The Rodeo is dead. Long live the Colorado.

That’s the new name for the trusty Rodeo badge which is being retired later this year.

The Rodeo name belongs to Isuzu with which Holden no longer has any ties.

In a strange twist, Isuzu is taking the name back and releasing a Rodeo in Australia under its global name of D-Max.

However, it will be distributed by Mitsubishi, not Isuzu. And Mitsubishi Motors knows nothing about the vehicle.

Mitsubishi Motors senior manager corporate communications, Lenore Fletcher, said they had nothing to do with it.

“Mitsubishi is a large corporation and the link-up could be with another Mitsubishi company, not the motor company,” she said.

Meanwhile, GM Holden product information manager Kate Lonsdale said the Colorado would be released later this year.

“There is no official timing yet, but it will be called Colorado,” she said.

Holden had an opportunity to badge the popular Thai-made ute with an Australian name, but has decided to go with the same name used in the Asia-Pacific region.

Lonsdale said the Colorado would be “slightly different.”

“It will be a similar offering, but with slightly different features,” she said.

In a GM Holden media release, the company said the new Colorado range would continue to offer a choice of petrol or diesel engines, 4×4 or 4×2 models, and numerous body styles such as single cab, space cab and crew cab.

GM Holden light commercial vehicles marketing manager Teresa Basile said; more details such as price would follow in the coming months.

“The light commercial segment is a significant market for Holden and with this exciting new addition we will remain a major player with a highly competitive new entry,” she said.

She said current Rodeo owners would continue to be covered by GM Holden’s three-year/100,000km warranty and roadside assistance for 12 months.

“Rodeo owners can rest assured that Holden remains committed to providing superior customer service and parts availability to the current range,” she said.

The Rodeo has been a popular ute, at one stage the biggest selling.

However, it has been usurped in the past few years by the Toyota Hi-Lux, which has dominated the sector and is the biggest-selling vehicle of any type in Queensland.

While the Hi-Lux has led the field with its more modern and brutish looks, Nissan’s Navara and Mitsubishi’s Triton have followed suit, leaving the Rodeo looking a little anaemic and old-fashioned, outside and in.

I prefer the less bloated look of the Rodeo’s exterior and the functional, user-friendly interior.

It has many other attributes which commend it to tradies and weekend warriors alike.

For a start, it has one of the quietest cabins of the lot. There’s almost no engine noise (except in the diesel at idle and full noise), no wind buffeting and surprisingly very little tyre noise.

The interior may be a bit austere and old-fashioned, but the door and seat trim are very smart, even in the base model.

Back seat passengers don’t quite sit bolt upright and there is plenty of legroom.

And no one could doubt the abilities of the airconditioning to make a beer truly frosty.

If we are asking for anything in the new Rodeo/Colorado, audio controls on the steering wheel would be nice, less pitch and roll in the suspension would be handy and stability control is a must, especially in the rain.

Just make sure it’s switchable for the obligatory circle work in the car park at the next B&S.

Holden, Ford and Mitsubishi are killing off several of Australia’s best-known model names — including some which have been around since the 1960s — to keep pace with changing times.

After years of slow sales, Mitsubishi halted production of its Adelaide-made 380 sedan last Thursday.

The 380 replaced the Magna in 2005, adopting a new name in a bid to freshen its image.

Mitsubishi Motors Australia president Robert McEniry said axing the 380 was a “very difficult decision.”

“However, it is an inescapable fact that there is now a deepening trend away from large cars,” he said.

“We can see no path for a return to viable production levels of the 380 sedan.”

Mitsubishi is remaining in Australia as a car importer.

Holden has announced that the imported Rodeo utility, one of the longest-running and strongest-selling names in its class, will be replaced by a model called the Colorado this year.

Holden has lost the rights to the Rodeo name, which it has used for 30 years, because its agreement with Japanese carmaker Isuzu has ended.

Isuzu, once part of the General Motors empire, has been building the Rodeo for Holden but is expected to introduce its own utility model, called the D-Max, in Australia.

At Ford, the once-popular luxury long-wheelbase Fairlane and LTD models have already been killed off this year, and production of the Fairmont, Fairmont Ghia and Futura versions of the Falcon is about to end.

Ford auctioned its last Fairlane, with the proceeds going to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, but it fetched only $48,100, compared with the list price of $58,625.

It was the last of more than 250,000 Fairlanes and LTDs built between 1967 and 2008.

Ford used cricket stars Andrew Symonds and Matthew Hayden to promote the eBay auction.

A new-look Falcon series called the FG is due in April and in it the Futura name (used on and off by Ford since 1962) disappears and the Fairmont (used continuously since 1965) and Fairmont Ghia (around since 1979) will be replaced by G6 and G6E.

However, the changes have sparked heated argument in internet chatrooms such as Ford Forums.

A Fairmont owner calling himself Airmon said; “Shame on Ford!”

Another fan, Bo0, said: “Ford can’t be that stupid could they?”

Ford vice-president of product development Trevor Worthington said it was “time to draw a line in the sand and move on.”

Yesterday’s models

Ford Fairlane

The flagship Ford has finally been axed after more than 250,000 Fairlanes and LTDs were built between 1967 and 2008

Holden Rodeo

The Rodeo, which has been around for 30 years, will be replaced by a model called the Colorado later this year

Mitsubishi 380

The 380 sedan replaced the Magna in 2005, in a bid to freshen its image. But the unpopular 380 has been dumped.

Last year, new vehicles recorded an Australian average of 226.1g of CO2 emissions for every kilometre they travelled.

That’s down on the 2006 figure of 230.3g, and during the past five years the industry has achieved a reduction of more than 10 per cent in average emissions.

By comparison, a Toyota Corolla produces 175g/km and a Holden Commodore 260g/km.

In Europe, where strict emissions controls have been in place for longer than Australia, emissions levels have remained almost unchanged.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Andrew McKellar said the motoring industry was on track to meet its self-imposed target of 222g/km by 2010.

Meanwhile, fuel economy has improved from an average of 10 litres per 100km in 2002 to about 8.8 litre/100km last year, heading toward the FCAI’s voluntary 2010 target of 6.7 litre/100km.

“These figures demonstrate that the industry is continuing to implement new technology to lower the impact passenger cars have on the environment,” Mr McKellar said.

However, Mr McKellar said further improvements would rely on improved fuel quality with lower sulphur content, which was not yet available.

The FCAI pointed out that passenger cars accounted for less than 8 per cent of Australia’s total carbon emissions, which is about half of the emissions from agriculture.

RACQ manager technical services Steve Spalding said that for motorists to reduce their emissions, they should reduce their fuel consumption.

“We would suggest motorists buy the smallest car that will still do the job you need and then look for the most fuel efficient car within that category,” he said.

He said the FCAI fuel and CO2 figures were reached under test conditions and not real-world driving. He added that if motorists wanted to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, they should also drive and maintain their vehicle correctly.

Further job losses in the car industry are likely and it is facing increasing international pressures, which could see more production shifted to Asia, a report finds.

“There are no guarantees that employment levels have plateaued,” it says.

The report is one of two from former Victorian Premier Steve Bracks reviewing the industry.

They were released yesterday in a bid to stimulate debate and prompt submissions for a final report to the Federal Government in July this year.

Mr Bracks also says in his reports;

Car companies should be looking to innovative technology to produce cars with lower emissions, lower weight and improved fuel economy, using alternative fuels.

Challenges facing the industry include the rising Australian dollar, overseas competition, a reliance on exporting and environmental concerns.

Incentives offered to car companies for research and training could allow companies to play one state off against another and “lead to a sub-optimal outcome."

A window of opportunity exists for further workplace reform in the near term with several enterprise agreements for vehicle producers due to expire in 2008 or 2009.

The review was released after Mitsubishi closed with the loss of 1000 jobs.

The report says that since 2002, domestic sales of new Australian-made vehicles have decreased by 33 per cent for Holden, 10.5 per cent for Ford and 53 per cent for Mitsubishi.

Only sales of Australian-made Toyotas have increased since 2002 - by 22 per cent. Employment in the automotive industry has fallen by 16 per cent to 61,200 at November, 2007.

“More significantly, there was a drop of over 25 per cent (or nearly 21,000 persons) from a peak in November, 2005, to November, 2007,” it says.

A State Government spokeswoman said yesterday it would now prepare a submission for the review based on the discussion paper.

Mr Bracks said it would be wrong to assume his final report would call for more assistance to the industry.