Next Holden and Ford: More game-changing brands are bringing car manufacturing back to Australia — and there's no Commodore or Falcon in sight.

Car production may return to Australia.

Australian manufacturing is poised for some return to Australia with a handful of bold homegrown brands looking to put the skills of our auto-trained workforce to good use with a range of new low-volume electric vehicles.

this is the topic we touched recently, and the response to this article prompted another look at what is happening on the domestic automotive front in Australia.

And in doing so, we have another list of companies that will revive the Australian automotive industry.

Atlis and AusMV

Queensland-based Australian Manufactured Vehicles (AusMV) is firmly aiming to modernize (similar to Victoria's Walkinshaw) the nail-hard full-size XT 4x4 Down Under pickup, with the brand aiming for a 2023 launch date for the epic EV .

And we're not only talking about big numbers (like 19000 units in the first two years of production), but also - incredibly - the opening of an export market where Australian-powered cars will be exported to Southeast Asian markets.

“Many traditional carmakers are overlooking Australia when launching new electric vehicles for various reasons, but we see things differently. Our long-range, fast-charging electric work trucks are the perfect fit for this market,” says Mark Hunchett, founder and CEO of Atlis.

"We don't need legislative imperatives and other incentives to ship cars to Australia and AusMV knows how to put them in the hands of the owners."

The three- or six-seater Atlis XT is a serious kit with a four-motor drivetrain of around 450kW with peak torque (albeit calculated with magic applied to electric vehicles) of over 16,000Nm.

The brand claims you'll hit 100 km/h in 5.0 seconds and sprint to 193 km/h - all thanks to its powerful towing potential and a 250 kWh battery that will get you around 644 km on a single charge.

Australian Manufactured Vehicles (AusMV) is already working with Ram and Ford trucks as well as Dodge muscle cars in Australia, and the Atlis XT is listed on its website as "coming soon".

Ace EV GROUP

ACE X1 Transformer is several cars in one

As we mentioned in our previous article, South Australian-based ACE EV Group has been keeping a close eye on the commercial vehicle market, having already started accepting orders for its smart X1 Transformer, a modular van that will serve traditional short cars. and a long wheelbase, and a high and low roof, and you can even caviar ute. The exciting part is that it can become any of the above vehicles in just 15 minutes thanks to its quick-change modular platform.

We caught up with the ACE EV executive to see how his plans are progressing and learned that the X1 Transformer has already garnered a lot of attention.

“We have $XNUMX million in vehicle reserves,” says Greg McGarvey of ACE EV.

“X1 will hit the market the fastest. Optimistically, we are going to build 10 Transformers for trials, and then, if funding is available, we plan to build 300 within the first year. Then increase to 24000 units by 2025 or 2026.

"We still stop in Queensland, South Australia, Victoria or New South Wales for our manufacturing facility and we are looking to hire 500 people for 24000 units."

The brand will start with the X1 before turning to the Yewt and Cargo models. In addition, in about a month, the company will launch its own V2G bi-directional charging technology, and will also work on a plan to export its cars in disassembled form to give other countries a "pop-up car industry."

Asked if Australia is too expensive to start producing vehicles, Mr McGarvey was quick to respond.

“We think it's nonsense,” he says. “Look at Elon Musk, he started his business in the center of the USA. We think Australia is perfect for this kind of thing."

The X1 Transformer will go into pre-production in November with full testing in April 2021, according to the company. Although it will likely have a new name by then, and BMW will most likely not like the current nameplate.

Walkinshaw Group

Supercar WAG looks epic on design sketches

Last time we touched on the Walkinshaw Group - they've been on a roll over the past few years, rebuilding a lot of GM models for the Australian market (think Camaro and Silverado), partnering with RAM Trucks Australia for their 1500, and most recently forming the new GMSV from the ashes of Holden and HSV in our market.

But this time, we thought we'd focus on something less likely, but still incredibly exciting.

Our very own Steven Ottley recently met with some of Walkinshaw's top hitters who told him they dreamed of creating a new domestic hero that would not only outshine the old HSVs, but run everything from Porsche 911s to Porsches. Audi R8.

This is from Walkinshaw designer Julian Quincy (of GTSR W1 and Amarok W580 fame) who told Cars Guide he believes the company is well positioned to create a customized sports car.

“That would be my dream,” said Mr. Quincy. “Obviously, we have a design base, an engineering base, we have people, we have skills. Basically, it could open doors to work with anyone who has a dream – we could make [it] come true.”

And so says Chief Engineer David Kermond, who says that Walkinshaw is set to design, engineer, and build a low-volume, high-performance car.

“This is a turnkey facility,” says Mr. Kermond. “You say, 'We want it,' and we can turn it on, prototype it, develop it, and sell it.

“Our test center is one of the best in the southern hemisphere when it comes to test labs and bench testing. We can do anything in this regard; seat belt tension tests, cab tension tests, durability tests. We can scan the pavement and reproduce it in the car in the workshop, and make changes on the fly in the workshop before heading out for real-world testing.”

Unlikely? Certainly. But cross your fingers.