It seems that North Americans are once again denied their own version of the Holden Commodore Ute. This is said to be for two reasons: a strong Australian dollar, and the “Chicken Tax” — a tariff still lingering around from the Lyndon B. Johnson era. Ironically, the tax didn’t really involve taxing imported chicken, but rather on imported potato starch, dextrin, brandy, and pickup trucks. Over time, the taxes on the products have been lifted, except for one. You can probably guess which.
As a result, importing a pickup truck version of the upcoming Chevrolet SS from Australia seems out of the question, as the expensive tariff would apply.
Holden’s corporate affairs manager, Sean Poppitt said to Austrailia’s Herald Sun that a Ute was “not a serious option under the tariff regime,” and that “the tariff triples when you go from Commodore to Ute. It’s under a light commercial heading, so it’s a 35 per cent tariff.”
Now, anybody with a pair of eyes can immediately tell that the Ute is no Chevrolet Silverado. But unless GM decides to spend the resources in order to tool and build the two-seat niche vehicle in North America, it seems that the plans for a possible Chevrolet El Camino have been put on ice.
Comments
Build it in Oshawa along side the platform-mate Camaro
Send the wagon!
My Chevy dealer already knows I want one!
I thought they were going to build the SS/Commodore/PPV here because some towns have to buy Domestically built police cars? Can’t they build Ute/Caminos on that line? Or send the parts to Mexico and assemble there. Definitely look better in my driveway than a Silverad.
The fact it has a Chevy badge gets past the import tag
how is it the G8 st got the green light then ? I even have the ad for one from the back of a mag
@ Rocky:
Nope, sorry. In the ’60s domestic automakers lobbied Congress HARD to place an addendum to the “Chicken Tax” bill, that was essentially to prevent chickens from foreign lands from flooding our markets, hurting our farmers. The no-foreign built commercial or civilian truck portion of the bill was snuck in ( very sneaky, these Congresspersons ) to prevent foreign competition in the one area where American car companies NEED those high profits and get them – trucks.
Yes, you can guess all sorts of shady dealings were done, I’m certain some hookers for Congressmen were obtained, and sure, all the usual $$$ corruption to get that deal done ( Campaign Finance Reform needs to happen before America is totally corrupt like many other nations ). No domesticor foreign brand can produce trucks of any kind, large or small – outside our borders ( with Mexico and Canada possible exceptions ) and then import them in.
This is why Ford Transit Connects are originally built in Europe but disassembled , shipped overseas then reassembled by American workers – ya think THAT adds to the sticker price?! Same for Mercedes/Freightliner Sprinters. This is why Ford cannot sell it’s very successful Transport fullsized commercial vans here, but will soon build a version of it in the USA to replace the ancient Econoline series. There are so many nice trucks that are built overseas, including the new Ford Ranger, and VW all wheel drive vans – that will never see stateside. One fella even tried to sneak his VW 4Motion Transporter Rockton ( Google it ) over the border with a temporary permit, then license it here, and they would not allow it.
Times have changed and so should the “Chicken Shit Tax” because so many parts and components are made overseas, and so are some very nice domestic products. The big 3 pretty much shot themselves in the foot and will spend billions building truck lines here to build the stuff they make elsewhere.
I wouldn’t touch a Holden Ute, but Colorados would be cheaper if Brazilian ones could be shipped here, and Rangers would be a nice economical truck for many. Our backroads would be filled with diesel 4×4 Sprinter vans and RVs and competition would reign supreme. Why did the absolutely primeval Econoline stay a mainstay in the commercial rhelm for so many decades even with big gas guzzling V-8s? Well, because Ford’s better products were in Europe and had to STAY in Europe. Now that Ford is going to produce it’s European Transporter here ( called the T-Series in USA ), Chevy is going to have to do something quick. Euro versions have turbo diesels, but the local one will sport a F-150-derived Ecoboost V-6 to start – hopefully diesels will come later.
American workers need jobs, and thus – I think a good compromise would be like what Toyota used to do with it’s small pickups. They would build part of them in Japan and ship them to California’s NUMMI plant to have the beds attached and other various components. The fiasco that is the Chicken Tax stifles competition, and the loser in the whole deal is you and me – and our lack of choice and quality in commercial and civilian trucks.
the tax does not apply to aus product to the us, the bush/howard free trade agreament ended the tax, the reason is high aus $ and loss of high profit sale of us truck for a low profit car/truck.
The tax on trucks is still very present.That’s why most trucks sold in North America are built in North America. Not long ago a trade agreement between South Korea and the United States ended the chicken tax between the two countries, but that’s about as far as it went.
@ Jason:
Hey thanks for that tip! I’ll have to look into that. Now Australia needs to make a real truck and van with a diesel, high roof and wheelbase options that we Yanks can buy! Seriously, look at the non-change for Chevy/GMC, Dodge and Ford vans all these years. To get a good-sized commercial van ( or in my case, one to convert to an RV ), one has to pay $40,000 U.S. for a stripper empty steel Mercedes/Freightliner Sprinter cargo van with a high roof! Until Ford makes the T-Series we have no choice but to pay the piper. GM makes no such thing, not even something close! The Merc is a fine unit, but with a very fine price to boot.
Like most Americans, we fancy Aussies – our friends. I would much rather purchase a Holden van than one from Europe or elsewhere. Now all we need is for somebody there to make one and ship it over…
20-30 mpg is a must.
the main reason we have the ute is we can’t afford a real F type ford or GM truck with the low numbers we need, it is cheaper to import a us truck and spend 20/30k on conversion if you need a heavy duty ute, in 82/83 i worked with a company called chapel engineering in melbourne as a trade assistant and cut up a few caddies and trans am’s so i have seen what is needed to convert to RHD, not a easy job.
this is how the victoria police use the holden ute.
http://www.themotorreport.com.au/42607/2010-holden-commodore-ute-based-divvy-van-launched-by-victoria-police-and-holden
@James
Why the long thesis on stuff that I never talked about? You wasted your time.
Police Depts buy the Caprice because it’s badged as a Chevy = domestic.
And as my Police Chief says its the best vehicle for the job.
James
Why the long thesis on stuff that I never talked about? You wasted your time.
Police Depts buy the Caprice because it’s badged as a Chevy = domestic.
And as my Police Chief says its the best vehicle for the job.
@james-Why the long thesis on stuff that I never talked about? You wasted your time.
Police Depts buy the Caprice because it’s badged as a Chevy = domestic.
And as my Police Chief says its the best vehicle for the job.
rocky,
nobody is talking about the caprice, what i have shown is how we use the ute here in victoria, our police don’t cage there patrol cars so don’t need the extra room a caprice has, which is why the us police chose it over the commodore/g8.
as for wagon & ute i can’t see why chev won’t let people order them without holding yard stock, this way their is no unsold stock and if enough people are willing to wait for delivery to have what they want then chev have their answer on us production, build all four on one line like we do.
manoli
when i posted my last message i received an error 505 and advised a duplicat copy was detected.
Jeff
Received constant error messages saying post was too short. Obviously the posts took.
Bummer, no Ute I’m crushed! Do you think we’ll get the wagon? or do I have to get the Caddy.
A wagon (Nomad?) would be fantastic.
Weren’t they contemplating building the SS in the United States?
Just a quick thought: bring back the SSR, only by making the “El Camino” a hard top convertible.
The SS is still coming. But it’s not a truck. So it’s not subject to the extra tax.
Nooooooooooooooo