A former prime minister is backing Australia’s carmaking industry to make a triumphant return.
Kevin Rudd told the National Press Club on September 10, 2026 new technologies available could return the industry to its former glory.
Australia used to have a thriving car industry, with it being one of the biggest manufacturing hubs globally.
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Ford, Holden and Toyota all had major operations in Australia, spanning across decades.
The Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore dominated the sales charts during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.
Even the Tesla Model Y’s more than 8000 sales in a single month in June 2026 couldn’t eclipse the Commodore's single-month record set more than two decades ago.
The federal government’s withdrawal of subsidies in 2013 in combination with increasing costs and decreasing profits saw carmakers pull out of Australian manufacturing.
There are now no cars built on a commercial scale in Australia, leaving the country reliant on imports.
What did Kevin Rudd say about the Australian car industry?
Rudd said the then federal government’s decision to remove subsidies was the final blow to the industry.
Australia’s 26th prime minister also praised the previous strength of the car industry, describing it as a “sovereign capability we are sorely missing”.
“Of all the short-sighted acts of economic vandalism in recent decades, the closure of our car industry by the Abbott-Hockey government stands apart,” Rudd said.
“Australia under my government had one of the most modest industry subsidies in the auto world.
“But politics triumphed over reason, sacrificing tens of thousands of jobs, tearing the beating heart out of Australia’s engineering and manufacturing base, and rendering us 100% dependent on auto imports.”
What is Kevin Rudd proposing to restart Australia’s carmaking industry?
Rudd said that developing new technologies in the car industry could reignite interest in it.
“Now the 3D printing and EV revolutions mean we can rebuild an Australian auto sector and repair this fatal vulnerability in our national security,” Rudd said.
3D printing is now an essential part of virtually every carmaker’s manufacturing processes. It can develop model prototypes quickly and improve assembly processes, among other things.
It is also used for creating complex moulds in gigacasting - a process where die-casting machines shape large single-piece car body parts instead of individual steel welds.
Some popular EVs rely on gigacasting in production, including the best-selling Tesla Model Y.
Australia could become an EV hub of the future by investing in this technology.
