Which are Canberra’s most popular cars?

dungfungus said :

Maryann Mussared said :

I couldn’t be happier with my VW Golf. After many good Japanese cars, I was attracted by the low fuel consumption and internal finish. I wasn’t completely happy with the dealer, but now I am having my car serviced with the VW Centre in Belconnen, (and it doesn’t affect my warranty) I know I made the right decision.

Did you get one made in South Africa or one made in Mexico?

Now that made me go racing for the computer and Google! My model was produced in both Germany and South Africa. If the 11th letter of the VIN is a W it was produced in Germany and if it is a U it was South Africa. I checked and it is a W. A lot of VWs are produced in Mexico now, especially for the USA market.

Jane Speechley said :

John Moulis said :

There seem to be a disproportionate number of utes on the road in Canberra, both the traditional-style Holden type ute and the American pick-up truck style – HiLux, Ford Ranger and Colorado – as well as the flatbeds. Indeed when I went to Sydney recently the thing which struck me was the lack of utes on the road there. I even commented on that to the taxi driver on the way to Bondi Beach.

That’s really interesting, John! I wonder why … if it was 4WDs or SUVs, you could put it down to our outdoorsy lifestyle. Do we have more tradies per capita than most cities? Or are we all just earning enough to be able to run larger cars??

Might have been more to do with the fact he was in a taxi heading to Bondi more than anything. Head west and not too much different to what you see here.

Maryann Mussared said :

I couldn’t be happier with my VW Golf. After many good Japanese cars, I was attracted by the low fuel consumption and internal finish. I wasn’t completely happy with the dealer, but now I am having my car serviced with the VW Centre in Belconnen, (and it doesn’t affect my warranty) I know I made the right decision.

Did you get one made in South Africa or one made in Mexico?

Holden Caulfield said :

dungfungus said :

Holden Caulfield said :

dungfungus said :

The only other recent Australian car that could accommodate a tall person as driver was the Holden Cruze , production of which stopped last month.

LOL. I’d like to hear your definition of Australian car. Because chopping the boot off a South Korean sedan, making a it a hatch and then building it locally, doesn’t really meet my definition. Especially when trying to say it was designed for our market.

It was another failed exercise in trying to keep local manufacturing alive. Points for trying, I guess, but best not to start by meddling with what was a relatively unpopular car to begin with.

I’m talking about the sedan version, not the hatch. The sedan version was built in both Korea and Australia – it was not a hatch “add-on” as you suggest.

The leg room must have been designed for Australia because few other would be able to reach the pedals with the driver’s seat in full back position.

By the way, I do not post comments for “points”.

That’s good because the points weren’t for you, haha, rather they were for Holden’s doomed attempt to remain relevant by competing with Toyota/Mazda/Volkswagen et al in the hatch segment. The Cruze was never going to provide a viable or long term return on investment for local manufacturing against its competition.

I stand corrected on the sedan being built here as well, but regardless of any involvement Holden had in the Cruze’s development, I’m not sure it should ever be described as an Australian car.

If you subscribe to that mind-set then neither should the Commodore (based on the German Opel Kommodore) and the Falcon (derived originally from the North American Ford Falcon) be described as Australian cars.

The Leyland P76 however was an Australian car, also the last model of the Mitsubishi Magna.

I couldn’t be happier with my VW Golf. After many good Japanese cars, I was attracted by the low fuel consumption and internal finish. I wasn’t completely happy with the dealer, but now I am having my car serviced with the VW Centre in Belconnen, (and it doesn’t affect my warranty) I know I made the right decision.

dungfungus said :

Holden Caulfield said :

dungfungus said :

The only other recent Australian car that could accommodate a tall person as driver was the Holden Cruze , production of which stopped last month.

LOL. I’d like to hear your definition of Australian car. Because chopping the boot off a South Korean sedan, making a it a hatch and then building it locally, doesn’t really meet my definition. Especially when trying to say it was designed for our market.

It was another failed exercise in trying to keep local manufacturing alive. Points for trying, I guess, but best not to start by meddling with what was a relatively unpopular car to begin with.

I’m talking about the sedan version, not the hatch. The sedan version was built in both Korea and Australia – it was not a hatch “add-on” as you suggest.

The leg room must have been designed for Australia because few other would be able to reach the pedals with the driver’s seat in full back position.

By the way, I do not post comments for “points”.

That’s good because the points weren’t for you, haha, rather they were for Holden’s doomed attempt to remain relevant by competing with Toyota/Mazda/Volkswagen et al in the hatch segment. The Cruze was never going to provide a viable or long term return on investment for local manufacturing against its competition.

I stand corrected on the sedan being built here as well, but regardless of any involvement Holden had in the Cruze’s development, I’m not sure it should ever be described as an Australian car.

Holden Caulfield said :

Ezy said :

Besides the Hilux, which I can only guess is popular with the tradies, the two most popular cars are also the least fuel efficient.

The Hilux is consistently in the top five for best selling models nationwide, and last month was the highest selling model ahead of the Ford Ranger. I don’t get it, either, but it just is.
https://www.fcai.com.au/news/index/index/year/all/month/all/article/468

Exactly right – as per the link above, the ute is fast becoming the new ‘family car’ … !?

John Moulis said :

There seem to be a disproportionate number of utes on the road in Canberra, both the traditional-style Holden type ute and the American pick-up truck style – HiLux, Ford Ranger and Colorado – as well as the flatbeds. Indeed when I went to Sydney recently the thing which struck me was the lack of utes on the road there. I even commented on that to the taxi driver on the way to Bondi Beach.

That’s really interesting, John! I wonder why … if it was 4WDs or SUVs, you could put it down to our outdoorsy lifestyle. Do we have more tradies per capita than most cities? Or are we all just earning enough to be able to run larger cars??

justin heywood said :

I found it surprising that Falcons and Commodores were top of the list until I realised that it was ALL registrations, not just new registrations. There are a heap of old Commodores and Falcons out there

Exactly right, Justin. Corolla often comes out on top of new regos, but the volumes shift when you consider all cars on the road …

Felix the Cat said :

Surprised that except for the Subaru Forester that more SUV/soft-roader vehicles such as Ford territory or Rav4 don’t get a mention. Drive past any school at 9am and there are dozens of them, more than normal sedan type cars.

…..the same ones can be seen at kids soccer matches on Saturday mornings.

Surprised that except for the Subaru Forester that more SUV/soft-roader vehicles such as Ford territory or Rav4 don’t get a mention. Drive past any school at 9am and there are dozens of them, more than normal sedan type cars.

There seem to be a disproportionate number of utes on the road in Canberra, both the traditional-style Holden type ute and the American pick-up truck style – HiLux, Ford Ranger and Colorado – as well as the flatbeds. Indeed when I went to Sydney recently the thing which struck me was the lack of utes on the road there. I even commented on that to the taxi driver on the way to Bondi Beach.

Holden Caulfield said :

justin heywood said :

I found it surprising that Falcons and Commodores were top of the list until I realised that it was ALL registrations, not just new registrations. There are a heap of old Commodores and Falcons out there (a heap of heaps?)
I wonder about new purchases? Often seems to me that we have high per capita number of Golfs, Prius’s and Subarus compared to other cities.

Don’t forget there’d be a lot of middle-senior management getting around in Canberra on government-packages that allow cars where many would either be told to or would opt for Commodores or Falcons.

Fleet sales kept those two models around, and the pointless government marketing exercise of taxes to support them, for a hell of a longer than the market was demanding. They should have been phased out 10 years ago.

Firstly think you will find the only government workers with cars (excluding novated leasing) will be all senior not middle/senior.

Secondly think you will find it has been a good 10+ years now since they were told/encouraged to buy falcons, commodes and camrys. In fact kind of correlates to when those locally made cars started tobooose market share.

These days the SES carparks are full of what you will find in any other carpark around town, including old bombs. The SES can cash out cars and get extra money instead of a vehicle so a lot opt for that rather than a car.

justin heywood said :

dungfungus said :

I have owned and driven a lot of Commodores and Falcons over 40 years and everyone of them has been 100% reliable (and comfortable).

I’ve owned both types too, and they were big, simple beasts which were relatively unsophisticated, which is a good thing in many parts of Australia. But in Canberra? There are better choices IMO.

dungfungus said :

… the Falcon and Commodore were made for Australians who are taller than the people that can fit in Golfs, Priuss and Subarus. Add to that list all Japanese cars and most European cars.

I don’t know about that Dungers. I have two family members – both 6 footers, who have Prius’s. Quite comfortable cars actually.
And we aren’t tall compared to many European nations. They seem to cope with VW Golfs.

It’s not only the “stretch” leg room, it’s also the side areas where knees are always rubbing against door grab handles on the right and useless consoles on the left.

Not everyone is built the same.

Holden Caulfield said :

dungfungus said :

The only other recent Australian car that could accommodate a tall person as driver was the Holden Cruze , production of which stopped last month.

LOL. I’d like to hear your definition of Australian car. Because chopping the boot off a South Korean sedan, making a it a hatch and then building it locally, doesn’t really meet my definition. Especially when trying to say it was designed for our market.

It was another failed exercise in trying to keep local manufacturing alive. Points for trying, I guess, but best not to start by meddling with what was a relatively unpopular car to begin with.

I’m talking about the sedan version, not the hatch. The sedan version was built in both Korea and Australia – it was not a hatch “add-on” as you suggest.

The leg room must have been designed for Australia because few other would be able to reach the pedals with the driver’s seat in full back position.

By the way, I do not post comments for “points”.

If Australian cars (smaller and larger) are getting bigger and we are not getting taller, probably it’s because we are getting fatter.

With the obesity epidemic soon all cars will need to have heavy duty shock absorbers and wider seats.

And why do we call it an obesity ‘epidemic’? An epidemic is the rapid spread of an infectious disease to a large number of people.

dungfungus said :

The only other recent Australian car that could accommodate a tall person as driver was the Holden Cruze , production of which stopped last month.

LOL. I’d like to hear your definition of Australian car. Because chopping the boot off a South Korean sedan, making a it a hatch and then building it locally, doesn’t really meet my definition. Especially when trying to say it was designed for our market.

It was another failed exercise in trying to keep local manufacturing alive. Points for trying, I guess, but best not to start by meddling with what was a relatively unpopular car to begin with.

justin heywood said :

I found it surprising that Falcons and Commodores were top of the list until I realised that it was ALL registrations, not just new registrations. There are a heap of old Commodores and Falcons out there (a heap of heaps?)
I wonder about new purchases? Often seems to me that we have high per capita number of Golfs, Prius’s and Subarus compared to other cities.

Don’t forget there’d be a lot of middle-senior management getting around in Canberra on government-packages that allow cars where many would either be told to or would opt for Commodores or Falcons.

Fleet sales kept those two models around, and the pointless government marketing exercise of taxes to support them, for a hell of a longer than the market was demanding. They should have been phased out 10 years ago.

Ezy said :

Besides the Hilux, which I can only guess is popular with the tradies, the two most popular cars are also the least fuel efficient.

The Hilux is consistently in the top five for best selling models nationwide, and last month was the highest selling model ahead of the Ford Ranger. I don’t get it, either, but it just is.
https://www.fcai.com.au/news/index/index/year/all/month/all/article/468

dungfungus said :

I have owned and driven a lot of Commodores and Falcons over 40 years and everyone of them has been 100% reliable (and comfortable).

I’ve owned both types too, and they were big, simple beasts which were relatively unsophisticated, which is a good thing in many parts of Australia. But in Canberra? There are better choices IMO.

dungfungus said :

… the Falcon and Commodore were made for Australians who are taller than the people that can fit in Golfs, Priuss and Subarus. Add to that list all Japanese cars and most European cars.

I don’t know about that Dungers. I have two family members – both 6 footers, who have Prius’s. Quite comfortable cars actually.
And we aren’t tall compared to many European nations. They seem to cope with VW Golfs.

dungfungus said :

justin heywood said :

I found it surprising that Falcons and Commodores were top of the list until I realised that it was ALL registrations, not just new registrations. There are a heap of old Commodores and Falcons out there (a heap of heaps?)
I wonder about new purchases? Often seems to me that we have high per capita number of Golfs, Prius’s and Subarus compared to other cities.

Australian cars like the Falcon and Commodore were made for Australians who are taller than the people that can fit in Golfs, Priuss and Subarus. Add to that list all Japanese cars and most European cars.

The only other recent Australian car that could accommodate a tall person as driver was the Holden Cruze , production of which stopped last month.

I have owned and driven a lot of Commodores and Falcons over 40 years and everyone of them has been 100% reliable (and comfortable).

The average height for an Australian might not be as tall as you think. Many countries have taller populations than us. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics the average Australian woman is 161.8 cm tall, and the average Australian man is 175.6 cm tall. Add the two together, the average Australian height is about 168.7 cm tall, which is about my height, and as an Australia of about average height I have no problem fitting in Golfs, Priuss and Subarus. So, height alone does not explain why there are so many Falcons and Commodores. 🙂
http://abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4338.0main+features212011-13

justin heywood said :

I found it surprising that Falcons and Commodores were top of the list until I realised that it was ALL registrations, not just new registrations. There are a heap of old Commodores and Falcons out there (a heap of heaps?)
I wonder about new purchases? Often seems to me that we have high per capita number of Golfs, Prius’s and Subarus compared to other cities.

Australian cars like the Falcon and Commodore were made for Australians who are taller than the people that can fit in Golfs, Priuss and Subarus. Add to that list all Japanese cars and most European cars.

The only other recent Australian car that could accommodate a tall person as driver was the Holden Cruze , production of which stopped last month.

I have owned and driven a lot of Commodores and Falcons over 40 years and everyone of them has been 100% reliable (and comfortable).

I found it surprising that Falcons and Commodores were top of the list until I realised that it was ALL registrations, not just new registrations. There are a heap of old Commodores and Falcons out there (a heap of heaps?)
I wonder about new purchases? Often seems to me that we have high per capita number of Golfs, Prius’s and Subarus compared to other cities.

Besides the Hilux, which I can only guess is popular with the tradies, the two most popular cars are also the least fuel efficient.