Australia’s automotive industry, which has been struggling to keep up with emerging Asian markets for years, has finally come up with a plan that could go some way in making Australian-based manufactures more globally competitive.

A draft copy of the Automotive Australia 2020 (AA2020) project report obtained by Business Spectator has identified four long-term commercial opportunities for the car industry: electrification, gaseous fuels, light-weighting and data and communications.

In particular the report has identified electrification as the highest priority area if the Australian industry is to have an economic future in this global industry. The six applications in electrification are:

  • Development and manufacture of super-capacitors for electric cars
  • Design and local assembly of electric power electronic modules
  • High energy density batteries
  • Low-cost, robust, efficient electric motors/generators
  • Standard battery packs for large passenger vehicles
  • Development of a modular electric vehicle power train

The industry, which is valued at $7.5 billion, exports more than $3 billion in parts and vehicles and provides more than 50,000 jobs, is under intense pressure to innovate and change due to emerging Asian markets, competition from developing economies, the move towards new technologies and a global over-capacity.

This report, conducted under the auspices of the Cooperative Research Centre for Advanced Automotive Technology (AutoCRC) in partnership with the CSIRO and the Australian National University, and enjoying the support of the federal and Victorian governments as well as the Automotive Industry Innovation Council, is a strategic attempt to identify how the industry can remain competitive. It flows from one of the earlier initiatives of the Rudd government, the $6.2 billion New Car Plan for a Greener Future.

The industry too has recognised the potential importance of this draft report in ensuring the continued support of Canberra and Spring Street in particular. It has been an active participant in the report, with AA2020 project manager Matthew Doolan noting that more than 160 organisations have contributed more than 2500 hours to compile the 92-page Technology Roadmap [The road-mapping approach for the industry was developed by the University of Cambridge].

Doolan says: “The success of the road-mapping approach can be measured first by industry involvement and secondly by the ongoing implementation of the road-mapping culture.”

In the area of gaseous fuels, the report says: “It leverages off local resources and expertise while presenting attractive export markets.”

It is believed present industry minister Kim Carr, a senator from Victoria, is putting his considerable political weight behind the report, along with Victorian Premier John Brumby. This would suggest it’s in the best interests of AA2020 to get its final report out ASAP — nothing quite galvanises a government’s receptiveness to an industry report more than an impending election.