The current federal election is seeing the Labor Party throwing $2 billion in support for the auto manufacturing industry- on top of commitments already made. Then, of course, we have the FBT changes that have crunched our vehicle sales figures since the announcement in July.
Car dealers have been put on notice following a New South Wales fair trading program uncovered 27 breaches of trading rules after visiting just 19 yards.Fair Trading commissioner Rod Stowe this week announced the results of the recent Cessnock and Kurri Kurri 'My Place' program, conducted between August 5 and 8.As part of the program, Fair Trading inspectors visited 19 motor vehicle dealers in the area and identified 27 breaches of the Motor Dealers Act 1974.
The consumer confidence rating has risen to 119.4 (up 3pts in a week since August 17/18, 2013), according to the latest Roy Morgan survey.The rise is driven by increases in confidence about prospects for the next 12 months.Now 44% (up 2%) of Australians expect to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year (the highest since February 23/24, 2013) compared to 12% (down 2%) that expect their family to be ‘worse off’ financially.
The Federal coalition will save the national driver education program - keys2drive - with the announcement of an additional $10 million funding.With the program due to shut down at the end of the year (story HERE ), the commitment to road safety is being praised by the NRMA, with group CEO Tony Stuart saying the financial commitment to a national road safety program is a positive step.https://autotalk.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1469:keys2drive-to-be-scrapped&catid=34:associations&Itemid=53 “NRMA’s 'safer driver schools' have taken around 2500 learner drivers and their parents through the keys2drive program in the last financial year,” says Stuart.
Toyota is reportedly preparing a power increase for its popular RWD coupe.The chief engineer for the GT86 project, Tetsuya Tada, has told Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald that his team is considering ways of increasing the coupe’s performance, one of which will definitely make it to production from 2015, when the GT86 will get its mid-life facelift."I hope to make an engine upgrade at least one time with this car.
Nissan put itself on the V8 Supercars map at Winton Motor Raceway on the weekend, claiming its first race win in its return season to top-level Australian touring car racing.James Moffat took his and the Nissan Altima’s first race win in the V8 Supercars Championship on Saturday – the first Australian Touring Car race win for Nissan in 21 years.It was the first time that Nissan has won an Australian Touring Car Championship race since Mark Skaife led home team-mate Jim Richards in the Nissan GT-R (R32) at Oran Park on June 21, 1992.
There has been a significant change at the top of Fiat Chrysler - with the departure of Matthew Wiesner.
The new Mitsubishi Lancer has touched down in Australia and is available from $19,990.Mutsuhiro Oshikiri MMAL’s CEO, says the Lancer line-up offers attractive price points and improved customer value at every level; from the entry model ES through to the range topping high-performance Ralliart.
Prime minister Kevin Rudd has warned an Abbott government will spell the end of car manufacturing in Australia, as he defended fringe benefit tax changes blamed by Ford for a halt in production.The car maker has announced a series of rolling stoppages at its Geelong and Broadmeadows plants, attributing falling demand for new cars to Labor's $1.8 billion FBT changes.Rudd talked up his government's assistance to the car industry.
Capped price servicing is available across Ford's new Fiesta range for up to seven years or 105,000km (whichever comes first).This is and is one of the longest capped price servicing programs in the local vehicle market.