Australian Motorcycle Manufacturer ?

First topic message reminder :

Maybe the time has come for someone with the resources and knowhow to start a motorcycle manufacturing plant here in Australia.  SA perhaps ?  After the sorry news for all the Holden workers, Australia is in desperate need of a shot in the arm along the manufacturer workers line. Just imagine a true blue Ozzie bike.  I'm not just talking one model. I see a whole range. Trail, road, MX. The skies the limit.  If HD can do it for America, then why not here down under.  It only has to have ( or not have ) one thing that all the rest do/don't. And BAM ! A legend is born. Surely two wheeled , cheaper, and cleaner transportation is the way to go.   Any ideas ?

sadly, it extends further than just car manufactures, its manufacturing in general.

I feel for the AUS auto industry, but like them, as I`m a boilermaker, this is a concern for me as well.

example:(fortunately for me at the moment I still have a job, and there is still plenty of major construction projects still being built)
As I predominately work in construction, and also do my stints in workshops between construction, lots of major parts are being built over seas, and then shipped here and then assembled here due to labour cost. This is taking away a lot jobs, and is getting worse.

l see the blue collar worker as a dying breed on a major scale, with automation process and OS`s manufacturing taking the place of the trades persons in Aus

I guess a country's income comes predominately from money collected in taxes, excise etc.

Every worker who ceases to be a wage earner also pays less/no tax.

Can a point be reached where the country's expenditure exceeds this income?

^^^ Mexico and a couple of other South American countries

Don't forget Greece

Hunwick-Hallum and Drysdale tried and ultimately failed to manufacture an Australian designed bike.

As for Holden and Ford ceasing manufacturing.  It comes as no surprise to me.  Both companies have failed to make a product that the buying public demand, do that long enough and you'll go broke.

If memory serves me correctly motoring experts in the 70's said that Australia could only support one local manufacturer.  Back then there was Holden, Ford and Chrysler/Mitsubishi and Leyland manufacturing here. Datsun/Nissan, Mazda and Toyota were assembling cars here.

Leyland was the first to go, followed by Chrysler, but that was picked up by Mitsubishi (so the small cars previously badged as Chrysler were then badged as Mitsubishi).  I think Mazda was the next to cease assembling here followed by Nissan. Toyota moved to Manufacturing. 

Now Ford and Holden is going. Toyota will more than likely go as well for much the same reason as Ford and Holden, they are manufacturing cars here that sell in large enough numbers.

I read today that Holden are contemplating manufacturing Commodores in China. Our wage structures can't compete with theirs. It will be ironic if the brand lives on in Australia but originates from China - I wonder what sales would be like. But the reality is that this wouldn't be a lot different to things like the Cruze, which is largely a rebadged Daewoo - rebagding has been common for 30+ years, eg Ford Laser of the '80s was a rebadged Mazda 323. There are many other examples. Still, I reckon most Australians would baulk at buying Chinese made Commodores.

BanditDave: "Can a point be reached where the country's expenditure exceeds this income?" Isn't that called government debt (as opposed to Budget deficit which many people confuse it with). Several Aussie governments have been voted out handing over a debt to the incoming government, that has had to be paid back. The worst in recent history was the debt Keating handed over, which took around 10 years to be paid off (in April 2006).

See: http://www.theage.com.au/news/Business/Government-to-pay-off-national-debt/2006/04/20/1145344197792.html

The countries cited by others simply never recovered from increasing government debt, and then they went broke. Swan and Gillard were very conscious of the debt situation in the context of what was happening globally and were desperate to be seen to be managing the issue - many people questioned why they were bothering, which I never understood. Like all of us, governments can only afford to spend what they earn - simply printing more money simply gets the currency devalued leading to the same situations we saw in Argentina many years ago.