TMR News and Features
The Australian Car market is as strong as it’s ever been. Just last Year, Australians bought 1,049,982 new vehicles—which broke the previous record by a not insignificant 61,713 units. The Small Car segment is still the largest with over 230,000 units sold last year, and that trend should continue with petrol prices continuing their climb for the stars.
No surprises there of course. And armed with that information, car makers around the globe when targeting our relatively small market are releasing cars within that segment that are better and more competitively packaged than ever before. So it’s good news for the majority of new car buyers trading in their old, petrol-chug-chug-chugging jalopies that in relative terms are both out of date technologically and where safety is concerned. But what about the Minority?
Take the ‘Large Aussie Six’ that we all grew up with. Traditionally the biggest segment in the Australian new car market—and novated leases with a choice of any car dependant on tax-free income hadn’t even been dreamed up yet. Neither had Fringe benefit tax for that matter.
The famous Holden versus Ford rivalry. Races like Bathurst and the phrase “win on Sunday, buy on Monday” once had meaning on the showroom floor. That was the 60s and 70s and, to a lesser extent, the 80s growing up in Australia.
Fast forward twenty years, and it’s apparent that the ‘Big Aussie Six’ is dying. The New Car Buyer is a different animal to twenty plus years ago. He or She is armed with so much information that when they finally do get to the showroom, they know more about their next car—with their two weeks of intensive internet-based research—than the salesperson trying to sell it to them. But it’s not only the internet which has changed the market dramatically. Today’s buyer has a wider choice of vehicles available than ever before. They can choose from a larger range of manufacturers and vehicle types to suit a specific purpose, and it seems the more acronyms a manufacturer can shoehorn into a car, the better it is. But how does that affect the ‘Big Aussie Six?’
SUVs—Sports Utility Vehicles—are just one example of alternative vehicles that suit a ‘lifestyle’ better than anything else before it. How so? They have more room, they can tow as well if not better than any other car, they’re perceived as being safer and stronger and, thanks to engineering and platform sharing that is commonplace today, most of them don’t drive like a truck anymore.
As good as that list is, it’s not just that. They also make a great deal of sense from an economic standpoint. SUVs have a stronger resale (unless you bought a Freelander; you’ll have to live with that mistake for the rest of your life), and with many SUVs now being potrayed as ‘green’—with their direct injection Turbo Diesel engines—they won’t empty your pocket at the pump or kick massive holes in the ozone layer. They seem an obvious choice for the average Australian Family, and manufacturers around the globe have long know this.
My point? Very simple. I have a question aimed at those who play a part of the ‘big four’ in Australian car manufacturing: Holden, Ford, Toyota and, to a lesser extent, Mitsubishi. Although now that Mitsu have more or less packed their bags and booked their flights, I guess it should now be dubbed the ‘big three’. The question remains: Where is our big, affordable, Aussie six diesel?
There are two cars missing off the landscape of the Australian car market. One is a large family car that can seat five comfortably, can tow the boat or caravan, has safety features that are beyond benchmark, and is easy on the wallet at the pump. Now you may be saying that car exists, but I can tell you categorically it doesn’t!
If Toyota, Holden or Ford could make a car that is Commodore-sized, with a common rail direct injected turbo diesel engine yielding a fuel economy figure of around—let’s say—6 litres per 100 kilometres and enough torque to pull a small country into the tropics , then that manufacturer would become recession-proof. Especially when we look like we’re going down that path with interest rates on the rise again and petrol looking set to surpass milk for its per-litre price.
A sub-40K large Aussie-built car that ticks all those boxes would be a sales success, so much so that it wouldn’t take too long before the small car market would once again become second fiddle to a car that offers so much, to so many people!
By the time the spin doctors, product planners and the boffins that make things work recognise this untapped market and pass it on to the bean counters, it may still prove to be another case of too little too late. Hydrogen-powered cars are already being tested on Australian roads, with two Hydrogen-powered 7 series BMWs currently gracing our streets.
As innocent as those halcyon days of the 60s and 70s were for Australian-built cars, it must surely now be the start of the end for Australia building cars for its own inhabitants. And this is indeed very sad.
But what about the other car mentioned as missing from the Australian car market? Stay tuned, dear readers, for next week’s daring adventure.
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Comment by Carl
5 May 2008
Excuse me mate but Australians have a perfect fuel that meats all your criteria….it’s called LPG!!!!!
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Comment by greg
5 May 2008
what have you been smoking over the weekend mate, some of that spin you have said is way out there?
LPG is the way to go !
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Comment by Daniel McCoey
5 May 2008
Changes in new thinking, technology and systems often cause alarm. I guess it’s not so much the thinking, technology and systems that are the issue, but the changing with them. Just today in writing a response to Carl with his comment that I have omitted LPG from my article as an obvious choice to the Australian motorist as an alternative for transport, I had an experience with trying to catch up with technology. You see, my computer needed a ‘java’ something or other update, in which case I also needed a java update to alleviate stress, so while my computer was busy with updating itself to the latest version of something I don’t understand, I was infusing myself with a java of another kind. Like it or not, we are all pushed to follow trends in technology, from simple updates to your personal computer, to the cars we drive, and if that means Diesel is the direction to follow, then kicking and screaming we will be dragged. This is where I have a problem with LPG being the solution to motorist’s problems.
With the new breed of direct injection LPG systems being installed at around $4,000 for the average new family car, LPG no longer is the option of choice for those wanting to save money. Major fleet companies run costs analysis on their fleets, and they are showing LPG breaking even with a petrol vehicle at around the 77,000km but with a diesel vehicle, there isn’t enough evidence to show LPG will save you any money at all, so financially speaking LPG isn’t the be all and end all it once was. But it doesn’t just end there.
While LPG is readily available on the eastern seaboard it isn’t easy to find in remote places across our wide brown land, diesel on the other hand is. Sure, most of us live in highly populated places, but LPG is a rarity in outback communities. Boot size is also a consideration, as many large family cars are reduced from cavernous to miniscule in boot capacity after an LPG fitment, also if you did have a car with fold down rear seats you don’t anymore. Sure, you can get a small LPG tank installed which doesn’t take up boot space but then a thimble full of LPG doesn’t get you far.
Then there is the issue of Manufacturer’s no longer spending either time or money in developing LPG for future use in their cars, as Australian manufacturers see Diesel being the big wave to ride for the next decade, and apart from Ford Australia, no other Australian manufacturer offers a factory warranty when LPG is fitted to their products as it stands in May 2008.
Times are changing in the automotive world, and our thinking should change with it. Diesels are no longer the smelly, Smokey things they used to be. All you have to do is drive any current model VW oil burner and you’ll soon understand why diesel is the new black of the automotive industry.
LPG made sense in the 70’s and 80’s but it’s been outdated like cross ply tyres, drum brakes and live rear axles. Holding on to old ideas and technology just doesn’t work anymore, LPG fits fair and square into that category of trying to keep an old idea of cheap motoring in firm grip, but it’s passing. Just like my computers constant need for java updates to change its thinking and processes, we too need to ‘update’ how we look at alternatives for motoring.
Diesel is the new operating system Australian manufacturers have failed to update too when thinking shifted globally and you just need to look at the Europeans long term love affair with diesel vehicles to see that in the end it’s not only Australian manufacturers missing out, but the Australian motoring public .
Java anyone?
[Reply to this comment]
Comment by Steane Klose
5 May 2008
What Dan said.
LPG has always been a bit of a trade off and there is a good reason manufacturers don’t rush to offer warranty, factory fit it or offer dedicated systems - its not really all that good for the majority of engines.
I have no-doubt there are arguments for and against LPG just as there are good and bad LPG systems but every LPG powered car that I’ve experienced has been a compromise in packaging and vehicle reliability.
Sure, LPG is an alternative but give me a diesel anyday.
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Comment by steve
5 May 2008
i believe the future lies with a combination of ( when it becomes affortable ) hybrid vehicle with solar cells mounted on panels plus all the regenerative energy system know to men. i also believe in road transport concept of driving ones vehicle on a moving plateform ( or scheduled stop/start powered trailers )that is shared with trains. the reality is i believe we’ll go full circle and start riding horses ….
[Reply to this comment]
Comment by Carl
5 May 2008
Daniel…..In my opinion, LPG has been neglected by manufactures,
LPG versions of the e-gas Falcon have missed out on power up grades practically since the AU Falcon also there are tanks from the US that take up the same room as the petrol tank and wouldn’t need to shove the spare wheel in the boot!!! also i recently did a trip from Sydney to Adelaide via Broken hill and returned through Melbourne with a 2006 e-gas Falcon….the trip was a total of 3600km and it cost me 340 dollars of LPG also even in the desert i had no problems finding LPG!!!
I’ll tell you why Australians haven’t taken up LPG as their preferred fuel….it’s because they are snobs and perceived LPG as being working CLASS and that’s why McMansion dwellers don’t buy LPG cars!!!
Also Natural gas would be an even better option than LPG and both those fuels would help Australia’s current account deficit because we don’t need to import any of it …unlike petrol and diesel that is imported mostly from cartels that hate us and our way of life!!!
All of the above would be redundant if our government had the guts to convert our economy to Hydrogen….but our government’s are too lazy and incompetent to do so!!
cheers!
[Reply to this comment]
Comment by Alan Li
6 May 2008
LPG does have something really good going for it.
If you fit it to a diesel vehicle, it increases power and improves economy.
Win/win, as far as I’m concerned.
[Reply to this comment]
Comment by Carl
6 May 2008
Daniel…..i forgot to mention that an LPG car’s resale value will almost always be a couple of grand more than an equivalent petrol…..then add the $2000 government grant and the numbers add up perfectly!!
Don’t get me wrong i was asking for a diesel version of both Holden and Ford until i started driving my e-gas Falcon and I’m currently paying 57.9 in surrey hills with the 4 cents discount, that’s under 6 dollars per hundred k’s on the highway!!! and diesel has gone over $1.70 you do the math!!!!
Alan Li…..yes i have heard of a place in Melbourne that adds LPG to diesel vehicles usually big 4 wheel drives and they claim much more power and fuel economy because LPG is cheaper than diesel….it uses both fuels at the same time and sounds like a winner!!!
[Reply to this comment]
Comment by Steane Klose
6 May 2008
The diesel LPG system enhances the characterisics of the diesel, it is called a ‘fogger’ system and basically adds a bit of LPG to the diesel being injected. Improves torque a lot and increases economy a little.
Its not a cheap addition either, but if you keep your car for a while its probably worth it.
A much better and much cheaper option for diesels is the chips and piggyback computers that come out of the States. For $280 US landed on your doorstep you can add a module to cars like the Triton or HiLux and gain huge increases in power, torque and efficiency. A much better way to go.
[Reply to this comment]
Comment by Conquistador
30 May 2008
I’ve heard a few whispers that the dearly departed Geoff Polities last point of business at ford Oz was to try and get a diesel program up and running. And,….wait for it..there were a few early prototypes that utilised the Cast Iron inline 6 running around at one time.
I reckon a Territory with a 8litre/per 100 turbo diesel would be the default “Aussie” car for the new millenium.
One more thing. Stop/Start technology has to happen for the next round of aussie vehicle updates.
[Reply to this comment]
Comment by Bret
30 May 2008
Steane,
The LPG “conversion” for deisel vehicles IS subject to the Govt rebate, so the cost isn’t really that much.
See DeiselGas Australia
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