Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia should make electric vehicles, as he bemoans the loss of the Holden Commodore

Australia’s Prime Minister has backed the return of Australian car manufacturing.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there’s “no reason why we can’t make [electric] vehicles”, according to the Herald Sun.

“At the very least, we can make parts and components, including batteries here,” he said.

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“Indeed there are companies looking at doing just that.”

Ford, Holden and Toyota all ceased building cars in Australia in the last decade, with the then Liberal government axing generous government subsides that helped keep the factories open.

Mr Albanese bemoaned the loss of great Aussie brands, including Holden.

“And it’s a pity we don’t have Holden cars anymore,” he said.

RAM production line in Melbourne.

There are still remnants of Australia’s car industry still working.

Walkinshaw, which used to make fast Holdens, is bigger than ever despite Holden’s closure.

The company now remanufactures large US pick-up trucks, including the Ram 1500, Toyota Tundra and Chevrolet Silverado, in south-east Melbourne.

RAM production line in Melbourne.

The remanufacturing process is a complicated procedure to convert the vehicle from left- to right-hand drive.

Walkinshaw opened a new 100,000 square-metre facility last year that it said at the time will house up to 1500 employees and can manufacture more than 20,000 vehicles.

“It’s one of the top-five largest manufacturing facilities in all of Australia, home to the most advanced engineering centre in the country, six-plus production lines and our Supercars championship racing team Walkinshaw Andretti United," said Ryan Walkinshaw, boss of the Walkinshaw Group.

Walkinshaw's new Melbourne facility

Nissan still has a casting plant in Victoria, which has been operating for 44 years.

The South Dandenong plant produces 1.2 million die-case aluminium parts and towbars annually for local and export markets.

It also makes components for the company’s e-Power hybrid vehicles and its electric vehicles.

Nissan Oceania Managing Director Steve Milette said: “Innovation doesn’t just happen overseas — the Nissan Casting Australia Plant demonstrates the depth of manufacturing expertise, skill and capability we have right here in Australia.”

It is unlikely Australia will ever be a major manufacturer of vehicles again, as labour costs, vast distances needed to transport vehicles and the high cost of importing necessary supplies would currently make it unviable.