11 Responses to 'Australian oil imports FALL!'

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1. Richard said,
   
   

   on June 19th, 2008 at 8:05 am

   THe Commodore/Falcon are perfect cars for the times IF you purchase the LPG versions.

2. Darren Roles said,
   
   

   on June 19th, 2008 at 8:34 am

   This LPG thing seems all too easy…This morning in Adelaide the Petrol price is about $1.65/lt yet LPG is 69.9c/lt.
   Surely the government is going to get onto gouging a bit more out of that price soon?
   I’ve heard that an/the excise will be applied to LPG by about 2010 to bring in to line with everything else?

3. doctorpat said,
   
   

   on June 19th, 2008 at 10:52 am

   The price shot up, consumption fell. Surely it would only be a headline if it DIDN’T fall?

4. Julian Edgar said,
   
   

   on June 19th, 2008 at 11:53 am

   On that basis, the consumption should have been falling for the last 100 years!

5. Oosh said,
   
   

   on June 20th, 2008 at 11:46 am

   LPG excise will be phased in but isn’t scheduled (yet) to rise nearly as high as petrol/diesel.

6. Tom said,
   
   

   on June 21st, 2008 at 12:12 pm

   I think that people who are getting into LPG thinking that’s a good long term solution are not seeing the whole picture.

   Of course as demand for LPG goes up, the price will too, and especially if the government puts an excise on it.

   It is a good short term relief from buying petrol.

   But remember that the fuel efficiency of LPG is noticably lower, so you’ll be filling up more often.

   Personally, I’d rather drive a torquey turbo-Diesel returning 5L/100km and paying $1.60/L than a Falcon that has had its wings clipped returning 15L/100km and paying 70c/L.

7. Bob Jay said,
   
   

   on June 24th, 2008 at 10:19 am

   If you don’t want to spend E and S class Mercedes/ 5 and 7 class BMW etc money AND have the brains to realize that a medium to large 4WD really IS over the top for most urban use and country driving THEN by default the VE and FG are still the right cars for now in Australia, South Africa and anywhere else with lousy road surfaces and too many lousy drivers in too many oversize vehicles surrounding you.
   The 6cyl engines give a great compromise between real performance (Falcon particularly) and economy and with sensible use are not too far off the fuel use of Camry/Mazda/etc.
   They will more easily step up to the weekend boat towing and the school holiday touring with a full load and are mechanically straight forward designs offering longer cheaper long-term running costs.
   Of course much of our suburban running around could be done in a golf cart and later on when more of us live in gated communities with integrated facilities this will be how we do local commuting BUT I am not putting my family on our roads today in a golf cart or any other small vehicle with limited safety. Past US research showed that you were seven, yes 7 times more likely to be seriously injured or killed in a small cat than in a standard sized car (US National Highway Traffic Safety Athority).
   So IF you are a family with teenagers and are of average size and weight and recognise the incredible value VE and FG provide and can learn to keep your foot off the gas pedal THEN these are great family all rounders and make for a pretty good sports sedan too. Then lobby the makers to reintroduce a Torana 4 and 6 cyl and a rwd Gemini and so they once again have a full range of product to cover other market segments. AND lobby government to make more off road bikeways and maybe allow golf carts to share them but never mix either with road traffic.
   Think more, drive less, Bob Jay

8. Mitchell said,
   
   

   on June 24th, 2008 at 7:00 pm

   LPG needs to remain cheap to discourage reliance on foreign oil. It’s criminal to allow it to rise.

9. Andrew said,
   
   

   on July 2nd, 2008 at 8:05 am

   “7 times more likely to be seriously injured or killed in a small cat?”

   Sure makes me think twice about riding my cat to work!

10. Darren Roles said,
    
    

    on July 2nd, 2008 at 10:44 am

    Tom, understand your comment as long as you don’t factor in the cost to purchase the vehicle. A good AU3 6Cyl Fairmont Ghia on LPG can be had for less than $10k, a lot less than a comparable Diesel car getting that sort of economy.
    Stacks of room, leather, cheap spares…

11. Glen said,
    
    

    on January 28th, 2009 at 12:39 pm

    actually considering the ve platform is sold all over the world, there not really bothered as much by the local markets anymore….think about it over in Saudi its less than 1 dollar a gallon(3.78L) !!!!

    i agree with bob, if everybody’s first priority was fuel usage, we would all be riding motorbikes……but i cant safely put my wife and two kids on a motorbike and tow the caravan and travel large distances with the above on a bike or a prius….hence these cars still being a large part of our culture.