I like this. Why does an aussie car built in Australia cost more there than here though?

 

A combination of taxes and what the market will bear? The U.S. + Canada is a much larger market, so there are better economies of scale than Australia + N.Z.

It's the importers that really have the power to set prices in the U.S. for most product categories (otherwise GM and Ford would set prices to where they would make money). The same is probably also true in Australia, but the per-unit cost would be higher there.

 

I have a cynical view of this...

Q.
Why does a Porsche 911 cost $220K AUD and only costs $70K USD?
Why does a pair of Levi demin jeans cost $120 AUD and only costs $30 USD?
Why do a pair of Sketcher shoes cost $250 AUD and only $50 USD?

($1 AUD = 76c US)
(Porsche built in Germany, Levi made in USA)

Our taxes aren't that high on imported goods. When the conversion is factored into the overall price, we still pay far more for our products than our American buddies.


A. It's because we're still under the (British Commonwealth system) and haven't yet discovered the American definition of 'value'. I believe it's mainly because we are used to paying more for goods in general (domestic and imported), hence, a standard is set, and our definition of 'value' is far lower than that of the average American person's. Look at things this way, the British pay more for their cars than EU countries. Canada is stuck between the British system and US...

You can argue that the US has greater economies of scale, purely from its larger population. However, there appears to be a greater profit margin built into products here (Oz), IMHO.

Just my humble opinion and I'm sticking to it. Sorry to veer off topic.

 

Refinement is good, but I hate steering that is too light.

 

That's pretty much how I see it. There may be a gentleman's agreement working where no one sells jeans for AU$40 (about the same as $US30).

Canadian cars were cheaper than American cars when it was US$.65 to C$1.00. Now that it's more like $.91, the American cars are cheaper. Similarly, german cars have not gone up 30% like the Euro has.

Some of this falls into "what the market will bear" . . .