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Welcome Back!
Hello everyone, Private Fleet, its staff and contributors hope you all had a great Christmas/New Year’s period and the scales haven’t groaned too much!
Sadly, our roads were not trouble free, with too many losing their lives needlessly over the last couple of weeks with perhaps the most tragic the story of the four year old that apparently ran out in front of a vehicle. Without knowing the full details it seems that a situation such as this was utterly unavoidable in regards to the person driving the vehicle. Our sympathies and thoughts are with both families.
So, what did YOU end up doing for your Christmas break? With two sub seven year old children and retail work it was a pretty quiet one for our household. Christmas Day at home, Boxing Day drive in Holden’s wonderful SV6 six speed manual down to just north of Wollongong with a stop 
at Stanwell Tops to watch the para- and hang gliders whilst New Year’s Day was a drive down to Botany Bay. A little bit of ham, a little bit of vege, a bit of wine….was a nice break. The roads were quiet, unsurprisingly but what was surprising was the relative lack of a police presence seen. I think we saw more on the road leading into the Royal National Park from the south than at any other time.
As we all know by now, Holden has confirmed its cessation of manufacturing here; what isn’t known is where Toyota stand on the matter but it’s fair to say they’d be hard pressed to stay as a viable manufacturing entity in their own right and that leads to another whole set of issues. It’s not just about the workers directly involved, it’s the suppliers, their staff, courier driver and truck drivers and parts of the railway network that will all have some sort of impact upon their roles, even down to local shops and lunch bars. But with 68 brands available in Australia compared with 38 for North America and 42 in the UK, we have to question, with a population of under thirty million, why so many?
On the other side of the coin was the sales numbers; well over a million for 2013 with the Toyota Corolla 
snaring first place. The Commodore came fifth on the back of increased sales from the VF range after a runout of the VE series 2, but of some concern in some quarters was the number of SUVs delivered, over 333, 000. Adding to the fragmentation and confusion though, is that not one SUV made the top ten sales list. For the record: 43,498 for the Corolla, 42,082 sales for the Mazda 3, 39,931 sales of Toyota’s HiLux, 30,582 for Hyundai’s award winning i30 , 27,766 for the VF/VE Holden Commodore , 24,860 with the Toyota Camry, 24,512 for Mitsubishi’s capable but aging Triton , 24,421 sales for Holden’s Cruze (due for an update in 2015 apparently), 24,108 for the Nissan Navara (new model available) and 21,752 for the Ford Ranger.
With 2014 underway and the FBT situation seemingly buried; repeat, seemingly and with predictions for sales this year to be in excess of the 2013 numbers, come have a chat to Private Fleet about your next vehicle. Again, hope you all had a great festive break and thanks for being part of the Private Fleet family.
Christmas Wishes
I’m sure my fellow bloggers will add their own wishes for Private Fleet members and their loved ones; for me it’s been an honour to have been asked to part of the Private Fleet family. Coming from a background of service, sales and the automotive field, it seems an ideal fit to be able to contribute and I thank all of you for your affirmation of that.
Although Christmas is meant to be a time of happiness and cheers,it’s all too easy for it to be a time of hurt and tragedy on the roads. The police and governments quite rightly sometimes cop a backhander for their apparent heavy handed approach to road safety, however it is a situation where every day needless events on our roads result in lifelong sadness for families. For those that are intending to do a drive over the next few days, please be the one that is sober. Please be the one that is driving a roadworthy car. Please be the one that DOESN’T have your mp3 player’s headphones in your ears. Please be the one that observes the speed limits and with areas that have had some rain, plan ahead by checking the forecast and drive to the conditions. Please be the one that brings their family to loved ones safely and return them home.
On behalf of the management, staff and all associated with Private Fleet, from my family to yours, a very Merry Christmas.
Dave Conole
A Visual Change And More: V8Supercars and Events
Around the world there are various forms of motorsport that are homegrown; NASCAR in the USA, the British Touring Car Championship and here in Oz we have the V8 Supercars. Of recent times the broadcast element of the category has been hosted by the Seven Network and not to universal acclaim. Not that long ago, after much to-ing and fro-ing, a two year deal was signed, for 2013 and 2014. The dollars on offer weren’t that much, in the greater scheme of things at “just” 18 million per year. Today (18 December 2013) it was announced that the rights to broadcast the Supercars would be taken up by the Ten Network and in alliance with Foxtel, Australia’s primary pay television group.
It’s a deal worth around $241 million and spread over six years, allowing the category 
management some much needed certainty in their negotiations with teams in regards to divvying up income. The breakup is said to be $45 million in advertising and a huge $196 million in just plain dollars. It’s an interesting situation with Foxtel broadcasting more useful content in high definition that the free to air networks have so far and with their main motorsport channel, Speed, being shown in both HD and SD,alongside Ten and ONE, it’s an incentive for those that haven’t already got a full HD tv or the HD package from Foxtel to do so. Timing wise is interesting as Foxtel are due to release the new IQ3 set op box/hard drive recorder with extra functionality and a bigger hard drive than IQ2 in early 2014.
More in the world of entertainment and motorsport and tv with the return of the Top Gear Festival to Sydney in early March 2014. On track hosting duties fall to Shane Jacobson, Steve Pizzati, James May and Jeremy Clarkson with the addition of V8 Supercar driver Craig Lowndes. There’s some decent format changes to the event, including the opening round of the Porsche GT3 category, (I wouldn’t be surprised if Mark Webber shows up in some capacity); his replacement at Red Bull F1 Racing, Daniel Ricciardo, will be attempting to break Mark’s lap record and a tribute to one of the most highly regarded Formula 1 drivers ever, the late Ayrton Senna. His championship winning McLaren car will be flown over and his nephew, the talented Bruno Senna, should be in attendance. As the incumbent circuit commentator for Sydney Motorsport Park, I and my co-anchor, John McCoy-Lancaster, will be working alongside the main BBC crew and a local production company holding the show together.
Just a month after this will be a first time event for the circuit, with Ferrari adding its weight to entertaining the south east Asian region by bringing to Sydney Motorsport Park their Ferrari Racing Days. This is scheduled for 11-14 April and will feature the second round of the Ferrari APAC Challenge, hundreds of privately owned Ferraris and five Ferrari Formula 1 cars. Numbers of vehicles are yet to be confirmed however 
there is talk of over four hundred cars taking part in the event. 
It’s a lot of hard work behind the scenes that the NSW Government and the operating board of SMP have done to secure these events; details for the Ferrari event including ticketing will be available soon whilst the Top Gear Festival has already proved itself to be immensely popular. More information can be found here: http://www.topgearfestivalsydney.com.au/
The Death Of An Australian Icon: Holden Is Lion Down.
For a bloke raised with the great triumvirate of car makers of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors-Holden, in the late ’60s and early ’70s, the news on a day that numerologists were salivating about (11/12/13) came as expected but still deeply unwelcome to me. The once great company, known as Holden, will be ceasing manufacturing in 2017. Just a few months after its also once great rival, Ford Australia, announced the same news, the unwanted confirmation was announced mid afternoon.
Sadly, it appears to be a combination of factors but a situation that will keep conspiracy theorists happy for a while. What is known: GM honcho Dan Akerman, a self confessed “non car guy”, advised Aussie boss Mike Devereux by phone just hours after Devereux said there still was no decision. In the statement to the press by Devereux is this: “The unfortunate fact is that as I stand here today, GM already has all the information it needs to know that our Next Gen business case is not viable.” And: ” We have looked at every possible option to build the Next Gen products here in Australia. But no matter which way we applied the numbers, the long-term business case is simply not viable.” Within the statement is no mention of lack of support financially from the Federal Government, however it’s this potentially vital point that will be debated for the next few years.
Whether or not the Labor Party’s proposal to fund around $150 million per year for the foreseeable future would have worked tied in with what could justifiably be seen, in some areas, as an unnecessary delay by the Federal Government, would have worked has now been rendered a moot point. What is undoubted is the closure of the engine plant in Port Melbourne (Victoria) with the loss of 1300 jobs, the body manufacturing plant in Elizabeth (South Australia) with 1600 positions to go plus the world renowned proving grounds at Lang Lang, Victoria. There will be a retention of a Global Design Studio plus staff enough to manage the transition from a manufacturing base to a sales and marketing company.
In a recent interview, when asked about the secrets to his success and the transformation of General Motors, Mr Akerson said: “Fundamentally I’ve got to run a business that’s gonna turn profits.” This isn’t surprising, given the financial mess the American Big 3 found themselves in recently. However it’s this statement that, at its heart, provides the reason behind the decision: it’s business. However the reason for the rot goes back a long way. Some say it was Holden’s reluctance, along with Ford, to move with demand and provide the vehicles the market and therefore, the public wanted. Akerman said: “It was a perfect storm of negative influences which include the sustained strength of the Australian dollar, high cost of production, small domestic market and arguably the most competitive and fragmented auto market in the world”. Others say the high cost of living in Australia, the required amount of wages conspiring with a shift to a demand for smaller cars (and, some will argue, better quality) and SUVs alike up against the cost of manufacturing and the unsustainable losses on each Australian built car, are to do with the end result.
From here, there’s an economic cost,with figures of around $21 billion being thrown around. There’s the human cost, not just the 2900 or so workers directly affected but those in associated automotive industries, the suppliers and parts manufacturers, to the car and courier and truck drivers plus local businesses that depended on the workers spending their dollars with them, such as the humble sandwich bar and local pubs where workers may go for a frothy after a shift.
With a large range of cars available to cater for all parts of the market, Holden certainly ticks the boxes for diversity; the Commodore (enjoying a sales resurgence and, somewhat ironically, getting rave reviews in the US), the Malibu, Cruze, Colorado, Barina and Trax but with just the Commodore built almost start to finish here whilst the Cruze is assembled here, the costs to build were being swamped by the relatively low sales numbers in a market comparatively miniscule on a world scale.
Sadly, regardless of the debate, it’s a done decision and unless something truly miraculous happens, come 2016 and 2017, where the two separate manufacturing plants finally close, there’ll be many a tear shed, no doubt a few choice words directed at politicians but finally, the doors will close and Holden, after a long and chequered history as a manufacturer, kicking off with the fabled 48-215 through to the iconic catchphrase of “football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars”, down to the classy VF Commodore, will be lion down.
Level 2, 9 Help Street