The cars that were going to kill Australia’s appetite for large family cars | Drive Flashback

In 1996, Drive’s then editor Phil Scott reported that Australia was about so be invaded by an armada of mid-size sedans from Europe

Story by Phil Scott originally published in Drive on 25 October, 1996

The EC’s (European Community) scaled down family cars are now aimed at changing Australians’ buying – and driving – habits.

Fired by optimism but precious little previous form, Europe’s best-selling family cars are heading our way. The plot is familiar – to wean middle Australia off the big car habit – but the storyline is fresh.

Cast in unlikely roles are Holden, Nissan, Ford and Mitsubishi. While not exactly the great marques of Europe, they will import big-selling versions of the European Community family cars to Australia, beginning next month.

Taxes and fuel prices mean the EC buys family cars with about 2.0 litres engine capacity and a choice of hatchback or sedan bodies. Interior space is of modest to medium dimensions, at least by Falcon or Commodore standards.

Nissan will introduce the Primera, built in Britain and its biggest-selling nameplate in Europe, to replace the Japanese-sourced Bluebird.

Holden will import the Vectra from Germany, dumping the largely unloved Apollo, which it now buys from Toyota and rebadges. Holden eventually will build the Vectra at its Adelaide plant, alongside the Commodore.

The Euro 2.0-litre car represents an each-way bet for GM-H, which told the Federal Government’s Productivity Commission this week that the size of the Commodore/Falcon duo was out of step with world trends.

Holden said large cars in Australia represent 40 per cent of the total market, twice the size of any other developed country. “When this is considered in the light of developing international pressures on greenhouse gas issues, it becomes a matter of considerable seriousness,” it said.

Whether this is posturing or pragmatism, it is preaching the need for future downsizing and diversification.

Ford will try to crack the medium sized conundrum with a more contemporary Mondeo. Ironically, it is larger than the existing model. Rear seat room is bigger in response to criticism of the previous model, a big seller in Europe but something of a fizzer since its release here 18 months ago.

Mitsubishi is talking to its sister company in Holland to secure the Carisma, built on the same production line as Volvo’s new S40, to replace the Japanese-made Galant, dumped from the model range earlier this year.

The concerted Euro-push is driven, in part, by a renaissance of the old “world car” idea, but it has as much to do with currency movements as cachet.

Building one model in big numbers and selling it around the world makes powerful financial sense for big car companies, although the last time it was tried, in the early 1980s, it flopped.

For Nissan, it is cheaper to import the Primera than the Bluebird. Ford’s Belgian-built Mondeo also delivers a significant cost reduction.

The plan makes perfect sense on paper in some far-off capital, but Australian car buyers have shown no rush to fit the European mould.

The Mondeo’s lukewarm reception speaks volumes about Australia’s unique value for money equation.

Small Korean imports are thousands of dollars cheaper and the larger domestic models give more bang for the buck. Ford dealers are currently asking $2000 less for the superseded Falcon than the run-out price of the smaller, similarly equipped Mondeo.

European cars shine in areas generally less appreciated in Australia: ride, handling, steering response and fuel efficiency. Instant, big-engined throttle response is not what they are about, nor do they claim Japanese levels of refinement or noise reduction.

Will Australians change the habits of a lifetime and pay the same amount of money for a smaller car, with less space and less performance?

Ford, Holden, Mitsubishi and Nissan are about to find out … Phil Scott

FORD MONDEO

Here: November.
Design: 2.0-litre front-drive hatch and sedan.
Form: Big seller in Britain, award winner but cramped and noisy.
Made: Genk, Belgium.
Claim to fame: New model is restyled, with larger rear seat accommodation and more refinement. Biased British buff books already proclaim it “best family car in the world”.

HOLDEN VECTRA

Here: Early 1997.
Design: 2.0-litre front-drive hatch and sedan.
Form: Big seller in Germany where comfort and high-speed cruising ability are important. Sold as a Vauxhall in the UK. Here it will be a Holden.
Made: Russelsheim, Germany.
Claim to fame: Strong, fuel-efficient engine, low running costs, solid build quality and low noise. Handling and ride not as sharp as Mondeo or Primera.

NISSAN PRIMERA

Here: Next winter.
Design: 2.0-litre front-drive hatch and sedan.
Form: Purpose-designed in Brussels for European conditions and released this month in the UK.
Made: Sunderland, UK.
Claim to fame: Nissan is the biggest-selling Japanese brand in Europe. Primera was developed using European engineers and proving grounds like Germany’s Nurburgring racetrack.

So, what happened next?

Rumours of the demise of the Big Australian Family Car proved premature and while that mainstay eventually did die a painful death, it wasn’t in the way we imagined back in 1996.

Nissan got the ball rolling in 1996. Despite speculation suggesting plans to bring the Primera to Australia were well-advanced, the Japanese giant back-flipped on bringing the British-built mid-sizer to our shores.

The subsequent axing of the Nissan Bluebird in 1997 meant Nissan went without a medium car in its Australian line-up until 2013 when the third-generation Nissan Altima made its local debut. It was a short-lived run, Nissan pulling the plug on the Altima in 2017.

As for the Mitsubishi Carisma, the mini-Magna also failed to make it to Australian dealerships, despite enjoying modest success in Europe.

Holden and Ford fared better than their Japanese counterparts, entering the medium car fray with Euro imports – the Vectra and Mondeo respectively.

Holden began importing and selling its Vectra mid-sizer – as both a sedan and liftback – in June, 1997 while GM-H’s Elizabeth plant tooled up for production. By 1998, Holden was building Vectras locally with modifications – including a torquier 2.2-litre four instead of the Euro-sourced and asthmatic 2.0-litre – to suit Australian conditions and tastes.

By 2003, and with the slide in sales of medium cars in Australia continuing unabated, Holden stopped local production, and reverted back to importing the Vectra from Germany.

But it proved expensive and as sales continued to slide, Holden saw the light and axed the model from its line-up in 2006.

Ford’s Mondeo enjoyed mixed success in Australia. Launched in 1996, the European mid-sizer was dumped from Ford Australia’s line-up in 2001 before making a comeback in 2007. It remained on sale locally until 2020, when the Blue Oval’s local arm once again called time on what had been a popular model in Australia.

But by 2020, the SUV and dual-cab ute assault on our roads was in full swing, leaving the rotting carcasses of once-dominant passenger cars in its wake.

Medium and large family cars suffered the worst of the onslaught, beaten into largely extinction by our ever-growing thirst for ever larger vehicles, a thirst that shows no signs of abating any time soon. RM

Did you ever own one of these European invaders? What was your experience like? Let us know in the comments below.

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