The Button Car Plan (also known as the Button Plan) was the informal name given to the Motor Industry Development Plan, initiatives to rationalise the motor vehicle industry made by the Australian Federal Government in the 1980s. The plan took its name from Senator John Button, the federal Minister for Commerce, Trade and Industry. This article describes the national government of Australia. ... Australian Senate chamber Entrance to the Senate The Senate is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia. ... Hon John Button John Norman Button (born 30 June 1933), Australian politician, was a senior minister in the Hawke Labor government. ...

At the time of its inception, Australia's motor industry was heavily protected by import tariffs, harbouring the assembly of thirteen different models by various manufacturers. The Button car plan aimed to reduce this number to eight models, with the aim of forcing some amount of industry consolidation. The over-arching aim of the scheme was to make the motor vehicle industry in Australia more efficient (by consolidation of resources), allowing the import tariffs to be gradually unwound. This in turn would theoretically expose the local industry to increased competition from imported products, fostering improvement in local vehicles and creating the basis for a competitive export industry. A tariff is a tax placed on imported and/or exported goods, sometimes called a customs duty. ...

Industry consultation had begun in 1984 with a proposed start date of 1985. The most obvious effect of the plan for the Australian car buyer was the appearance of badge engineered vehicles, where the same basic vehicle was sold by several different companies under different names. These models included: Badge engineering is a term that describes the rebadging of one model of car as another. ...

Other approaches included the Ford Courier and Mazda B-series utilities utilizing Mitsubishi's 2.6 L Astron 4-cylinder, and a proposal (which did not eventuate) of Mitsubishi replacing the locally built Colt (which was a generation behind its Japanese equivalent) with a rebadged Toyota Corolla. This article is about the Australian car model. ... The Nissan Ute was a badge engineered version of the Ford Falcon ute sold by Nissan in Australia, from 1989 to 1992, under a model-sharing scheme known as the Button Plan. ... The Holden Commodore is a car built by the Holden division of General Motors (GM) in Australia. ... The Holden Commodore is an automobile series built by the Holden division of General Motors in Australia, available as a sedan, wagon or, from 1989, ute (utility or pickup truck). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Ford Australia is the Australian subsidiary of Ford Motor Company and was founded in Geelong, Victoria in 1926 as an outpost of Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited. ... 1987 Nissan Pintara Stationwagon The R31 Nissan Pintara was a mid-sized family car built by Nissan Australia. ... Ford Corsair The Ford Corsair, manufactured by Ford Motor Company in the United Kingdom, was a midsize car available as either a saloon or estate from 1964 until 1970. ... It has been suggested that Nissan Pulsar ET/EXA/Cherry/Langly GT/Sunny LePrix be merged into this article or section. ... 2004 Holden Astra, AH series 2000 Holden Astra CD The Holden Astra is a compact car sold by General Motors in Australia and New Zealand. ... The Toyota Corolla ) is a subcompact/compact car produced by Toyota of Japan, known worldwide for its reliability, conventional engineering and low fuel consumption. ... The Holden Nova was a rebadged version of the sixth- and seventh-generation Toyota Corolla automobile, sold in Australia between August 1989 and 1996. ... The Toyota Camry is a mid-size car assembled by Toyota in Georgetown, Kentucky, USA, as well as Altona, Victoria, Australia, and the original factory in Toyota City, Japan. ... Holden is an Australian automaker based in Melbourne, Victoria, originally independent but now a subsidiary of General Motors. ... There are four distinct Ford vehicle lines which have used the Courier name: 1952-1958 American utility van 1991–2002 European van bronco 1998–present Brazilian pickup 1972-1982 American pickup and 1972–2006 Australian and New Zealand pick-up (rebadged Mazda B-Series) In the United States, the Ford... Mazda Motor Corporation ) (TYO: 7261 ) is a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Hiroshima, Japan. ... Mitsubishi Motors Corporation ) is the fifth largest automaker in Japan and the thirteenth largest in the world by unit sales. ... The Mitsubishi Astron is series of straight-4 internal combustion engines, along with Orion, Sirius, and Saturn. ...

This sharing of models proved unpopular with buyers, and original models outsold their badge-engineered counterparts [1]. Many models were bought up and retrofitted with more familiar badges; hence Toyota Lexcens were retrofitted with Holden Commodore badging. [2]

The last such model, the Holden Apollo (Toyota Camry) was dropped in 1997. Rather than share locally-assembled models with other manufacturers, Holden, Ford, and Toyota decided to import fully built-up models from subsidiaries elsewhere in the world, such as Europe or Japan. Mitsubishi Motors had never shared models with other manufacturers, while Nissan ended car manufacturing in Australia completely. 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Holden is an Australian automaker based in Melbourne, Victoria, originally independent but now a subsidiary of General Motors. ... Ford Australia is the Australian subsidiary of Ford Motor Company and was founded in Geelong, Victoria in 1926 as an outpost of Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited. ... This article is about the multinational corporation. ... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... Mitsubishi Motors Corporation ) is the fifth largest automaker in Japan and the thirteenth largest in the world by unit sales. ... Nissan Motor Co. ...