More years ago than I care to remember, I had the enviable task of driving a new motor vehicle around Europe and Scandinavia so I could come back to Australia and write a report on it for a magazine.
I was not a motoring journalist – I wrote for a business magazine – but I liked cars and driving them fast so my editor thought I would be the right bloke to send.
He was correct, of course.
I too thought I was the right bloke to send.
So, off I went business class with a mob of real motoring journalists, most of whom seem to have since retired or died (or both).
I was so impressed with the ride that when I got back it didn’t take long for me to find one and buy it.
And it was good.
The drive tour included the Saab aerospace factory in Sweden, lunch in St Moritz, Switzerland, a quick, really quick, run down the Julier Pass into Italy, concluding with the European Touring Car Championship in Monza where, on a wet morning, I got to drive a couple of laps of the track with the winning racing driver.
Imagine haring-down the straight at 300 kilometres an hour to find yourself doing a couple of 360-degree pivots when you hit the chicanes at the first bend. Exciting stuff.
In those days, motoring journalists such as Barry Lake and Chris de Fraga wrote serious pieces in magazines and newspapers that influenced buyers – individuals and corporates. When you wanted to know details about a new model or brand you whipped out and bought a copy of Wheels, Motor, Street Machine, or one of the other specialist magazines that were devoted to the wonderful world of Australian automotive culture.
Today, things are a bit different for the motoring press.
Most of them, as I have recently discovered, earn their living on YouTube. They run professionally-presented channels that devote anything from ten minutes to an hour discussing and comparing models and makes as they come hot off the production line.
There is a bit of chatter about the economics and always a presentation of the cost of the vehicles, both before and after tax.
There is a whole other story that needs to be told about the Australian car market, the imposition of the luxury car tax, and indeed what was known as The Button Plan, named after Senator John Button that effectively launched the beginning of the end of Australian automotive manufacturing.
Here, I am more interested in what is being said about motor vehicles, why we might be interested in buying one, and how much we need to know before we do so.
Today’s market is awash with internal combustion, hybrid, mild hybrid, and electric vehicles. They arrive from China, Mexico, Turkey, Thailand, Europe, and India, among others.
But they don’t all come from the places we think they might come from.
The best-selling utes – Hilux and Ranger – are made in Thailand. Audi is made in Mexico.
I have owned a Holden for 15 years. It’s a six litre V-8 with a slight modification to make it go fast(er). But, and there is a big but, I am getting on in years and as I do so, it becomes more and more difficult to get into and out of the driver’s seat. So, I decided I would look around for an alternative.
The heart said it wanted something low and sleek, so a couple of German sedans fitted the bill but wait – even harder to get in and out of than the Holden.
Next came the SUVs.
I have been looking at a few of the German models and one Korean, which are chock full of neat technology all designed to help the aged and infirm negotiate their way around the suburbs and possibly take a day trip to look at sheep and cows. The navigation systems are terrific and will help them find their way home. If it’s after dark the whole car will light up inside like a Christmas tree in different colours to make them feel secure.
After test driving, one or two things got a bit complicated, although one nice young saleswoman said, ‘What’s so hard? You want the car, what decisions do you have to make?’
It was not as easy as she pretended it was – the car she was showing had a few deal-breakers one of which was the $12,000 luxury car tax.
The luxury car tax kicks in at $80,567 or $91,387 for ‘fuel efficient’ ones.
It’s a 33 per cent tax and it generates around $1.2 billion for the government. Forty percent of it comes from European cars, so that’s a sure sign that newer generations love them more than old Boomers and Frugals loved Holden and Ford.
The luxury car tax has been with us for 25 years – it replaced the wholesale sales tax when the Goods and Services Tax was introduced. But the wholesale sales tax was never as onerous as the 33 per cent LCT.
The LCT and its nasty cousins, the GST and stamp duty (how much does it cost to ‘stamp’ a registration?) along with dealer delivery charges (tax), third party insurance (tax), and new vehicle registration (tax) put a bit of a damper on the initial excitement and rush of test-driving demo vehicles.
Then there’s the overall disappointing realisation that no longer will a very fast sports car be part of my future.
They may call them ‘sports utility vehicles’ but there is not a lot of sportiness to be had and even less excitement at the prospect of driving around with no spare tyre in the boot, a fixed pane sunroof, and a stern voice admonishing you loudly every time you move millimetres out of your lane.
Perhaps I might work on becoming more flexible, install two and a half inch pipes (cat back), and enjoy the enhanced sound of my V8 for a few more years.
