The Australian government has both feet firmly planted on the hybrid bandwagon, and the blokes down under are looking for more of the automotive combo platter in its fleet. The government already has 355 Toyota and Honda hybrids in its fleet, but Aussie lawmakers would like to utilize its own home-grown workforce for future models. NSW Premier Morris Lemma wants the option to purchase hybrids from both both GM-owned Holden and Ford of Australia, and has even guaranteed that his government will be one of the first customers in line if Holden offered a battery-assisted Commodore within two years, as has been reported. Unfortunately, a promise from the government for a few hundred sales is hardly enough incentive on its own for an automaker to begin developing a hybrid, so both Holden and Ford will no doubt be investigating closely whether or not there's enough demand in the Australian market for a gas-electric hybrid to support the investment.
[Source: The Australian]
