I wonder why Aussie business's can't get ahead. FED Govt. use BMW.

[achjimmy]

Spotted this last night  as The PM went to Parliment house and came back as Ms Gillard.

The security vehicle tailing her and now the recycled  PM in the shot below is a Beemer. These used to be Aussie cars. Prevoiusly an Adventra. Why not Teritorys?

[cruisindub]

Because only commoners and country folk drive holdens or fords.

They are above that status dont you know.

(insert sarcastic emoticon here)

[GeeTee]

BMW can provide what is know as 'personal protection pack' cars (armoured) so that is why some of the Comm. fleet are 'foreign' cars

By the way, that...

AUSSIE-MADE HOLDEN

...Kevin is riding in is armoured, too

[MDS69]

By the way, that...

AUSSIE-MADE HOLDEN

...Kevin is riding in is armoured, too

and several years old too as it is too expensive to update them all the time.

[dazzler]

They use the BMW for a number of reasons.

1. They need an SUV so they can see past the PM's car easily.
2. They need a vehicle that can out accelerate the PM's Statesman.
3. It needs to be able to handle well particularly rapid changes of direction.

Until recently they used the Territory Turbo as it could do this.  They don't make the Turbo Territory anymore.  There is nothing else built here that could possibly meet what is needed.

Also, if lightly armoured they still must meet ADR's including air bag deployment (WHS).  I have heard this was difficult and costly to achieve from an R and D perspective here in oz.

BMW are very active in the personal armoured vehicle area and build a quality product (probably without competition).  A few years back I was having a play in a 750 series light armoured at a track in Canberra.  A non armoured SS Commodore could not catch it around the track and this thing weighed in at 3 tonne.

I would put my nuts in a vice and bet that if it is a light armoured vehicle then it would have been half the price of building one here.

cheers

[Barry G]

They use the BMW for a number of reasons.

1. They need an SUV so they can see past the PM's car easily.
2. They need a vehicle that can out accelerate the PM's Statesman.
3. It needs to be able to handle well particularly rapid changes of direction.

Until recently they used the Territory Turbo as it could do this.  They don't make the Turbo Territory anymore.  There is nothing else built here that could possibly meet what is needed.

Also, if lightly armoured they still must meet ADR's including air bag deployment (WHS).  I have heard this was difficult and costly to achieve from an R and D perspective here in oz.

BMW are very active in the personal armoured vehicle area and build a quality product (probably without competition).  A few years back I was having a play in a 750 series light armoured at a track in Canberra.  A non armoured SS Commodore could not catch it around the track and this thing weighed in at 3 tonne.

I would put my nuts in a vice and bet that if it is a light armoured vehicle then it would have been half the price of building one here.

cheers

Damn you for using facts to debunk public prejudice!   

[berlitza]

the feds here have been using the x5 in oz for security stuff for a few years now, i guess its still cheaper than doing what they do in the states that usually cost milllions for one car but then again give it time i'm sure it will happen here soon enough, most things usually do

[dazzler]

Damn you for using facts to debunk public prejudice!   

   

[achjimmy]

They use the BMW for a number of reasons.

1. They need an SUV so they can see past the PM's car easily.
2. They need a vehicle that can out accelerate the PM's Statesman.
3. It needs to be able to handle well particularly rapid changes of direction.

Until recently they used the Territory Turbo as it could do this.  They don't make the Turbo Territory anymore.  There is nothing else built here that could possibly meet what is needed.

Also, if lightly armoured they still must meet ADR's including air bag deployment (WHS).  I have heard this was difficult and costly to achieve from an R and D perspective here in oz.

BMW are very active in the personal armoured vehicle area and build a quality product (probably without competition).  A few years back I was having a play in a 750 series light armoured at a track in Canberra.  A non armoured SS Commodore could not catch it around the track and this thing weighed in at 3 tonne.

I would put my nuts in a vice and bet that if it is a light armoured vehicle then it would have been half the price of building one here.

cheers

thanks mate, sad its considered better than to skill up and do it ourselves?

interesting question though, Howard deemed that we cant own guns for personal protection or property protection? yet the pollies are happy to have armed security guards protect them and banks there money!

[dazzler]

thanks mate, sad its considered better than to skill up and do it ourselves?

Spot on.  It saddens me that we dont develop our nation more.  We really are clever and industrious people.

[GGV8Cruza]

Off topic comments removed as not to get another one locked up, try and keep it on topic guys and girls

GG

[GeeTee]

Spot on.  It saddens me that we dont develop our nation more.  We really are clever and industrious people.

We used to be...

Hopefully The Man Of The Moment will act on the big hint he dropped in his speech last night about manufacturing

[achjimmy]

We used to be...

Hopefully The Man Of The Moment will act on the big hint he dropped in his speech last night about manufacturing

Yeah in 2006/7 ford had the CD391 platform (focus) manufacturing line coming to Australia, shortly afterwards it was diverted to Thailand??? Don't know what happen but have an idea, anyway that was the turning point for Ford, after that tooling (hand) was being sourced second-hand from other world plants and it was to where we are now.

During the GFC the transmission factory at Albury went into receivership, it was developing a FWD 6speed and was promised funding from SsangYong which went west with their receivership, even though DSi had good orders from others (Mahindra, Geely etc). The govt didn't offer a cent, even with pleading from the Auto manufacturers union.  It was sold to the Chinese manufacture Geely. They have since triplicated the plant in China.

DSI at Albury was the one of only two independent Auto transmission factories in the WORLD. Now it is one of 6 with the knowledge equally shared with the Chinese!!!!
Guess what business wont continue forever in Albury?

What people miss is not just the tier 1 & 2 suppliers jobs etc but the toolmakers and all the skills being lost along the way! Some subsidy in manufacturing  is essential for national skills. We wont have any toolmakers or machinist left to make anything eventually no matter how cleaver we are at designing it

[koshari]

We really are clever and industrious people.

Most nations sre vlever and infustrious.

[koshari]

Evcept for me because i cant spell on this phone

GT-N7000

[Tim - Stratford]

1. They need an SUV so they can see past the PM's car easily.
2. They need a vehicle that can out accelerate the PM's Statesman.
3. It needs to be able to handle well particularly rapid changes of direction.

For the times when you don't need to out accelerate/manoeuvre a Statesman......

Dillon Aero - SUV Mounted M134 Minigun (Security Service SUV)

[dazzler]

Gold!

[achjimmy]

Yeah I remember that on he episode of Myth busters "shooting fish in a barrel"

[Bird]

Hopefully The Man Of The Moment will act on the big hint he dropped in his speech last night about manufacturing

Any discussions on manufacturing are all piss and wind.  I don't know how they can revive it with current wages and conditions.. Like "would you work Sunday for us Fred, you'll be on $150/hr with penalties"...

I cannot see anything changing until people are willing to accept a 65+% pay cut for the next decade - manufacturing in this country is history as are 100s of other business... The infrastructure has gone. The skills and experience have gone. We would need to start from day dot. Who is going to invest that many trillion $? cause it will have to be all or nothing.

Our car industry is way too far gone (had gone 10yrs ago) due to Gov not charging tariffs to save it. Cause we don't want to offend some other country.. With that go 1000's of other jobs from small companies that supply them.. Then again I heard Ford got wiriring harness' from one of the island countries (Samoa, Fiji or something similar), they aren't even made here.

I cannot understand how it is cheaper for a company to buy 50 hectares of say Oranges from USA, pay all associated costs with that, then freight to the docks, into the hold of a ship, to another country, unloaded, freighted to a warehouse, boxed up, freighted back to the docks, then shipped to AU, then shipped to warehouse in AU, then freighted to stores - and its still 50-70% cheaper than buying from a farmer 40klms from the warehouse.


My old man was complaining tonight about his Lemon Juice - it came from Brazil! My Lemon tree (that got run down wif a bobcat) in the backyard I never watered or fed grew dozens of the things a year...

The killers are Coles and Woolworths on food.


But all these arguments have been done here 219034230942039430948 times before.

YMMV

[Garfish]

2. They need a vehicle that can out accelerate the PM's Statesman. 
That shouldn't be too difficult

[dazzler]

2. They need a vehicle that can out accelerate the PM's Statesman. 
That shouldn't be too difficult

That meets condition 1 as well.  That gets harder.   

[speewa158]

For the times when you don't need to out accelerate/manoeuvre a Statesman......

Dillon Aero - SUV Mounted M134 Minigun (Security Service SUV)

Tim That should slow speeding drivers if that's your new company Banger ( so to speak  ) . How many times a week would you have to wash it , Gloss black is a dirt magnet 

[kylarama]

I would put my nuts in a vice and bet that if it is a light armoured vehicle then it would have been half the price of building one here.

cheers

and can you imagine the uproar about tax payers $$$'s being wasted if the govenment chose to support local and tipped $$$'s into having Ford build a custom Territory with a turbo, trick suspension and armor plating...

[thommo19]

Well said Lost .
Jeff 

[GeeTee]

Under The Gee Tee Labour and Industry Plan, tariffs would be re-introduced to put the price of subsidised/cheap imports back up - everything from lemon juice to traffic light poles to railway carriages - to once again create jobs here.

Now how can I get a job in the gummint?!