THIS MOTORING YEAR 2016: Biggest disappointment

The unceremonious fizzling that was the beginning of the end of local automotive manufacturing was by far the biggest disappointment of 2016.

There was no ticker tape parade to farewell the last Ford Falcon; no public guard of honour for the final Holden Cruze; no requiem for Ford’s last six-cylinder and V8 engines or Holden’s last V6.

Indeed, outside the very inner workings of the automotive world there wasn’t really much love at all for the demise of our industry.

This year saw the closure of some of the most iconic manufacturing facilities in Australia, facilities which have been home to Australia’s best loved brands for decades.

Over time these factories have employed ourselves, our families and our friends, yet outside the automotive industry and the impacted towns, there’s been little lamenting on the passing of our advanced vehicle manufacturing capability.

For those of us that have worked in the broader industry and have an appreciation of what we’ve just let go, that surely has to be the biggest disappointment of 2016.

If we were going to have to see them close, we at least wanted to see our car manufacturers to go out with a bang, not with their tails between their legs.

July 29 saw the first major milestone for the year pass by with barely a mention as the last Ford Falcon Ute rolled off the production line at Broadmeadows. For a vehicle genre that owes its very existence to Aussie ingenuity and the need to meet our unique requirements, it was pretty tough for us to see the last Ford ute receive such little fanfare.

Didn’t it at least deserve a circlework send off?

Shouldn’t it have been given the chance to burn off into the sunset? This was an Australian icon!

Not wanting to miss our own opportunity to give the Falcon Ute a send-off, we took the last model to Deni for its swansong, but it was clear from the carpark that buyers have already moved on to the more practical Ranger and its ilk.

September 26 saw the first major facility closure celebrated in private as the last Ford V8 and i6 engines were produced at Geelong. A picture featuring the last engines and assembled Geelong powertrain operations team emerged online but yet again, there was no public opportunity to celebrate the massive achievement of the factory which had been in operation since 1925.

‘Last-ofs’ and closures continued for the remainder of the year but what a disappointment that out of the 52 weeks in this year, Ford chose Bathurst week to farewell the Falcon.

Operational reasons were cited for choosing October 7.

It is less clear what reason Holden had for slipping the final Cruze out the back door on exactly the same day. Unless having a small cadre of the country’s motoring journalists camped outside their rival’s gate was reason enough?

It was a disappointing end for Australia’s much heralded, and last locally-built small car (and the reason we ever got the Holden VF Commodore at all).

The hits just kept on coming on November 4 when the last HSV Grange departed Clayton.

The latest and most recent goodbye to the team at Holden Engine Operations was on November 29. That was the date of production of the final Holden V6 engine at Fishermans Bend. That fell on the 68th anniversary of the official unveiling of the Holden 48-215 by then Prime Minister Ben Chifley is a pretty good summation of a fizzer of a year for the industry.

And that’s so far away from what our local automotive industry deserves.

At its end the Aussie auto industry is creating cars to mix with the best of the world – cars that perform for Australia.

Prejudices may lead you to believe that the VF Commodore could not mix it with the Euros but drive after drive has shown us that it excels on Aussie roads, at a price that offers phenomenal value against equivalent European sourced vehicles.

Yes, manufacturing on the global stage is tough, and we’re not the cheapest country in which to make things, but industrial powerhouses like Great Britain have shown us that creating a proper inward investment strategy that fosters innovation in auto manufacturing can work wonders if political will is present.

The Brits have turned around their own ailing industry over the past two decades, to the point where they now export more vehicles than they import. Maligned manufacturers have been reborn and co-investment has created some incredible success stories -- check out our Best of British content to see what the top end of the Brit industry has been creating while we’ve been letting ourselves go.

In a year where Donald Trump triumphed on a ticket of jingoism and protectionism for US manufacturing, it seems somewhat ironic that in 2016, Australia was well on its journey towards the closure of its own local facilities.

Even Mr Trump has grasped the concept that a country must maintain its own manufacturing capabilities to create and support jobs and grow its domestic economy. Extreme protectionism may not be the best way to behave in a global economy but at least his will is there.

And that’s what we wanted to see this year. A bit of passion for what we’re losing. A will to celebrate the achievements of the men and women who designed, engineered and built the cars that moved Australia over the past decades.

We don’t want the jobs to go, or the plants to close and we don’t want to see the end of our V8s, but if it all must end then in 2017, can we at least see local auto manufacturing go out with its head held high? And with some form of decent, centre digit raised to the world send-off…

More stuff to read:
Ford Australia cease production
Holden factories to close
Aussie car industry to die by 2017
Ford boss fronts media as factory closes
Why we will miss the Ford factory
Holden shuts Melbourne engine plant
Holden kills off Cruze