Australia’s Need for Imported Auto Parts
According to Drive.com, “Only 118,510 of the 1,136,227 vehicles sold in Australia in 2013 – just 10.4 per cent – were produced locally; according to figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.” This number is an all-time low. What this means is that despite Australia’s significant geographic distance from other continents, it is still importing the vast majority of its automobiles from elsewhere around the globe. This can translate to massive economic costs when cars break down and need new parts. However, despite the logistical and financial problems of this industry, different companies have cropped up to meet the needs of the automobile business in Australia.
The emergence of these types of businesses is critical for the Australian automobile industry. If there weren’t these types of “middlemen” businesses, then parts would have to be ordered and shipped from the car manufacturers themselves. Once you realise that only ten percent of the cars Australians drive are made in Australia, you can see that that might create a bit of a problem. If your Toyota engine breaks down, you really don’t want to have to wait for a new one to come all the way from Japan. If there is a company that imports the parts themselves and you can buy them directly from that company; that could potentially save you lots of time and money.
It is interesting to think of a company that wholesales imported auto parts. Typically the average person doesn’t consider the imported auto parts industry to have this type of service. But in Australia, it does. If you need a Nissan engine, or a Hyundai gearbox, or a Kia diff, you can buy it in Australia from one of these imported parts companies. They do the hard work of getting the parts from the manufacturer. Once you buy the parts from them, you can fix your car yourself, or hire a mechanic to do it for you.
This type of service may become increasingly important in the future. The reason is because automobile production in Australia is rapidly decreasing. In fact, according to caradvice.com.au, “It was only six years ago that there were four companies manufacturing cars in Australia, but by 2017, there will be none.” The main reasons why car companies are pulling out of Australia is because of a high Australian dollar which hurts export opportunities, a high production to wage cost in Australia, and a small and difficult auto market (caradvice.com).
It seems that there are simply too many factors working against auto manufacturers in Australia. The market, which is only roughly a million vehicles per year, is just too small to be attractive anymore to major automobile manufacturers. What this means is that in the future, the auto imports business and the auto parts import business in Australia will probably continue to grow and become ever more significant. So it might be a good time for Australians to become familiar with details and information surrounding these two businesses.