One sunny day in Brisbane, Bluey, Mackenzie, Rusty, Jack, and Chloe were at the park bored. Their parents were sitting and chatting under a pavilion. So they teamed up and thought about what they can do.
"Anyone of you feeling bored?" asked Rusty.
"Yeah! I'm getting really bored," replied Bluey.
"What should we do?" asked Chloe. Then a lightbulb turned on in Rusty's head.
"Why don't we go to the scrapyard," suggested Rusty. "I've been there lots of times with Digger and my dad to find parts,"
The other kids agreed with Rusty's idea. "That's a great idea," said Mackenzie. Bluey went to Bandit to tell him where her and her friends are going to. Bandit was too busy talking to Mackenzie's dad about curry.
"Dad. Can me, Chloe, Mackenzie, Rusty, and Jack go to the scrapyard nearby?" asked Bluey tugging on his right arm.
"Sure thing kiddo." said Bandit not really paying attention to his daughter's request. "Alright! I've got the okay," said Bluey running back to her friends. So the kids set off on their quest.
"Shouldn't we go with a grown-up?" asked Chloe.
"Nah! We're old enough to go by ourselves," replied Rusty brushing it off as Chloe just shrugged off her concern.
"I wonder what cars we'll see there," Mackenzie wondered.
"We'll definitely see some old Commodores and Falcons," said Jack.
"What are Commodores and Falcons?" asked Chloe.
"Yeah! What are they?" added Bluey
"You don't know what they are?" asked a stunned Rusty. "I'll tell you when we get there,"
"They also have some foreign cars like European and Japanese cars," added Rusty.
"I can't wait to see the luxury cars like the BMWs, Mercedes', Audis, and all those," said Chloe getting all hyped up.
When they arrived at the scrapyard, they saw a sea of cars in rows on makeshift jack-stands.
"Well, here we are at the one and only scrapyard," said Rusty. "Follow my lead,"
The kids started to look at the cars around. Rusty and Jack spotted a black 2003 Holden Ute SS next to a 2004 Holden Commodore sedan. Jack climbed into the driver seat of the 2003 ute and pretended he was doing a burnout. Chloe went to the import section to look at the Europeans, she saw a 2012 Mercedes ML350 next to a 2015 BMW X3 and saw a 2018 Mercedes E300 sedan next to a BMW 530i that was the same year with front end damage. Mackenzie saw a 2011 Ford Territory, right next to it was a 2016 Holden Commodore which was a retired taxicab.
Jack had a deep connection to the Falcon becuase when he lived in Victoria, he lived near the Ford factory in Broadmedows.
Just then, they heard a deep man's voice saying "Hey kids! What are you doing here without adult supervision?". Bluey and her friends just stood there nervously. It was the owner of the junkyard, a Dutch Shepherd named Jim.
"I'm sorry! We were just here to look around and we thought we were old enough to go without a grown-up," said Bluey. Jim kept his cool, "Ok! But you need to have a grown-up with you at all times while your here because if you get hurt like cut yourself, your hospital bills would be put on me and your parents could take me to court,"
"Ok," said Bluey. "But I thought we were old enough to go by ourselves."
"I understand, but sometimes, kids need to be with an adult. I totally get you wanna be independent but someday, you will," said Jim. "Also, what are you names kids?"
"I'm Bluey,"
"I'm Chloe,"
"I'm Jack,"
"I'm Rusty,"
"I'm Mackenzie,"
"My name is Jim. Pleasure to make your acquaintances," introduced Jim.
"Say Jim. Why doesn't Australia make cars anymore?" asked Chloe.
"Well Chloe, I'm glad you asked. I'll tell you the story of the Australian auto industry," The kids sat on the tailgate of a Holden Ute and Falcon Ute while Jim sat on the rear bumper of a Falcon sedan across from them. "Well, Holden began in 1856 as a saddle maker and eventually began making car bodies and then into manufacturing when General Motors bought them in 1931. Holden wasn't the only one inventing the Ute, Ford began to build cars in 1925 but did things slightly different to fit the Aussie market. Ford and Holden has had a rivalry that lasted for decades with the Falcon and Commodore being Australia's best selling cars. And I'm sure your parents remember the Commodores and Falcons growing up. Both cars were offered in either a sedan, wagon, or ute model. They were even featured in the Bathurst 500 and they always had this superstition of a winning on Sunday meant sales in dealerships on Monday. What made them so unique is that they were all made in Australia and cheaper than imports."
"Hey Jim," asked Rusty. "Wasn't there a thing called the 'Button Plan'?"
"Oh yeah there was," replied Jim.
"Wide yes Rusty," replied Jim. "The 80s was when imports were becoming cheaper as manufacturers began opening in developing countries and this had threatened Australia's home industry. The Labour government had came up with the Button plan which emphasized Australian manufacturers should on their flagship cars which pretty ment falcons and Commodores. Ford and Holden started to rebadged Nissan and Toyota's cars and vice versa. Holden rebadged Toyota Corollas' as Holden Novas, Commodores were rebadged to Toyota Lexcens and so on. Wide yes it did diversify but Australians weren't stupid. Like why buy a Holden Nova when you can just buy a Corolla? And why buy the Toyota Lexcen when you can just buy the Commodore?"
"Wait! I'm confused. So you couldn't buy a Toyota or Nissan?"
"You still could. Like the Nova and Corolla, you could still buy both," replied Jim.
The kids raised their eyebrows. "Wow!" said Bluey. "Can you tell us why Australia stopped making cars?" asked Mackenzie.
"Sure thing," said Jim. "2010 was the last year any Australian car was the top selling car and it was all because of a changing market because Australians started buying Asian built vehicles and sales started to decline. Then Ford and GM pulled the funding and then the government pulled the funding. They all said 'Screw it! We're out,' and they just shut the whole industry down. But the Commodores and Falcons will live on through the ages for future generations,"
"So no more Holdens?" asked Chloe.
"No more Aussie built cars," said Jim. "Low-cost Japanese which are often built cheaply in Japan, Korea, or Thailand began to flood into the market which ate into Holden and Ford's sales," "Even Australians started to buy European built cars like Mercedes-Benzs', Audis, BMWs, and Volvos which added petrol to the fire for Holden ad Ford,"
"So what's there for the future of Australian cars?" asked Mackenzie.
"Umm, probably nothing," replied Jim. "It's still super cheap for cars to be made in developing countries and be imported,"
"Wow, well thanks for teaching us all about Australian cars," said Bluey. "We might as well get going now,"
"Oh yeah anytime," said Jim. "But remember to come with an adult next time,"
"We'll do," said Rusty. "Bye Jim"
"Good-bye kids," said Jim as the kids made their way towards where they came in.
On the way back to the playground, Bluey saw Bandit walking towards her. "Hey dad! We learned about Australian cars," said Bluey cheerfully.
"Oh really? Where were you?" asked Bandit.
"We went to the scrapyard, but we needed a grown-up," replied Bluey.
"Well, there are some places in the world that you need to have a grown-up with you," replied Bandit.
"I'm sure our buddies Mia and Captain can go by themselves," said Bluey.
"Just because they're older than you doesn't mean that they can still go alone," assured Bandit.
"Really?" asked Bluey. "Also, did you grow up with any Holden Commodores or Ford Falcons?"
"Wide yes Bluey. Nana had a few Commodore wagons that she'd shuttle me, Uncle Stripes, and Uncle Rad in when we were kids. And my first car was a 1992 Commodre," said Bandit.
"Wow! I wish I was born when Australia was still making cars," said Bluey getting jealous.
"Don't worry kid! Commodores and Falcons will still be around like at classic car shows." said Bandit reassuringly.
"Really, can we go to one?" asked Bluey walking off into the sunset with Bandit until the credits begin to roll.