.
I guess you have to wait 4 more years. A torturous 4 more years.
@devilsRotary86
You can do that in virtually any other market in the World except the US
The issue for used personal imports is not the tariff rate (which is 2.5% for most things), but the need to make vehicles that are less than 25 years old compliant with US emissions and safety regulations (which is cost prohibitive and effectively impossible in many cases.)
What would make sense is to reduce the 25 year restriction to something more reasonable, such as ten years, for vehicles that are produced with western safety standards in mind (i.e. EU, Australia, Singapore and Japan, not Mexico or Latin America.) That would be consistent with what other western countries to keep used third world death traps off of their roads.
I hope you have included US cars prior and including those built in 2000 as your definition of “Third World Death Trap”?
Yes they certainly could bring complimentary or similar standards into line. Furious debates about differing standards does not mean that non complying current vehicles are unsafe
Yeah, that’s my point and my frustration. I would be happy to pay the tariff. But in the US I can’t give them any amount of money to import what I like.
Well, Jerry Seinfeld, Paul Allen, and Bill Gates pulled it off with their Porsche 959’s but short of being politically connected billionaires it isn’t happening
@DevilsRotary86
A case of the very rich can do this in the US, but that loophole does not exist for anyone else
The UAW Choir will bleet that there is no desire for these in the US. They have a VERY vested interest in blocking these vehicles
I actually do agree with Mr. Hummer, some protectionism is good for protecting local industry. I wouldn’t even complain if the 2.5% tariff on cars were raised to 5%. Let the masses who care for naught but going from point A to point B be gently encouraged to buy something domestic.
I am just venting that I am not even allowed to pony up the cash for that special little something from overseas.
@DevilsRoary86
Unlike Big Al from Oz, I agree with you. Protection can save an Industry, but there has to be a balance, the UAW approach will defeat what they are trying to achieve. Some leeway is good for consumers
@Hummer
Thanks for agreeing about the protected US market. After all the rubbish being spouted on this forum it is not, it is nice to see the truth being posted
If by “protected” you mean the LEAST protected meaningful market in the world, then Yeah.
Hummer is right the most overly protected market for a developed nation
Your arrogance is only outpaced by your ignorance.
That is why you are called DIM? The UAW is going overtime to shut out European cars and Trucks. Cannot stop the flight of jobs to Mexico and now Europe
Where the hell did I say most protected?
We have few protections but, the few we do have ensure our market has a higher standard on availible offerings than what Australia gets for example.
Hint UAW no longer has as much power as it did 60 years ago, we have basically every major automaker with a factory in the US.
@Hummer,
What you stated is that it is protected. I made the statement it is probably one of the most protected Automotive industries on the planet
The openness of the US car market is a funny subject. It really depends on who you are. If you are a large OEM looking to import 10’s of thousands of Soul hatcbacks a year in America we are pretty open. Low 2.5% tariff, and a very large market over which to amortize compliance costs. If you are a large OEM looking to import a light truck in America then you can forget it. If you are looking to sell a few hundred specialty sports and luxury cars in America than the cost of fully complying with FMVSS can be prohibitive (Lotus and Aston Martin come to mind). And if you are an individual looking to import something cool, unique and different from Japan for example, then you are SOL. Be a good little boy, fill out your bank loan application, and stand in line for your standard issue US Midsize sedan/CUV. You may have your pick of grey, black, or white.
@Devilsrotary86
Summed it up rather well, then even the mass importers have to comply to regulations that do not exist anywhere else
You’ve gotta have a short memory to think global OEMs are in any way hindered from selling pickup trucks in the US. Now the EU has put 22% against imports of global pickup trucks, no loopholes. Of course you’ll say there little call for pickup trucks there. Well back at ya! There’s very little call for MORE pickup trucks here.
If you are importing Soul hatchbacks in Australia there is zero tariff and I would expect much lower compliance costs (some changes required for ADRs but self-certified).
The sticker price of a Soul in Australia (2.0 liter with automatic), not including taxes, is about US$3000 higher than it is in the US.
@Pch101,
Again, another insincere comment from our local TTAC UAW rep.
How much is $20 000AUD in USD……….$16 000? Who is paying more?
It seems you most always load your comments with insincere comments to create untruths.
What a joke…..go back to your UAW cubicle and do some more research.
@outbackute,
You are quite correct.
Australia can use other NCAP nations that are signatories of the UNECE’s global vehicle harmonization strategy.
Australia can have some slight variations to our vehicle standard. They are the only standards (or changes) that require testing in Australia by the ADR (regulatory authority).
The US is on its own. This is a technical barrier. US vehicles are not any safer than other OECD economies who are tied into the UNECE global strategy.
So, we can import German, Japanese vehicles that have been tested in those countries because we use the same standards. Fantastic idea to save the consumer money.
Also, judging by the very high road fatalities in the US in comparison to most other OECD economies the US’s vehicle standards are no better or worse than NCAP standards.
The US standards as I mentioned are their to offer US vehicle manufacturers protection by increasing the cost of vehicles to comply.
Several years ago the additional cost to the US vehicle purchaser was valued at $13 billion. Imagine another $13 billion added to the US economy. Another stimulus if this one technical barrier was removed.
$13 billion in more jobs or investment.
This is what socialist and far right wing want. I suppose they are the majority in the US.
Relative prices are not really the point, I was only talking about barriers to selling cars. Not how Kia has positioned the Soul on the Australian market; the Soul is significantly more expensive than the Forte/Cerato in Australia but is cheaper in the US.
Cars are cheaper in the US than in other countries in the western world.
The US has the reserve currency, plus it gets what amounts to a volume discount. The 2.5% tariff is half of Australia’s, less than half of Canada’s, and one-fourth of what is assessed in the EU, so it matters little.
American car buyers are getting better deals, irrespective of what some your (slow-witted) countrymen may believe to the contrary. As far as new car purchases go, I wouldn’t trade places (although including insurance with the registration is a good idea that would be worth copying.)
To put it differently, the Soul is cheaper than the Forte in the US but approx 20% dearer than the same car (badged Cerato) in Australia, I am well aware of the cost differences between the markets.
Now that the Free Trade Agreement with Japan has just come into effect, the vast majority of imported cars in Australia will not have any tariff applied.
@Pch,
Again, you negate the significant variables that makes for a pricing. Our wages are higher than the US and we buy our volume vehicles cheaper.
Like I stated it’s cheaper to live in Mexico than the US, so Mexico is a far better country?? Boy, you really have a screwed up sense of logic. This is what happens when you drink too much UAW Koolaid from the dispenser in your UAW office…Commradeski!
I’ll have to call you Ivan. You brain seems to be on par with his.
Some cars are cheaper in the US than Australia due to volume.
As for you tariff argument, well, it appears we have the most open market with lower overall protection on our vehicles than the US.
I did read an article where you communists like yourself once where American Exceptionalist back in the 1920s and 1930s. This is the 21st Century and socialism is in decline, maybe not at the UAW office, by the sounds of it.
LCT/GST won’t let you have the cars that middle class Americans enjoy. You are destined to drive crap cars because your government taxes the good ones into oblivion
Enjoy your imported Chinese junk, because that’s all you can afford
“LCT won’t let you have the cars that middle class Americans enjoy. You are destined to drive crap cars because your government taxes the good ones into oblivion
Enjoy your imported Chinese junk, because that’s all you can afford”
Scratching head,:”does this relate to the thread?
Yes, try and keep up
Keep Up? You have gone off on a tangent, that even you do not where it is heading
“This is what socialist and far right wing want. I suppose they are the majority in the US.”
So is it the extreme right wing that’s destroying us or the UAW (extreme left), make up your mind.
I suppose another way to look at this is that both extremes agree, which would mean we have almost complete support down into the moderates?
Couple of problems with the tariff strategy.
First of all, the substitute for low-wage, labor intensive foreign manufacturing is not high-wage, labor intensive domestic manufacturing, it’s automation. I saw a video about the robots on the Tesla assembly line — amazing.
Second, after waves of retaliatory tariffs shut down world trade, you’ll have to find jobs for the 11 million* Americans whose jobs are currently tied to exports.
*US Commerce Dept
@Outback Ute
Correct, but the UAW Mafia fo want of a better word, think the Australian Market is as regulated and protected as theirs. So it is useless trying to convince them of a free market, when they are not aware of the concept
This is a great idea (cough, cough.) Use a nameplate that has been losing brand equity for years, and attach it to a car that bears no resemblance to the car that the (few remaining) loyalists will like.
Daewoo LeMans.
I’m waiting for the next Buick crossover to be called a Vega.
“@kovap
I have driven a Pontiac Lemans. Crud ,would a nice word for it. How could a Automobile industry produce such disgusting rubbish?
I remember seeing one for the first time when they were introduced. Never did I have a greater cognitive dissonance moment.
It had a graphic along the side proclaiming LE MANS but It looked like an inflated Chevette. I hesitated at a green light staring at it.
My wife thought something was wrong with our car but it was just me being stunned. I became old that day, suddenly knowing the ancient Italian pimp in Catch 22 was right; America, too, will fade away.
What? It’s working for the Malibu, right? [ducks]
Sounds like the Century is due for a revival.
Have driven a Buick Century, better than the Le Mans, by a slim margin. US cars of the early 2000’s were unbelievably bad
The Buick Century was way better than the LeMans. I liked the Olds Intrigue better because of the better engine(s), but the Century was not a horrible car.
The N-body Skylark was much worse.
My problem with the Century is the following.
-It’s like an Ambien to drive, and usually not too far off in color.
-You may choose the following for speed: Gentle acceleration; gentle deceleration. There are no other options. Flooring it is an exercise in futility. If you want to coast, you are decelerating.
It’s not a particularly good car. It isn’t “unbeliveably bad” though. It’s not my W-Body of choice, but it was for the blue hairs anyway.
What was the price difference between it and the Regal? And the Regal had available supercharging, yeah?
And now I think, didn’t the LSS overlap the Century a bit – because that was certainly a better car.
28-CL should chime in here shortly, this convo is his sort of thing!
@bball40dtw
By Australian standards it was very ordinary indeed(that column Automatic gear selector was right out of the Ark) allthough your right it was better than the LeMans Chinese cars would be better than the LeMans
The Regal was the way to go. 3800 standard and a 3800SC option. They could have just called the Century the “Regal Century”, because they were the same car besides trim and engine. I don’t know what the price difference was though.
The LSS was an Olds 88 (The 17 year old kid across the street has an LSS). Just like the LHS was a Concorde/300M.
It is a much better idea than starting with a brand new name nobody has heard of like the Insignia. Some loyalists will moan that it is not the same, but it will keep the car on the radar of a lot more people. I wouldn’t say that the Commodore has been losing brand equity either, just sales; the brand is so well-established the slight loss in visibility hasn’t hurt it. It would cost millions and take years to get the same brand recognition or equity.
“Holden is currently importing the Insignia VXR”
This is not true, unless you are referring to prototypes!
Commodore sales have tanked. It obviously has less market share than it once did.
The fact that sales fell with the tariff reductions is not entirely a coincidence. When given the opportunity to defect, many Aussies did just that. Those barriers were there for a reason.
Nothing to do with Tariff reduction and you are very aware of that, another twisting of the facts. People are worried being stuck with an “orphan”Cohen production stops a phenomena people in the US are very aware of I.e Pontiac, Oldsmobile
A safe rule of thumb: If Robert makes a claim, you can safely assume that the opposite is true.
Run out of ideas? Researcher gone on strike.? How many lies can you post on a thread? Your non fan club is growing. UAW better get a better Troll
“Commodore sales have tanked”
Did I not just say that? However the car’s reputation aka brand equity is largely unaffected other than a bogan association which will be helped (reduced) with a change to fwd. It just does not meet enough buyer’s purchase criteria, people have moved to other types of vehicle.
Keeping the Commodore name alive is Holden’s best chance to sell cars.
Slapping a badge that has become associated with rednecks onto a European design isn’t a particularly wise idea.
”
Slapping a badge that has become associated with rednecks onto a European design isn’t a particularly wise idea.
”
You do not get it at all. So the Malibu to name one GM Sedan in the US is primarily bought by Rednecks? Guess you do not like those plebs you serve
@outback ute
As been mentioned by me Big Al and yourself, barriers to outsiders getting into the U.S. market are extensive and two U.S. posters mentioned this on the other thread. We are not the only ones who realise how uncompetitive and restrictive the U.S. market is
Also, typo in title of article! Needs more “n.”
Oh, no – “coupe-like styling”! If you want a car with low rear seats and little rear headroom, difficulty getting in and out of the back seat, and a back window whose only utility is to fry the necks of back seat passengers, it’s the car for you! SUVs and 4-door trucks are not popular, exactly, they’re just the only remaining choices for people who carry back seat passengers. With buckets and a huge console, you can’t carry both your grandparents in the front anymore.
Minivan.
It’s fully optimized for carrying passengers and household-sized cargo.
Yeah, they’re boring-looking, but they make the job easier in the ways that the right tool makes the right job easier.
P.S. I’ve owned an F-150 with a back seat, but the minivan wins for everything on other than tow/hauling. The minivan has better drivability on pavement/snow/ice/gravel, too.
Well, there went “die with dignity” for that nameplate…
Yes Holden and GM will die here. At the moment they have no CEO running it ,but they seem to be copying Ford and in reviving their Design division. The Buick Aventir was produced and designed here for the Detroit show
What is that in the front, a Holden-fied version of the Buick Excelle hatchback from China? Handsome car, I’d check that out a Buick dealership.
Look at this Riviera!
http://www.caranddriverthef1.com/sites/default/files/OpelCalibra2014002_headergallery.jpg
Lol. Bring the Calibra here?
The blue Vauxhall up front looks like a new Corsa.
I dig that Riviera too. And no angry eyebrows on the trunk!
I have grown accustomed to the Verano eyebrows, and they are less noticeable in lighter colors.
But the Verano looks superior in darker colors overall (esp bronze metallic)
This is my quandary.
Edit: I’ve sort of always liked the Calibra. Especially the 90s one Chris Goffey drove on old TG (loved his practical reviews).
http://static.cargurus.com/images/site/2008/03/30/08/20/1997_vauxhall_calibra-pic-36596.jpeg
That is a good looking car.
WASHINGTON – In an announcement that stunned auto industry executives, analysts and at least three blokes at The Truth About Cars blog, Pres1dent Barack Obama announced today that the US would immediately follow Australia’s policies in regulating the US car industry.
“We Yanks have much to learn from our Aussie mates,” the pres1dent said at a press conference. “They pay more Down Under for cars and they’re bloody happy about it, too, so we should do the same. Fair dinkum.”
The new “Aussie Rules” car plan will include a doubling of the US car tariff from 2.5% to 5% and a luxury tax of 33% on purchase prices (including the amounts payable for sales tax and any tariffs) above $50,500. “My hope is that America will become more like the Lucky Country, where the most popular luxury car brand is Toyota,” Mr. Obama said.
In addition, Mexico will be required to leave NAFTA. If the US and Mexico both sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, then that free trade relationship will be resumed.
The price of gas, er, petrol, will also be increased. For the sake of mateship, the price will be increased by $1.13 per gallon so that the Americans no longer have an unfair advantage. “It’s only 30 extra cents per litre,” Mr. Obama noted.
The news was greeted with skepticism throughout Washington, which is to be renamed Canberra North. “Crikey, what a wanker,” muttered Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell upon hearing the news. “What an arse, he should just p**s off,” added House Majority Leader John Boehner. “His scheme doesn’t have many supporters here in Parliament.”
But House Minority Leader Nancy “Sheila” Pelosi spoke in Mr. Obama’s defence. “These bogans should stop their bloody whinging about the taxes. But I will have trouble remembering that Barack is now Mr. Prime Minister.”
Is that the best you can do.?Your industry is going South and elsewhere and I do not mean Australia .
By the way there is a connection between President Obama and Australian Unions, been there before he was elected
UAW has these paid trolls, that write absolute rubbish
I earn $5000 a month from home trolling automotive web sites for the UAW, you can too! http://www.UAWtrol...
/sarcasm4gullible.au
Bloody hell.
Thanks for outing yourself. Seeing this is the only Automotive website, that actually reports on the movements of the Union on a regular basis, a very close relationship is obvious
When I think of it, even other Unions do not air their washing for all to see,as happens here. I guess the UAW is vital for the U.S. Automotive Industry
@Pch101,
Judging by your comments you must think living in Caracas is better than the US. They have cheap fuel and food (if you can find some).
Actually move to Bolivia, according to your method of comparison Bolivia is a much better place.
You comment is of no importance as I have already explained. You comments aren’t a lie. Just a distortion.
We do pay marginally more for fuel than you guys in the US. Hence, the amount of performance cars and V8s, SUVs, etc that run about here.
The cost of fuel per US gallon as a percentage of your average wage is/was 2.6%, Australia 2.8%.
Not bad.
Sincerity you say. Use a dictionary and you might find out.
Or are you trolling like a jerk off? Hmmmmm…….so are you are you lying or are you a fool is what I’m asking.
You Aussies are a bunch of hypocrites. Go clean your own house and quit bothering the US
From the Sydney Morning Herald:
“Luxury cars: why do we pay more?”
“If you’re looking to buy a luxury car, welcome to the unlucky country. Australia is one of the most expensive places in the world to buy vehicles that wear a premium badge.
Compare models sold here from the likes of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover and Ferrari with their counterparts in major markets such as the US, Europe, Japan and Britain and there are huge price disparities.
It’s rarely a matter of tens of thousands of dollars. The same model can cost more than double or even up to three times as much in Australia.
In the most rarefied air of the luxury-car atmosphere, Britons can buy a Rolls-Royce Phantom limousine for the equivalent of $450,000; American buyers can waft along in the stately sedan for $373,000. In Australia, the Phantom costs millionaires more than a million: $1,068,000, to be precise.
Porsche’s iconic 911 sports car starts here at $223,000. In Japan, its price tag converts to $134,000. Britain, $107,000. The US, ”just” $77,200 – cheaper than HSV’s Commodore-based GTS.
There’s no respite, either, for buyers who can afford only to step into the ”volume” end of the luxury-car market.
A BMW 320d, for example, requires Australians to write a cheque that’s about $20,000 higher than the figure scribbled by British buyers. Or, put another way, nearly a 50 per cent premium.
It gets worse for local buyers, though, as even our home-grown sedans are cheaper when they are sold overseas.
When Holden exported its Commodore SS to the US as the Pontiac G8 GT, it cost about $30,000, roughly $15,000 less than it costs here.”
*Ha, ha, The Truth About Australia*
http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/motors/luxury-cars-why-do-we-pay-more-20110415-1dml9.html
No we are changing tack? The comment on the other thread was vehicles that were desired in the U.S., but are simply unattainable in the U.S., unless you happen to be a Billionare.
There are vehicles they are hitting with the Luxury tax, that do not exist in the US
The Luxury Car Tax is a killer. Its intended purpose was to serve as a trade barrier: http://business.curtin.edu.au/news/index.cfm/the-luxury-car-tax-past-its-use-by-date
I wasn’t exactly kidding about Toyota — it reportedly has more models affected by the tax than any other brand. Import tariffs are factored into calculating the tax, so the imports that are subject to tariffs are effectively taxed at a higher effective rate.
Not a trade Barrier but a revenue earner fo the former Labor Government, it has been relaxed a bit with some FTA’s
Unlike the U.S. which locks out competition with unrealistic standards. Make sure you do not have any competition, by changing the rules, must be a UAW incentive for US Automakers
“The history of taxing expensive or luxury cars dates back to the Wholesale Sales Tax (WST), which was introduced in Australia in 1930 to overcome financial depression. It acted as a means of protection for the local motor vehicle industry by increasing the price of imported cars.
The WST was abolished in line with the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) in July 2001 and replaced with the LCT. The then Howard Government conceivably did not want the WST for passenger and luxury motor vehicles to drop from 22 per cent and 45 per cent respectively down to a 10 per cent GST rate.”
It was designed to be a trade barrier. Oops.
The Howard government was ALP, not Labor. Oops again.
Do you ever get anything right? Anything at all?
You know somehow you got the bulk wrong. It is not a trade barrier but a revenue raiser, like Labor used it for. Now you have a prioblem, that you actually Discriminate against vehicles from certain countries., it did not
That is why the UAW in league with some Companies discriminates against non UAW vehiclesas a result has one of the most draconian trade barriers going
Sorry you have got that substantially wrong. The old 22% sales tax applied to a wide range of goods not just cars. In the 1920/30s there was an effective ban via punitive tariff on complete car importation, rather chassis and components were imported and a local body fitted.
The luxury car tax was introduced by Keating in the early 1990s recession. Great logic there; car tax revenue falling because anybody who still had money wasn’t spending it on luxury cars, so let’s make them more expensive. I understand it actually was revenue-negative.
The LCT is only a trade barrier in that it discourages purchase of expensive cars, it applies to locals as well. Toyota is affected because the Land Cruiser costs so much (& Lexus). There are many imported luxury cars below the LCT threshold which is raised for fuel efficient cars, mainly Euro diesel cars that are popular.
Not to mention it is a joke to apply a luxury tax to a $70k car but not a $30k watch or diamond ring, or a $10m yacht. Much easier to impose a tax than have it removed, does not happen often and it is hardly an election-turning issue.
PS. How does this relate to a new Commodore?
“The LCT is only a trade barrier in that it discourages purchase of expensive cars”
Yes, it allowed the Falcon and Commodore to have anything that was positioned above them to be taxed at a punitive rate, while the domestics largely avoided the tax. That would push some of those luxury sales downward to the cheaper (but not cheap) domestics.
It’s odd that other Australians have figured this out and are calling for the repeal of the LCT. Only bad math(s) and excessive national pride would cause one to ignore the obvious and fixate on another country’s relatively low 2.5% tariff (which is still half of yours.)
No the Domestics did not avoid the Tax. Get your researcher to provide better info. Unlike the U.S I stress we did not target outside vehicles or specific vehicles. Something your UAW favourite Chicken Tax does very well
Don’t get me wrong I am not a fan of the LCT, I just don’t see it going anywhere when the govt is trying so hard to raise/save money elsewhere, eg the $7 co-payment to see a doctor (the rest covered by Medicare) that did not get through Parliament.
Of course I am aware that the Fairlane/Statesman positioned just under the LCT threshold benefited, as well as the other models, but I am not going to write a 10,000 word essay to cover all facets of an issue that is barely relevant to the topic at hand.
Arguably Australians have benefited from a strong downward pressure on the price tags of the Euro luxury cars so that they came in under the LCT threshold, as the case can be made that their prices in Australia are higher compared to other markets than can be explained simply by the tariffs/taxes applicable, currency differences and even once you factor in the higher overheads/smaller market.
I am sorry that refuting some false statements lead you to believe that I enjoy paying excessive taxes or am a fan of our tax system. If poor maths refers to me, in my first comment I merely noted that a car from South Korean does not pay any import tariff, or is 2.5% less than zero? Please don’t explain how this lead you to think that I believe because of one small factor, cars should be cheaper in Australia than the US.
The Australian market has a long history of trade barriers, and the LCT is one of the barriers that remains.
You would think that the free trade Aussies who post here would focus on trying to do something about it. But no, they’re fixated on the US, which has no luxury car tax and an import tariff that is half of yours. (As an added bonus, these don’t affect you, since you don’t live here.)
Of course, this inconsistency and hypocrisy is explained by the agenda, which is not trade but to whine about the US. But hey, since it’s supposedly about trade, then let’s talk about trade — reduce your own tariffs and dump the LCT before you start lecturing the US about what it is supposed to do.
A comment coming from thoe most protected market on the the Planet, the U.S., is a bit like a Stalinist lecturing on personal freedoms. Even your own countrymen realise there is something wrong, you and your UAW cohort pump out the same drivel
Are there no patriots among ye who will fight for the right of the Australian consumer?
Are there no brave souls who will stand up for reducing your tariffs at least by half, so that you can keep up with the Seppos?
Will no one stand up for lower prices, so that you don’t keep paying more than the Yanks?
Are there no fair citizens who will stand up for your own people, instead of worrying about a distant land in another hemisphere on the other side of a vast ocean?
This display of Aussie Oi! Oi! apathy is disappointing. One of the indications of a protected market is high prices, while the US has lower prices. I guess that they don’t teach econ down there.
(Someone should tell the Germans that the US market is protected. They’re selling cars made in Germany for less in the US than they are at home.)
Where’s Captain Australia insisting how awesome Australian cars are while openly cheering for the demise of Australian automobile manufacturing?
The Buick Avenir is probably going to foreshadow the next Commodore. Too bad it won’t be RWD.
Not a fan of it, but Holden’ share of the market has been plummeting. Prior to the decision to stop production, they could not sell their imported vehicles,selling a lot of Commodores. Now the Commodore and the imports have gone downhill rapidly I guess they do not have much of a future and people do not want a dead brand
@outback ute,
Logic is wasted on PCH 101, as a troll, he will keep repeating the same rubbish time after time. They are paid to do it
I’m saying it’s a mistake. I mean think about the implications- it’s just overkill. If you are a Commodore fan you better run and take cover.
Since reading TTAC I no longer accept the Infinite Monkey Theorem.
Gentlemen,
as far as I know, Mikey is the only UAW/CAW/Unicore or whatever the CAW became member on here, Tresmonos is a manufacturing engineer or someone who has the ability to stop the assembly line if he finds something wrong. Nate and some other guys are really good mechanics. Xernar (sic) proudly waves the left-wing flag. I sometimes wave the flag for trade unions. I think Pch101 is a financial advisor or something close. Overall, I would say 60-70% of TTAC’s readership is conservative and staunchly anti-union. This constant verbiage of accusing fellow readers of being “UAW trolls”, “UAW Komrades”, “UAW Lackeys”, “UAW Conspiracy” etc, etc, really proves your cluelessness about the very people you are desperately (and for unknown reasons)trying to impress. I bid you good day Sirs/Ma’ams
If they are “conservatives” they would have to be the strangest bunch I have ever encountered. UAW themes run rampart on this forum. Not surprising as this is about the US industry and the influences from within and outside the U.S. affecting production and choices.