Will your next car be an Australian car?

[Fairlane]

Call this a research project, if you like, im not posting this thread to **** stir, but iIm actually doing some research on Australian manufacturing for university and I was wondering what the results to this would be.

Your Choices

Yes, Most Definately- Im an Aussie and I love Aussie cars
Yes, Aussie cars are unique, innovative and fulfil my needs
No, Aussie cars are relics, Poor imitations of imports and are pointless today
No, Imports are cheaper

[AussieJason]

Well if all goes according to plan I will be getting an Orion Falcon.

[Ives]

No, purely because I will not be able to properly maintain it.. ie: weekly fuel, comprehensive insurance, rego etc etc.

[fou_bleu]

Naturally!!! We are thinking of either a Ford or Mitsubishi for our next car.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Yep a VE GTS sedan hopefully

[Gobes32]

This is a very, very good poll. It would be interesting to note if you are buying Australian made to support local manufacturing or because you feel the product is superior?

[Fairlane]

Well the main question im posing are people who are buying Aussie cars buying them just because they are Australian made or because they believe them to be innvoative and unique vehicles better suited to the environment.

and alternatively the people who are shying away from Aussie cars doing so because they believe them to be poorly made relics, too big and fuel inefficient or purly because they can get a Epica for $10,000 grand less than a Commodore (and they think it drives in Australia just fine).

Ultimately in a univeristy seminar im trying to argue whether the governments policy towards tariff reduction has been good or bad- Has it encouraged the development of unique innovative vehicles in a proficatible market niche or hasi it forced Aussie car makers to cut their other models (ie Lasers, Corolla's, Vectra's, Pulsars, Sigma's) and left them with just the large Commodore's, Falcon, Magna's which are not quite pointless

[FPV8U]

If i do update it will be to an Orion, as an Australian we should support the local industry.

[ClevlndStemer]

As much as I would love to support the Aussie industry, I don't want to be buying a second rate car again. Until Ford/Holden can put together a decent car then no i won't be.

[pertuan]

Never will unless Australia starts to manufacture smaller cars. I prefer a Focus sized car they Australia do not make any... unless the Corolla is made here. But I prefer to drive a car, not whitegoods.

I didn't vote in the poll because it doesnt have the option of "No, because Australia does not make the size of car I'm after."

[AussieJason]

Originally Posted by FPV8U

If i do update it will be to an Orion, as an Australian we should support the local industry.

Same for me.

[Paxton]

No, but for none of the reasons in the Poll. If Ford release a Diesel Territory before January next year, I won't be getting an RRS.

My Reason for an Overseas Car: No Australian car can offer me what I want - a Luxury SUV with a Diesel engine.

[Dezza]

I love aussie cars. They are great value for money, they look great, spare parts are plentiful, and they are fun to drive. I'm certainly staying with Aussie cars

[Airmon]

Yep will hopefully always have an Aussie car, and if I decide for some reason I can no longer afford to run one then I'll most likely look at Mitsubishi.

[Steffo]

No. Due to none of the above reasons.

My No is because there is no Australian made performance vehicle (that I count as a performance car, so no XR6 N/A's or SV6's) that is legal for NSW P-Platers.

[XRated]

Originally Posted by acosta32

This is a very, very good poll. It would be interesting to note if you are buying Australian made to support local manufacturing or because you feel the product is superior?

I'm not trying to cause debate, but my initial thoughts were the same. But come to think of it, the question for a majority will be, "will you buy a Ford Falcon as your next car?"
1. a lot of people on these forums refuse to own a Holden, and;
2. the only other option is a Mitsubishi 380. Again, it's FWD, so it's not a very attractive option to most on here.

(I do realise there is the Territory too...)

I myself would only really consider a TE/TS50 if I was planning to buy locally-built for my next car.

Other than that, chances are I'll own something with European roots simply because Australia doesn't have much variety in terms of new cars. If Ford (or even Holden) offered a locally-built hot-hatch/mid-size car (VW Golf, Focus, Mondeo etc), then I'd definitely consider it.

[chich]

I wouldn't buy another one. Poor quality, poor after-sales service, poor reliability and attrocious resale. The game's up for Aussie manufaturers... Japanese & European imports are better and in the long run, cheaper.

[XR8-260]

I had a few issues with my previous BA fairmont: patchy build quailty, groans and squeaks in the cabin, squeaky fan operation, major power steering failure (had to be towed away by RAC), crappy handbrake, warped brakes the list goes on...

On the other hand, my parents Mercs and even my aunt's VX V6 are still going strong with far less problems. I still like the XR6 Turbo and may still end up getting one, but I have some doubts.

[sleekism]

Im proud to say that Im 18 and unlike most people my age I've only owned Australian cars.

My first car was a 1991 Ford Laser Ghia which was built in Homebush in Sydney and was the last Australian Laser.

I now own a 1999 Ford Fairmont Ghia which is the most Australian car ever hence the AU model designation.

I buy Aussie cars because you get a lot of car for the money (can you tell me of an import that offers as much as my fairmont for 10 grand?).

Also being a person who likes having a job I appreciate the thousands that the big four employ and Im proud of our car industry.

[Road_Warrior]

More than likely, if some BF XT's start filtering through to the Govt auctions soon. Other than that I wouldnt mind an XT V8 auto but it would have to be an '04 or later plate, and they are next to impossible to find.

Other than that, the only car I can see myself buying is a Subaru Liberty but they are still too pricey for me.

[GlennBA]

I think my next car will be an up spec falcon. I've just bought mine so i'll see what happens. Either that or a 2nd hand 300c, i love those damn things! I wish they had a manual option though :(

[Steve]

Although I will definitely be getting an Orion GT in 2009, it's what I do in the meantime that I'm not sure of. My dilema is whether to sell my car and buy an SRT8 to keep till Orion or hold on to my car and buy another daily car. If I do buy a daily driver it'll be either a Mini or Focus (maybe even a Mondeo if they're released in time).

I suppose to answer your question, as long as Ford keeps making cars here, I'll keep buying the local product. I think we should all buy Aussie made if given the choice.

Here's a question for you though; if the only local product that suited your needs was a Holden would you buy that in favour of an imported Ford product?

[pauljh74]

I checked "No, Imports are cheaper", but what I was really after is that the next car I want to get basically isn't a big Aussie 6 or 8 cylinder. I'm looking at a Mazda 3 SP23 because it is big enough for me to comfortably drive, performs well, is well built and is much lighter and uses less fuel than my current car, while being only a little bit slower. Sitting in one at the Motor Show, the feel of the 6 speed (manual) gear shift even while parked was light years ahead of my (recently rebuilt) EL Falcon manual trans and better than the Focus XR5 - I don't think they had any manuals in the regular Focus models on display. The roof height of both the 3 and Focus is relatively high - the Mazda3 has more headroom than the Mazda6. I also had to bring the seat forward a little - previously in even my old XE I would get in and set the seat as far back as it went. Something that is possible in more and more cars now for me

The fact is the medium and even the small cars of today are big enough to accommodate families (2 adults, 2 kids at least). Look at the size of the first generation Civic to the current one for example. It has gone from a micro car to a medium sized car. Today's medium cars are on par with the older large Falcons/Commodores for interior space. For this reason, people are choosing smaller cars - which are no longer that small.
If I change my mind and go for big car again, it will be a Falcon though - which will add to the 2 Falcons out of 2 cars I have already owned

[TATT2]

Disapponited in my BA, will be trading it in for a Nissan Narvara before the end of June

[BPXR6T]

Looked at a porsche again but still not my thing. A monaro will most likely be the next play thing.

[Miller]

Yup! Love them, plenty of aftermarket support, big and roomy, good towing capacity.

[GUTLES]

I've only ever owned Falcons & 1 Laser, all have been good to me & are cheap & easy to fix. My next car will be an AU III XR8 or T Series..

[mean & green]

T series or ba xr8 next car for me ,but my wifes may be an import(small ) maybe fiesta or focus

[S3SR]

next car will be a falcon, new or not its australian
id never buy an import (again) unless it was a supercar and i was having a midlife crisis

locally made
- parts easy to get
- insurance = cheap
- fuel ...no one wins but the servo
- handle even the harshest conditions (already tested in my car, more work than most soft utility vehicles SUV's)
- look good ... AU falcon, best looking car around :P
- quality built - to extent you get what you pay for
- www.fordforums.com.au wouldnt exist without it

[SVR73]

Yes but it won't be for many years
I'm hoping to go back to the 70's and do an XC coupe or a 78 regal project
The 94 hilux is taking care of my daily transport and is unbreakable so far and the AU XR is my pride and joy and only just broken in so has a few decades to go before it will hit 150,000 and even then it won't leave my garage.