In the past local manufacturers claim to fame was custom building a truck to meet the customers special needs. Over time, however , this custom build became a a side show; namely a special vehicle construction (SVC) shop attached to the assembly line where the finished truck is wheeled off the assembly line and into SVC for the mods required.
Nowadays, because of the high assembly numbers needed for an economy of scale , its not economically viable to disturb/hold up the main assembly line for special gizmos.
The import trucks have these gismos fitted by the importer locally so their operation mimics the local manufacturer's SVC shop and now there is less competitive advantage in custom building and the added expense is not justifiable. B-Double braking requirements are virtually universal now unlike the late 80s/early 1990s when we pioneered B-Doubles.
In Aus we have some of the highest priced HD trucks in the world and no doubt the Chinese are watching our market closely for that reason. Wouldn't you?
