This little fact about Australia might surprise you.
China, the USA and Japan might be the world’s leading carmaking nations but many of their automakers know there’s one place suited to developing and testing their new cars, and that’s Australia.
Yes, Australia.
You might think these three countries have everything they need to develop and test new cars at home, and that’s true.
But to create appealing and robust new vehicles that will endure here – both technically and emotionally – means using our backyard to help create them.
There are plenty of examples, only a few of which you can find publicly.
Ford’s Australian-developed T6.2 vehicle platform, which underpins the Ranger pickup, Everest SUV and the American-market Bronco, is a great case in point.
Then why not do this in every major new-car market where these big automakers want sales?
It’s because not every market has the conditions and facilities needed to create great new cars.
Then why Australia?
There are three reasons.
It’s partly because almost every terrain type – and set of possible driving conditions – can be found here in Australia; it’s partly because Australia, and specifically Victoria, is home to everything needed to develop new cars; and it’s partly because Australia still has the necessary car-development (and carmaking) experience and skills.
There are three civilian vehicle proving grounds within a few hours’ drive of Melbourne. They offer everything needed for vehicle attribute testing, whether its ride and handling or NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) or performance tuning or developing ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) technologies.
There are so many specialised facilities within these proving grounds.
There are hot-and-cold vehicle chambers, sound chambers, shaker rigs, various dynamometer labs, facilities for fuel economy testing and tuning, and the carefully developed circuits and roads that engineers need.
Just outside Melbourne you’ll find other facilities dedicated to vehicle safety design and crash testing.
Then there’s the natural environment.
North-east of Melbourne are some of the best alpine roads for cold-weather testing and altitude testing.
Head north-west towards the Australian outback and it’s one of the world’s best hot-weather proving grounds, especially for developing and testing 4×4 vehicles.
Head over the ditch to New Zealand’s Southern Alps and you’ll find the Southern Hemisphere Proving Grounds (SHPG), a specialist development facility that provides real-world winter testing conditions for OEM car, component and tyre manufacturers during June, July and August.
Sure, it’s possible to develop new cars in a single northern hemisphere location, but some of the best cars available to buy make use of Australia’s vehicle testing facilities (both natural and manufactured).
Many successful carmakers make the trip south to ensure they’re competitive in Australia’s highly competitive and lucrative new-car market.
It’s been said that if you can succeed here as a car brand, you can succeed anywhere else.
Australia’s last primary-manufactured, mass-produced new car might have been built eight years ago, but new-car development is still alive and well in Australia.
Bernie Quinn, CEO of Premcar
About Premcar:
Premcar Pty Ltd is a leading Australian vehicle engineering business that specialises in the automotive, defence and aerospace industries. For more than 25 years, global car-makers have made Premcar their go-to partner for the complete design, engineering and manufacture of niche-model new cars, full-scale new-vehicle development programs, and electric vehicle (EV) conversions and manufacturing. Premcar’s body of work is extensive. It is the name behind more than 200,000 new cars and 55,000 new-vehicle engines. The company has delivered technical advancements and sales success for major car brands from Europe, the USA, Japan, China and Australia. Visit premcar.au.
