A sad day for Victoria, south Australia and Australia as local car production ends.

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Originally Posted by Homestar

Considering that Commodores outsold any other vehicle in the country for years I don't think that's quite right. Personally I don't think there's been a good Commodore since the VT and their failure to move to making cars people wanted to buy in the last 10 years or so was the beginning of the end - not 30 years ago, that's like saying the last decent Ford ever made was the XA (maybe it was, I don't know) :)

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Speaking solely for myself I don't recall much built new that I could afford I would want. Domestic or foreign. Either too big , engine / drive line not to choice or ugly. I do miss my 95 disco but rot made it too exxy to fix , or now too complicated with all the electronic gizmos.
I have for the first time bought a new car . The astra met mrs trog s financial and driveabilty needs. Too bad it was built in Poland. I just wish it was rear wheel drive as even with all the refinements I just don't like the feel and the fact that all controls are through the front.

Sad to see it go, last Australian car i bought was the old 2.6 sigma, since then cold custard. Same as the Australian TV business, who bought one vs a Sony. Ultimately consumer choice despite govt subsidies trying to pick winners. imho the govt is better off spending our money on excellent education, research and infrastructure, and not reading Wheels magazine

Friends just bought a very flash near-new Falcon and are very happy with it, but he has kept his old XR8 as a retirement toy.

A friend in adelaide just sold his 5yo Maserati Quattroporte cheaply and at the same time bought one of the last Falcon GT models.

There can't be many of those left now.

Well, IMHO, the current VF11 Commodore is the best one built,..ever. And I'm not talking V8s, although of course I do like them. But yes, the VF11 in equipment, price, value & performance is a very good solid car. In fact, in the latest edition of Wheels, there's a comparison between the VF & its successor, where the journo says, "we're going to miss the VF"!
As far as value is concerned, check out the price of a VT & a VF11, allow for inflation etc etc, and then allow for the additional equipment in the VF11, & you'll see that it represents great value,...BUT of course, the Aussie buyer did not see it that way, preferring many of the other alternatives, not the least being SUVs & Twin Cabs. Notwithstanding all of this, the VF was/is a great car,....solid car, plenty of space, big lazy engine, but yep,...no longer the bees knees for Aussie buyers.
As several have mentioned, lack of exports was a problem, particularly for Ford & Holden, & for this I blame Ford & GM USA who failed to give their Aussie product the support it needed to succeed in export markets.
Pickles.

No, the VF11 is a tragic vehicle. I've driven every model commodore when new or at least under 12 months old. The VF isn't great by any means. Like a lot of the dunny doors built over the last 15 years the transmission doesn't seem to suit the engine well and you can tell the whole car will be toast by 200,000KM which just isn't good enough IMO. That's under 4 years for me - not good value...

I'm not saying that what I'm driving now is any better but at least my VN did 350,000KM before starting to feel like a pile of junk - no dunny door I've drive in ages feels any good after 150,000KM.

Holden devotees cruise Adelaide's streets to mark Elizabeth plant closure Holden enthusiasts drive through Adelaide to mark Elizabeth plant's imminent closure - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) - via @abcnews

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Originally Posted by Homestar

No, the VF11 is a tragic vehicle. I've driven every model commodore when new or at least under 12 months old. The VF isn't great by any means. Like a lot of the dunny doors built over the last 15 years the transmission doesn't seem to suit the engine well and you can tell the whole car will be toast by 200,000KM which just isn't good enough IMO. That's under 4 years for me - not good value...

I'm not saying that what I'm driving now is any better but at least my VN did 350,000KM before starting to feel like a pile of junk - no dunny door I've drive in ages feels any good after 150,000KM.

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Well Gav, We will just have to agree to disagree about the VF, particularly the VF11....and I'm not particularly a Holden man, haven't owned one for several years.
I don't necessarily live or die by what the motoring press or other "ëxperts" have to say, but I do take notice, because I'm interested, and I can't recall any big issues with VF11. Plenty of good stuff though,..."saved the best for last" "Best Commodore ever" etc, I've heard many times.
And the VF11 relative to HSV?, the best cars ever say the press,...they love the LSA engine, handling etc,..."nothing like them for the price" etc etc ,has unanimously been acclaimed as the best Aussie muscle car ever. Whilst being a life member of the HSVOC does not make me a better or worse judge than you or anyone else, it does mean that I've driven a few, and also of course listened to owners! I have actually owned an AMG C63, a wonderful car,...world renowned,...but the HSV GTS was very close, better in some respects,....for half the price?
A few reports of the supercharged GTS, GTSR, W1, by experts no less notable than John Bowe will bear this out.
The VN?, I'm not really a fan of them,...although the 3.8 V6 was very durable,....I've heard of one in Darwin that did over a million ks,..it was a very durable engine, but the body,..not so good!, it was the first model where they used glue in the bulkheads/chassis etc, & mate, a used VN was pretty creaky (in the body)..I've been in a few!! Look, it was Ok in its day of course, sold in large numbers, and I reckon a V8 Calais might have been OK, but couldn't compare with the VF11, and as there's 27 years difference, that is what should be the case. We did own an almost new, concourse winning VN GPA, which was,....a pretty special car!
So Gav, with regard to "Tragic",.....Just can't agree with you on that one, except that it's "Tragic" they ain't making 'em any more!
All good though Gav, Doesn't matter if we disagree,..... always enjoy a good discussion.
Pickles.

Former Mitsubishi chief reflects on death of car manufacturing in Australia Holden closure: Former Mitsubishi chief reflects on death of car manufacturing in Australia - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) - via @abcnews

An act of political courage would have saved an entire industry, many thousands of jobs, reduced unemployment figures to a nominal number, and maybe even provided some part time work for those multitudes on Disability Pensions with some capacity for work.

The federal government just needed to tell car importers that as of say 5 years they would have built a factory and started CKD assembly in Australia. After 5 years progressively reduce their import permits for CBU vehicles and at 10 years their imports on wheels to be only 15% of their sales. Remove all tariffs and customs duties on the CKD packs and no restrictions on import numbers of CKD packs only imports of fully built vehicles. The 15% rule would allow imports of small volume special vehicles.

Any complaints from trading "partners" could be dismissed as they are not restricted in the numbers they can sell here except by public acceptance of their products. " Sell as many as you can here. Our market is wide open".