My reason why Aussie car sales are falling

[Brazen]

Today marked a milestone in my family. My father traded in his silver BF Futura on a charcoal Mazda 3 Maxx Sport.

Its a milestone for a few reasons:
Its his first 4 cylinder
Its his first front wheel drive
Its his first imported car.

He has bought Australian-made Falcons and Chryslers for 40 years. These cars took me and my siblings on some of the best road trips into the heart of Australia that I will remember for the rest of my life.

In his daily life he drives from Adelaide to a farm he owns outside Port Augusta every fortnight to check up on the harvest or production - he has been doing this for a couple of decades. Its a 700km round trip which takes him into the heart of the Flinders Ranges, his Aussie Fords were perfect for this trip - big, lazy, rugged, powerful, safe and comfortable. He loved the drive.

On those long roads he used to average about 130kmh, heck when I was a kid he would sit on about 140kmh on some of the long straight sections on the unrestricted speed limit sections. Things started to change, the roads started getting a lot better and the 110kmh limit was introduced - no biggie as the people still drove at speeds comfortable to the conditions so sitting on 130 was the norm. But in the last decade the police started to crack down on speed, mobile cameras were set up in some locations and penalties starting to get harsher. It really hit home two years ago when my father got pulled over for doing 126kmh after just overtaking a semi trailer. He couldnt believe that he could get booked for safely overtaking a truck. Now talk of point-to-point speed cameras was the final straw.

He now does the trip sitting on the 110kmh speed limit. He has two points left on his license, yet hasnt had an accident since the early 70s (over 35 years ago when he reversed his two month old Falcon into a concrete letter box). He hates the drive now, its frustrating, its slow and he feels like a rat trapped in a cage as he sees the long straight road ahead. He hated having a 4 litre 6 cylinder engine under his right foot and having to slowly trundle along - kind of like dangling a cheeseburger in front of starving man.

So maybe falling 6 cylinder car sales arnt due to fuel prices, but maybe its due to the changing road speeds. When I was helping my brother shop for a car last year, I suggested an XR6 turbo - his first response wasnt about the price or fuel or insurance , instead he replied ' I cant get one, I would lose my licence too quick'. He bought a Golf.

Who needs a 200kw 6 cylinder, when a little 4 cylinder does the same job on those heavily speed enforced roads.

Looking at the Mazda 3 sitting in the driveway, in the same place which has housed the most outstanding Australian Fords, I am sad for my dad, sad for the local industry, and in the end, sad for myself - as I know the old days are over.