Australian Motor Industry
Australia is one of only a few countries with the capabilities to design cars from scratch and manufacture in significant volumes. As of February 2014 Australian-designed cars are made by local producers Holden (a subsidiary of General Motors) and Ford Australia, while Toyota Australia manufactures local variants of its international models, particularly the Camry.
The first major Australian car maker was the Ford Motor Company of Australia. The first Australian-designed mass production car was by Holden in 1948.
Australia is best known for the design and production of ‘large’ sized passenger vehicles. This category has suffered a steady and sustained downturn in Australian markets, which has essentially resulted in the closure or forthcoming closure of all large-scale motor vehicle plants in the country. The Mitsubishi Motors Australia plant, previously Chrysler, in Adelaide was the first to close as a result of this downturn in February 2008. It will be followed by the shutdown of the Ford Australia engine and vehicle plants in October 2016 and the Holden and Toyota Australia factories during 2017.
Australian manufacture of cars rose to a maximum of almost half a million in the 1970s (10th place in the world) and still exceeded 400,000 in 2004. By 2009 this had fallen to around 210,000: Australia’s car market is now primarily composed of cars imported from Asia and Europe. Despite losing volume to changing customer preferences and economic reforms, the Australian automotive industry has a significant heritage and its cars continue to attract a devoted base of customers.
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