The media reports that the German-built 'Holden Commodore” to be imported here will be “ just shy of $4,000 cheaper than the outgoing VF model, on RRP it’s under $2,000”.

Good riddance to the Australian car industry, eh? Too late, Australian motorists and taxpayers will know for sure how much that they were being ripped off by government subsidies, Left wing, greedy unions, and big business.

and good riddance to a lot of crummy vehicles although in the last twenty years they have been much safer as the car makers were led kicking and screaming, by Government regulation, to make safer cars.

VW beetle roofline, looks like a pasty. Small picnic table sized metal roof and heaps of sloping glass. Just the thing for the Australian sun. (Not!)

Long sloping front pillar will affect driver's view, particularly taller drivers.

Designers trumped engineers.

Well finally, we have dealt with the more important issue of gay marriage, so now we can discuss real worrying issues. If only governments had stopped the hand outs 10 odd years ago, while the going was good and there were jobs everywhere. Now its really going to hurt us.

Now that we no longer make cars in Australia, I and many others like me proposed to the govt to remove ALL import restrictions. This of course was laughed off by the aftermarket parts and support industry groups. I also suggested a total relaxation of the Australian Design Rules (ADR's). There is no reason we cannot open the borders to imports now. Our car industry is the most over-regulated in the world. They have to comply with two sets of govt checks. One is the ADR's, and the other is called the VSR's or Vehicle Standards Regulation. This system is applied throughout the whole car. Because of this and the fact that foreign cars, 'mostly' already are compliant, one can see that my argument is valid. What has happened only recently, is the EPA has decided to enforce a very obscure law related to the general importation and handling of asbestos. Because of this ANY second hand imported vehicle must now undergo a severe 'strip and search' phase. They are looking for ANY, yes ANY trace of asbestos. IN A CAR? The cars are being vandalised and there is nothing we can do about it. The scum say, we are not allowed to do it, they must. The cars are actually being damaged and treated as if the DEA were looking for drugs hidden in the car's structure somewhere. This action by EPA has been described as vandalism in it's worst form. As a result it has completely halted the import of used cars into Australia. I know this because I spoke to an Aussie shipper who lives in the US, only yesterday and it is that bad that he has cars in store that are going nowhere waiting for the owners to decide what they are going to do. Australia is a lousy country for many reasons. The people are not getting a fair go. We could in fact charge the govt under the consumer affairs act which states that a product or service must be 'fit for purpose'. Amongst many others, the Australian Motor industry is not!

I read the reports on this and they are comparing a German 4 cylinder vehicle with the traditional Aussie 6.

The claim is it will have similar power but most Australians worth their salt understand that on Australian roads with big distances and lots of hot engine miles that the 6 will most often markedly outlast a 4.

However the standout feature of the German motor industry is the fact the unions are not only strong but have a seat on the boards of all the major German manufacturers. German auto workers are paid 50% more than their US counterparts and considerably more for equivalent roles than Australian workers.