Falcon Police Cars in SA

[Sojourner]

Just wondering why it is that there seem to be no Falcon Police cars in S.A?

Obviously the first answer is that the Commodore is made here. Yet its worth pointing out that a number of components in the Commodore are made overseas or interstate and that the engine plant is in Vic. Likewise a number of components for the Falcon are made by firms here in S.A.

The closure of Mitsubishi places SA with one assembly plant left. To keep the industry going a better idea might be to actually buy Camrys & Falcons as well for our car fleets and to encourage other governments to go for the same model of an even mix of vehicles so that what is left of the industry gets fair support across the whole country.

If either Ford or Holden stop manufacturing in Australia, people from several states suffer from a loss of employment and resultant hardship, so maybe its time that we had another look at this!

[Booney]

The Government puts this sort of item up for tender,is that right?

If it is open tender then the best price may be all they are after.If it is done by consultation and testing then there is only one reason the government uses Holdens only,the people who review them like them more.

[Wedgie]

Purely a political exercise as most people associate Commodores with Adelaide and Ford from interstate.

[Psyber]

When Mitsubishi first brought out the Cordia Turbo in Australia there was a story they had lent 6 of them to the SA Police for trial purposes and the department had written 5 of them off within 2 weeks.
I don't know whether that story was true or not, but it was believable - I drove one at the time - the turbo cut in suddenly in those early models, and if you were not ready, and not used to a turbo at all, it could have caught you unaware!

[Dutchy]

cause Falcons are shite!

[Wedgie]

cause Falcons are shite!

Shuddup Mazda Boy!
Zoom Zoom Zoom my arse!

In all seroiusness though, with the recent awarding of the Falcon 5 star safety which no other big Australian car has, perhaps its time to put loyalty and politics aside and think of the safety of our finest and purchase some.

[Ian]

The Government puts this sort of item up for tender,is that right?

No it's not.

They have a policy of supporting car makers from SA, where the local maker doesn't have a suitable model to meet specific needs they go with pretty much anyone., as long as it fits into the lease pricing schedule end users have a big say.
A lot of Camrys, Commodores etc. were replaced with Mitsubishi 380's a couple of years ago to try and keep them in SA, lot of good that did

[mick]

If you go to the government auctions there are a fair number of Falcons. The police tend to use Comodores for their regular cars, probably something to do with standardisation. The cops also use a lot of other makes for un-marked and other work. Supposedly the SA government buys Australian vehicles vehicles in proportion to market share. They also buy a fair bit of imported stuff. The SA Gov. auctions is a good place to pick up a car at a very good price (normally still under warranty), the downside is you must stump up the full amount in cash (bank cheque) in 24hrs, this puts a lot of private buyers off, the dealers have the price they pay and don't go over it, so you need only bid about $200 over the price a dealer would pay. It's quite entertaining to watch they would sell one car every 45 sec!