Holden axed in Australia.

jack_christie said:
They also have obligations to their workers and dealer network.

Didn't make a profit because GM is so poorly run. They ran away from Europe, and now Australia. Their former European operations, run by PSA now make profits.
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Share holders are always the priority, even over dealer contracts. I'm also pretty sure companies aren't contracted to keep people employed in Australia.

This is why I don't trust corporations and avoid things like the "cloud" and Teslas.

GRtak said:
Part of the reason the auto manufacturing industry has taken a hit in Australia is because they dropped tariffs on imports. Those tariffs protected a small market. The population of Australia is about the same as Texas, but they buy fewer vehicles.
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Exactly.
 
Yeah it's a big old county but 99% is MAMBA (miles and miles of bugger all).

Plus the market is limited because snakes can't change gear and koalas are too short to reach the pedals.
 
The thing about this that really confuses me is the assertion that RHD vehicle development "costs the same".

It sure as hell doesn't - the vast majority of the car is identical. You only need an alternative dash wiring harness, maybe an engine bay harness, headlights (mirror left/right), some interior components (mirror left/right), wiper linkage (you can use the same one, you just need to flip the mounts), steering rack and a handful of packaging constraints so you can flipflop battery for brake/steering.
 
EyeMWing said:
The thing about this that really confuses me is the assertion that RHD vehicle development "costs the same".

It sure as hell doesn't - the vast majority of the car is identical. You only need an alternative dash wiring harness, maybe an engine bay harness, headlights (mirror left/right), some interior components (mirror left/right), wiper linkage (you can use the same one, you just need to flip the mounts), steering rack and a handful of packaging constraints so you can flipflop battery for brake/steering.
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I thought it was odd as well but I think they might be talking about models that have no LHD counterpart.
 
CraigB said:
You do need to make a new firewall though, or at least stamp the LHD with RHD provisions/reinforcement. That might just be difference in tooling though, I suppose.
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The usual take I've seen on, ex. Japanese cars is that all the stamping and such for both orientations are there, you just don't actually punch the holes on the opposite side.
 
EyeMWing said:
The thing about this that really confuses me is the assertion that RHD vehicle development "costs the same".

It sure as hell doesn't - the vast majority of the car is identical. You only need an alternative dash wiring harness, maybe an engine bay harness, headlights (mirror left/right), some interior components (mirror left/right), wiper linkage (you can use the same one, you just need to flip the mounts), steering rack and a handful of packaging constraints so you can flipflop battery for brake/steering.
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RHD markets get shafted every once in a while. Things like not getting the AWD version, certain engine options and what have you because the car manufacturer doesn't think it's worth the expense. I think one of the biggest annoyances in modern times is when BMW decided to only have a rear door on one side of (some version of) the Mini, and obviously on the sidewalk side, in LHD countries.

Various Japanese SUVs and crossovers also have a side hinged tailgate that's the size of a garage door and opens towards the sidewalk in LHD countries because they couldn't be bothered to flip it the right way around for the majority of buyers.
 
RHD countries should just switch to driving on the right side and stop having those issues
 
As someone who owns one of the bastard Holdens, there are obvious changes from RHD to LHD. In the Commodores case outside of the headlights, wipers and dash GM also decided to change some of the electronics. Thats right they changed some stuff for the US spec cars. The infotainment system being the big one due to everything that is tied into it. We have found the aftermarket solutions for Australia simply do not function properly in the US cars. There are numerous small tweaks that were made for cars that got to take the ride on the big boat as well.

The car we got here was not available in Australia the closest thing to it was the SSV Redline and it did not have mag ride and ventilated seats. What could have been an easy "conversion" for them seeing as the platform was designed for both markets got messed up by GM cause thats whats in their DNA.

Parts will be interesting, there are already people hoarding cars for parts with more looking to do so and from what has been found when GM shut the plant down they trashed the dies and molds because selling them to third party suppliers would have made to much sense......

What is GMs body count now on dead car companies can anyone else boast that kind of body count over the last 100 years?
 
prizrak said:
RHD countries should just switch to driving on the right side and stop having those issues
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Sweden did back when they had the chance. Today it’s prohibitively expensive.
 
Perc said:
Sweden did back when they had the chance. Today it’s prohibitively expensive.
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I hate this response. Shit like that is why the US infrastructure is crumbling and why we won't invest in public transport.

/rant
 
Perc said:
Sweden did back when they had the chance. Today it’s prohibitively expensive.
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Electrification is probably an opportunity to do this.
 
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