VANGUARD - Expressing the viewpoint of the Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist)
For National Independence and Socialism • www.cpaml.org
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Albanese said he was keen to see electric cars manufactured in Australia.
Australia's "own car" used to be the Holden. It was manufactured and assembled here, but in terms of ownership, it was US multinational, General Motors’ car. Over time, its models became part of the "world car" and eventually the Holden Commodore was made at General Motor's Opel factory in Germany as General Motors and other car multinationals closed down the whole car industry in Australia.
Albanese has not provided any detail on who would manufacture an electric car in Australia. For an electric car to be secure as "Australia's own electric car", the car manufacturing and design would need to be a public asset.
Given the Albanese government's reliance on imperialist foreign ownership and control of major industries in Australia, it is unlikely that his idea of Australia producing its own electric car means ownership by one or another multinational corporation.
Even if his version of an Australian electric car eventuated, in the world of "free trade", it would have to compete with electric cars exported around the world including to Australia from the US, Europe, Japan, Korea and especially China.
Chinese manufacturers are proving too strong for European car makers that have car manufacturing plants in China. VW's market share of VW cars manufactured and sold in China has dropped from 14.7% to 9.7% in 2025, resulting in VW planning to sack 100,000 workers globally, largely due to the rise of Chinese companies' sales both in China and worldwide.
It will be interesting to see if Albanese announces anything more about "Australia's own electric car" at the coming ALP national convention in late July in Adelaide South Australia.
He may do so to try and divert attention from the gag he and his cronies have put on any debate at this ALP national convention about AUKUS and whether it is in Australia's interests or not to continue being part of it.