New Australian car under attack

Press, 5 April 1983, Page 26

New Australian car under attack

NZPA London The Lonsdale, the first Australian car to be massmarketed in Britain, has come under attack from members of Parliament, unions and car manufacturers. They all accuse the company importing the vehicle of “bringing in Japanese cars through the back door.” The “Mail” on Sunday said that because the car was built in Lonsdale, a suburb of Adelaide, it could be sold in Britain without breaking the present restrictions on importing Japanese cars based on the 1981 “gentleman’s agreement” between London and Tokyo. The Lonsdale was built by Mitsubishi Motors Australia, Ltd, and its components

were made to Japanese specifications — completely interchangeable with those of the Japanese-made Galant, said the “Mail.” At his Cirencester, Gloucester, headquarters the importer, Mr David Orr, insisted that the new car was Australian. “Eighty-five per cent of the component parts are made in Australia. As far as we are concerned the car is Australian ... . although there is Japanese engineering and reliability under the bonnet,” Mr Qrr said. However when the first 50 cars were unloaded at Newport docks, South Wales, recently, there was an unfortunate incident. Several of the radiator grille badges fell off revealing the familiar Colt Galant

symbol underneath, much to Mr Orr’s embarrassment. A Tory member of Parliament, Mr Hal Miller, chairman of the Commons All-Party Motor Industry Group, said that Mr Orr was taking advantage of a loophole. “I am totally opposed to the admission of these cars,” he told the “Mail.” With British car exports being almost halved in the last 10 years, the Transport Workers’ Union said that it would be watching the Lonsdales “very closely indeed.” Another 540 Lonsdales are due in at Newport before the official British launch on May 6. Mr Orr hopes to seel about 3500 a year through a network of 110 dealers.