Holden Commodore, Toyota Tarago and Subaru Liberty names were unique to Australia, being axed

Three car names unique to Australia have quietly been axed with a trickle of sales in 2021. 

Australia’s own Holden brand, a Toyota people mover named after an obscure town and a Subaru sedan renamed after war veterans objected are on this list. 

The last brand-new Holden Commodore was sold in December with none sold at all this year for the first time since the large family car debuted in 1978.

General Motors is liquidating the Holden brand in 2021, ending a badge heritage dating to November 1948 when the first Australian-made Holden 48-215 rolled off the production line at Fisherman’s Bend in Melbourne.

While Holden was also sold in New Zealand, there were Japanese cars with names that only bizarrely existed in Australia.

The Toyota Tarago was the Australian name for the Toyota TownAce van and later the Toyota Previa people mover.

The seven-seater van with a sliding door on the left and an engine under the front seats was named after a small New South Wales town near Lake George, an hour’s drive north of Canberra.

The Tarago model name, dating back to 1983, was so unique it didn’t even exist in New Zealand or neighbouring Papua New Guinea.

Toyota in 2019 announced the Tarago would be discontinued and be replaced in the model line-up by the Granvia, a larger luxury people mover based on the HiAce commercial van.

Despite that, two new Taragos were sold in February 2021 – exactly twice the number of Volkswagen Caravelles leaving showrooms last month – as dealers did their best to clear remaining stock.

The Subaru Liberty name, dating back to 1989, was also an Australia-only anomaly.

The Toyota Tarago was the Australian name for the Toyota TownAce van and later the Toyota Previa people mover. The Tarago model name, dating back to 1983, was so unique it didn’t even exist in New Zealand or neighbouring Papua New Guinea

In every other market, the medium-sized sedan and wagon has been sold as the Subaru Legacy.

But the RSL, the Returned and Services League representing war veterans, objected on the grounds Subaru’s parent company Fuji Heavy Industries manufactured the planes the Japanese had deployed in February 1942 to bomb Darwin. 

Subaru’s corporate roots could be traced back to the Nakajima Aircraft Company.

Little wonder survivors of World War II objected to the Japanese car company using the name Legacy – also an organisation that had been selling badges since 1923 to support war veterans.

The Subaru Liberty name, dating back to 1989, was also an Australia-only anomaly. In every other market, the medium-sized sedan and wagon has been sold as the Subaru Legacy

Keen to avoid controversy, during an era of 45 per cent car import tariffs, Subaru was happy to comply.

In September 2020, Subaru announced it would stop selling the Liberty in Australia, with medium-sized cars finding few buyers in a market dominated by SUVs.

Last month, 37 Subaru Liberties were sold, compared with 1,001 fully-imported Toyota Camries and 101 Mazda6s. 

Subaru however will continue selling the Liberty-based Outback – itself a global model name since 1994 inspired by the Australian term for very remote arid areas. 

During the late 1990s, Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan even featured in American market TV commercials for Subaru Outback to market its Australian bush persona.

In February 2021, 608 Outbacks were sold, Australia’s third most popular large SUV under $70,000 in a crowded market.

But the RSL, the Returned and Services League representing war veterans, objected on the grounds Subaru’s parent company Fuji Heavy Industries manufactured the planes the Japanese had deployed in February 1942 to bomb Darwin