Aussie Motoring

Ajax Fasteners, the parts manufacturer that supplies specialest screws and clips to all four Australian car manufacturers has managed to stay in business until at least Friday.

Aussie Motoring reported back on August 12 that the company was on the brink of collapse and if it did go the consequences for Ford, Holden, Mitsubishi and Toyota would be dire. (You can read that report here)

Somehow the company managed to trade through Monday and Tuesday but workers on the first shift this morning reported to work with the expectation of being stood down. However overnight the four Australian car makers managed to cobble together a plan that will see Ajax Fasteners last until at least Friday.

It’s hard to believe but that headline is closer to fact than fiction. As reported on August 8 in More Supply Problems for Holden and Ford the industry is in dire trouble as another parts supplier is on the brink of closure.

Ajax Engineering Fasteneters, a company that supplies fasteners and bolts for Holden, Ford, Toyota, Mitsubishi and PBR Australia, is in voluntary administration and now cannot afford to pay it’s workers. Union spokesperson, Bill Shorten, claims the company needs $450,000 by Monday to pay workers and a further $2 million by the end of next week.

Unless the money is forthcoming the Administrator will have no choice but to close the plant. If that happens 200 people will be out of work immediately but that’s just the start. It’s estimated that PBR will run out of stock in less than 24 hours, Holden will be out of stock on Monday and Ford may just last till later in the week.

Re-supply is not just a matter of ducking down to the nearest Bunnings store and picking up a few packets of screws either. While fastemers and bolts may not sound very high tech what we’re talking about here are specialty products designed and produced for particular applications. Finding a new supplier will take months.

Talks aimed at providing a rescue package have been taking place between the Administrator and the stake-holders but one stake-holder has been unable to agree to the terms of a funding package.

You can read more about this looming disaster in the Australian car industry here

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries announced today new car sales continue to lag behind sales for the same time last year. 1079 fewer new vehicles were sold during July than for July 2005. That monthly drop now means that 3.1% fewer new cars have been sold so far this year compared to the same period last year.

Toyota sold the most number of new vehicles with 16,977; Holden came second with 11,129 new vehicles sold and Ford could only manage third with 9,627.

The top selling car was the Toyota Corolla with 4711 units sold during July. Holden sold 4022 Commodores and Ford sold 3951 Falcons.

Kia

On a worldwide basis Kia reported a 2.3% decrease in overseas sales despite recording 1.8% increase in US sales. In Europe, where Kia is in the midst of bringing a new plant online, sales were down 1.4% although that drop in sales may turn around when they release their new European built small car code named the ED in December.

The new European built Kia will only be sold in Europe

‘Check back next month’ seems to be the main response when Tom Gorman, Ford Australia’s president was asked what Ford was planning on doing to meet the new competition.

Ford will be releasing an updated Falcon next month but one thing Ford claims it won’t be doing is cutting prices to keep Falcon sales happening.

The industrial dispute involving pars supplier Huon Corporation may be over for Ford and Toyota but Holden is still not receiving the parts they need to continue production.

Ford and Toyota both signed on to a rescue package for the troubled parts supplier but Holden has not yet agreed to it.

Workers at Huon’s Bendigo plant are refusing to make Holden parts and workers at Huon’s Frankston plant - which specialises in Holden parts - have not yet returned to work.

A Holden spokesman admits that this could cause delays to the production of the new VE Commodore.

Holden have finally announced the fuel consumption figures for the new Holden VE Commodore.

I think most people might have expected better figures than these but most of them are slightly down on the figures for the last Commodore.

The VE Commodore’s fuel consumption varies from 10.9 litres per 100km for the base model Omega with air conditioning through to a wopping 14.4 litres per 100km for manual 6 speed SS and SS V.

Interestingly the other V8 models can only achieve 14.3 litres per 100km when coupled to the 6 speed automatic transmission.

The Holden VE Commodore Pricing list can be found by following the link.

The Holden VE Commodore is definitely the car on everyone is thinking about at the moment. Even the release of the new Toyota Camry isn’t arousing as much interest - even though it’s more likely to be the vehicle that people would tend to buy in these days of high petrol prices.

If you would like to catch a glimpse of the new VE Commodore in action then follow this link . You’ll some interesting video as well as some news stories about the new Holden Commodore that you might have missed.

Holden’s new VE Commodore has been launched - although you won’t find one in a showroom just yet. This model is said to be the first all new Commodore since 1997 and despite years of work and a lot of testing Holden have not yet been able to produce fuel consumption figures.

Despite some criticism from the press there is no doubt that the lines of the new VE Commodore look interesting. The angle at which it sits on the road is also interesting for a family sedan.

Holden’s marketing strategy is also interesting. In what is supposed to be car for all Australia you can only get a full-size spare tyre if you pay extra for it. Otherwise your stuck with space-saving spare that has a speed limit of 80km/h.

I wouldn’t want to be stuck out on the Nullabor with a flat tyre and have to then drive to the nearest repair place at 80km/h, would you?

If you want to see more of the new VE Commodore you will find a site dedicated to it here but don’t expect it to load quickly before the release date.

With Holden’s announcement last week that it would introduce Electronic Stability Control to it’s next Commodore range the Australian motoring public were exposed to some interesting technology has the potential to save a lot of lives.

Aussie Motoring sent feature writer - Russ Egan - out into the World Wide Web to find out just what Electronic Stability Control really is and here is his report.

Electronic Stability Control (ESC) will soon be introduced into the new range of Holden Commodores. This is a major step forward in safety and driver control because ESC allows the vehicle’s computer to adjust the braking and power distribution to counter over and understeering. Although ESC is not a new technology, its placement in mid range cars has boosted the levels of safety for all drivers.

ESC is the generic term for all systems designed to improve a vehicle’s handling, especially at times when danger could occur. Bosch first developed this technology in their Elektronisches Stabilitätsprogramm (ESP) which was used by BMW and Mercedes-Benz in 1995. Since then it has been made available to the mass market, and is now available from many different car manufacturers.

Each vehicle manufactuer uses Electronic Stability Control under a different name, as ESC is simply the generic term. Ford have their ‘Interactive Vehicle Dynamics’ (IVD), Mitsubishi have ‘Active Skid and Traction Control MULTIMODE,’ and Holden have just introduced their ‘Electronic Stability Program.’

For a more detailed look into the different names, look through this list from Wikipedia.

ESC looks into the driver’s intended direction, and braking input, and compares it with the acceleration and individual wheel speeds. It then either brakes specific wheels or reduces/increases the power, which helps to correct over and understeering.

It uses sensors to detect when the driver has lost control of the vehicle, and then uses anti-lock brakes and traction control to prevent wheel lock and wheel spin. This is extremely important to the safety of all the passengers in the vehicle, as sudden obstacles can cause the driver to hit the brakes at very high speeds. By introducing this technology, drivers gain more control in dangerous situations.

ESC tests the drivers control continuously, and then if problems are found, intervenes instantly. By maintaining the driver’s control of the vehicle, accidents are far less likely to occur. When a driver undergoes a high speed stop, or if the wheels begin to spin, then the microcomputer activates automatic braking, and reduces the throttle to help control the vehicle.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has recently conducted in-depth research into the effectiveness of Electronic Stability Control, and their results have been promising:

“Electronic stability control could prevent nearly one-third of all fatal crashes and reduce rollover risk by as much as 80%”

Their research confirms that ESC reduces the cases of single car accidents. They estimate that up to 10,000 fatal crashes could be avoided and that is a dramatic decrease in road deaths. Electronic Stability Control could and should be used in all vehicles to further decrease the likelihood of deaths from car accidents.

Electronic Stability Control is a breakthrough in vehicle safety, and its introduction into the new range of Commodores gives even more control to the average driver. The introduction of more safety devices is also a benefit, and with ESC this has never been greater.

Holden announced today that electronic stability control would be included as standard equipment on it’s new range of VE Commodores, Statesman, Caprice and Captiva modelsdue out later this year.

Electronic stability control helps drivers maintain control of their vehicles and prevent crashes by immediately identifying when the vehicle skids, swerves suddenly or when road conditions change. The vehicle is then automatically stabilised through applying brake pressure or modifying engine power.