Farrkkk.... why can't we get more American Muscle Cars into Aus, with the current exchange rates......
Mustang Shelby GT500, 5.4L Supercharged V8, punching out 540 Horses, and 510 lb-ft of Torque. About USD$49,000.www.ford.com/cars/mustang/trim/?trim=shelbygt500
I'd be happy with the plain old Mustang kids starting pack;
Mustang V6 - USD$22,145. 305 horses, and 280 pounds of torque.www.ford.com/cars/mustang/trim/?trim=v6#categoryInterior_Features
Anyone care to explain why the Japanese Built WRX STI is USD$34,000 there, and about AUD$65,000 here..... something is not right there.....
www.subaru.com/vehicles/wrx/index.html
Or Top Range Forester is USD$30,000 v's AUD$50,000. Same stinking freaking car, $20,000 cheaper in America.....
www.subaru.com/vehicles/forester/index.html
www.subaru.com.au/forester%20
Exchange Rate, USD to AUD is essentially 1.00:1.00 or very very close to it.....
www.x-rates.com/table/?from=USD&amount=1
Sounds like you are not supporting local retailers. That is very un-Australian. 
I've wondered about this a lot. That we have a small population is always used as a reason, but so does Ohio. That we are so far away is also used as a reason, but we all know how cheap we can ship stuff nowadays. So really, why is almost everything nearly double what it is elsewhere?
I think it is because they have to turn a corner to get off the boat.
try as they might nobody can get a US muscle car around the corner - so they back 'em up and ship 'em straight out.
Most likely have to pay a greater tax on luxury cars here to subsidize heath care of the pie munchers and coke slurping kids who drive them, maybe...
if you going american muscle why not keep it classic?
in regards to cars there are quite strict importing laws so that the market does not get flooded with jap imports n ** that would damange the aus car economy. e.g. in NZ there are soo many damned imports floating around that car prices are ridiculously cheaper. Well i don't know if it's like that any more now that they laws changed but when I lived there it was nearly a 3 - 4 k difference in 2nd hand prices for cars under 10k between here and there.
an old Pontiac would look amazing in my garage though 
I dunno about muscle cars, this is what I'd be getting. Ford F-150 SVT Raptor
$42,000 for a truck with a 6.2 v8, and suspension thats halfway to a trophy truck. Thats my kind of windsurfing ute 
I once read when Holden was selling Commodores in America as Pontiacs they were significantly cheaper over there than in Australia.
A quick check shows a base level American Toyota Camry costs about $21,000 new while a base level Australian Camry costs about 35K.
I'm all for protecting the Australian car industry but it seems like we get the wrong end of the stick when it comes to the pricing of so many items.
I was in the belief that passenger vehicles that are sold NEW in Australia need to meet the Aust standards [side intrusion bars etc] where as many over seas cars that are sold NEW overseas and then imported as S/H into Aust wouldn't comply with the safety rules of new cars.
Also commercial vehicles have different standards than passenger carrying ones.
But agree it doesn't make sense with the price difference...
The Internet has certainly given Australian consumers a wake up call and are saying "Whats going on?"
Right, so how can we import them for that price?
With ice hockey its the same thing, gear is twice as much here but there are people that buy it over there for ya and send it for not much extra.
anyone doing that with cars? 
What's the US vs Australia comparison of import taxes/duties and sales taxes etc.
The comparison is meaningless without that data.
Like the man said...the Gov puts a massive import tax on to protect the local manufacturers or we would end up like NZ...personally I prefer to pay a bit more if it keeps so poor bugger that can't get a job anywhere else in work....
What about the average income in Aus compared to USA?
Cant be bothered researching it, but I'm sure any one working in the hospitality industry would be far better in Aus.
Low income, cheaper prices. Higher income higher prices?
Perhaps a case of swings and round abouts I don't know, but I do know where I would rather live and I am willing to pay more for "luxury items" because there are so many other things that make up for it.
In nz they decided that there was no need to protect a local car industry o they got rid of taxes on imports....cars a lot cheaper back home. Significantly. Over here the local car industry is supported by tax payer - last I heard it was approx. 300k per employee. Makes no sense to me. Comparitive advantage is not something thought about in aust these days. Why sd mitzi get 400m to set up a plant then several yrs later go back to govt for another handout. Meantime everyone pays a lot more for their cars.....why not give the people in industry a payoff and retrain them.....everyone wd be much better off in the long run. Aust has sIgnificant competitive advantages in some industries but not others. Specaliise in what u do well and let others who have comparitive advantages in other areas do that. We live in a globaslised world.
I recently bought a Yamaha motorcycle. The RRP in Oz is $21.990, I got it for $21k. The dealer made ~$2k on that, Yamaha Aus made ~$6k, and the government ~$3.5k.
The cost of the bike in parts, labour and delivery is ~US$7800 (from industry insiders).
Yamaha Aus bares the exchange rate fluctuations, is responsible for promotion and prices the bike competitively in the market.
If Yamaha Aus, decides it can't make enough off the bike they don't bring it in.
Yamaha USA decided it couldn't make the bike sell, so they ran a preorder program... US$13,900... the bike still costs ~US$7800 but everybody gets a little less.
Who are the greedy ones? I think Aus distributors and the government contribute to high prices.
All it takes is 1 to price its product significantly below another similar product for all the other products to go down in price.
Aus retailers need to put pressure on the distributors. Everyone wants their 25%.
Take an Aus global small scale success story.
www.friendsoforis.com
They, right from the beginning put pressure on the distributor to supply them at reasonable cost to grow the market.
They in turn said they would heavily promote the brand, they setup forums, online video reviews, and were there for their customers.
The distributor lost a little on each unit, but made it up with volume.
So now even with the high A$ they're still a global success... and I wish them every success for the future.
If a company/person wants to get 25% for doing nothing but take a credit card # fark'em and go to the cheapest place in the world.
If the farker wants to make MILLION$ for doing nothing but reselling (Harvey Norman), and then whines about us looking for a better deal... boycott the hypocrite bast**d.
