Many of you may have been asking, "Why hasnt GM brought over the Holden Ute as a limited run, performance El Camino?"
See, the Ute has the relocated gas tank to meet crash standards, and is actualy cheaper to produce and is a cheaper car then the Monaro.
So again, WHY GM, WHY NOT BRING IT OVER!!
Well, there was a little tariff on all trucks sent over from Down Under, and the Ute falls under the tariff rule. Here is teh run down.
Quote:
We here in the United States have a 25% tarriff on all imported trucks. That covers everything from big rigs to pickup trucks. SUVs aren't included because under trade definitions, they are passenger vehicles (rear seats, no bed, etc).
When Bob Lutz made his 1st review of Holden products shortly after his arrival at GM, one of the things he wanted to get rolling was some of GM's abandoned ideas of bringing over some GM-Holden models to round out our vehicle lines here. The most obvious 1st choice was the Holden Ute, which for all purposes is the modern Chevy El Camino. Since it would qualify as a truck, it fell under a different set of safety regulations. Also, it's fuel tank is mounted forward of the rear axle. Finally, since Holden already made left hand versions of the same chassis, it was a minimal investment in time and money. However, GM couldn't get around that 25% truck tarriff.
The US-Australian Trade agreement amoung a laundry list of items, ends that tarriff for "Trucks" made in Australia. This makes the Holden UTE and the Ford Falcon UTE the ONLY Aussie made trucks that we do not have available here. This also means that someone lobbied to include exporting Aussie made trucks in the agreement for a purpose.
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GM could slap together an El Camino and have it ready for US consumption in less then a year. LS2 powerd, 6spd shifted, and get the same quality interior as the GTO, and classified as a truck.
And it would be cheaper then the GTO and SSR.
Also, there will be a drop in tariff of American cars exported to Oz by 2010.