Australian Automotive Industry Right For Chinese OEM’s
The Australian Auto Market was steady for 2006 and continued its strong run of 10 years by achieving its second best year on record. A stable Government, strong economy and a general feeling of wealth all contributed to the strong sales result.
Looking at the numbers closely and we start to see some changes that occurred in several market segments as the impact from the fuel crisis took its toll on the more fuel inefficient large passenger vehicles and raised the sales volume of smaller cars.
Domestic sales volume now makes up about 20% of all sales and will possibly diminish more as the consumers buy more imported fuel efficient cars and turn away from the Australian Designed ‘family cars’.
Asbestos Usage in the Automotive Industry
While you may only here about the negative attributes of asbestos, such as an increased risk for mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other such diseases, it actually has a number of extremely useful characteristics that prompted its widespread use up until the 1980s. Many industries, including construction, utilized this substance before it was banned. The automotive industry, too, was not immune to the widespread appeal of asbestos.
Asbestos is a fiber that is a member of the silicate family. It has six different subtypes, which are divided into two main families. The first group, the serpentines, only consist of one subtype, chrysotile. Chrysotile was the most popular form of asbestos because of its sheetlike properties and the ability to form layers. The other group, amphiboles, are more chain-like. The amphibole family includes amosite, crocidolite, anthophyllite, tremolite, and actinolite. Amosite is the second-most common form of asbestos after chrysotile, and crocidolite is considered the most dangerous.
