Supercars Road Relevance

The ‘win on Sunday, sell on Sunday’ mantra was once a vital ingredient in the success of Australian touring cars. But, with the link between Supercars and what you see on the showroom floor growing ever more tenuous, things have changed.

When the Supercars field rolls out on practice day for the Gold Coast 600 on Friday, October 20, none of the three cars represented in Australia’s premier motorsport category will be on sale in showrooms.

Holden closes its manufacturing plant that day, bringing an end to the VF Commodore. The Ford FG X Falcon finished production last October with the end of Ford’s own local production. And Nissan no longer imports the Altima into Australia.

“We have always prided ourselves on being relevant,” Supercars CEO James Warburton told V8X Supercar Magazine in issue #99. “I don’t think any one in the category thinks that (having FG X and Altima on the grid) would be a good idea beyond next year.”

Supercars’ popularity in Australia was based on the close link between the cars that raced and those sold in the marketplace, especially the locally-produced Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore. The V8-era technical regulations were created to fit the Falcon and Commodore.