Smack dab in middle of Kingswood country
THE Red Centre is among the last holdouts continuing to support Australia’s struggling car industry.
Alice Springs has the highest number of locally made Holden, Toyota and Ford cars in the Territory, with 3052 registered on our roads.
Darwin’s northern suburbs trails closely with 2935 but Darwin city and surrounding suburbs have the highest local car ratio in the NT — where 14 out of every 100 cars are locally made.
The most popular Australian-made cars on our roads are Holdens.
‘‘It is common knowledge that Australian manufacturers target workers,’’ said Professor Gollan, from the Faculty of Business and Economics at Macquarie University. ‘‘It has been a successful strategy for 50 or 60 years. The problem is that many areas have moved on while the manufacturers have not.’’
At the other end of the scale, in Palmerston only six in every 100 cars are locally made. They can also claim the highest number of registered Volvos in the Territory.
‘‘Highly priced, expensive cars aren’t made here,’’ said Professor Danny Samson, from the Department of Management and Marketing at the University of Melbourne. ‘‘Australians with a higher income aspire to luxury cars.’’
The exclusive analysis by News Corp Australia of car registration data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals that Holden’s Commodore, Cruze and Caprice, Ford’s Falcon and Territory and Toyota’s Camry and Aurion now account for only 13 per cent of the 21 million registered cars nationally.
Holden announced three weeks ago it would quit local production by the end of 2017. This came after Ford’s decis-
People buy cars based on the best value and here there is not much evidence that Australian made is valuable
ion to shut down by 2016.
It is anticipated Toyota will make a similar announcement next year, which would effectively put an end to Australia’s 65- year history of manufacturing cars.
‘‘France, Japan, Italy, Germany and even Malaysia are more likely to support local car industries,’’ said Professor Samson. ‘‘People buy cars based on the best value and here there is not much evidence that Australianmade is valuable.’’
But even Aussies living close to the car manufacturing power bases are struggling to support their locals.
‘‘A car is not just transport from A to B,’’ said Dr David Waller, senior lecturer with the School of Marketing at the University of Technology, Sydney. ‘‘It is about image and having the right image.’’
Holden’s base of Port Melbourne in Victoria ranks 123rd nationally for local car support while their South Australian base in Elizabeth ranks 144th.
Ford’s bases in Broadmeadows and Geelong rank 232nd and 266th respectively.
And residents of Toyota’s home in Altona rank 479th nationally for support of the local industry.
‘‘There may be a backlash in these areas as locals react to threatened closures,’’ Prof Gollan said. He said the target market have also started looking elsewhere for their next new car purchase.