The CEO of Australia’s peak industry association has raised the prospect of electric vehicle manufacturing down under, just months after former prime minister Kevin Rudd outlined a similar way for the local carmaking industry to be brought back to life.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox told News Corp that while the AIG believes factors such as taxes and regulations are stifling manufacturing, there is hope on the horizon in the form of EV makers who have been dipping a toe in the water.

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“We know some vehicle manufacturers, including electric vehicle manufacturers, have kicked the tyres,” Willox said.

That remark echoes what Rudd said during his address to the National Press Club in early September, when he called the closure of the Aussie car industry a shortsighted act of economic vandalism and said a remedy could be found in the EV sector. 

“Now the 3D printing and EV revolutions mean we can rebuild an Australian auto sector and repair this fatal vulnerability in our national security,” Rudd said as he identified seven sectors in which government and industry could collaborate to establish companies and take advantage of AI-driven growth.

Anthony Albanese has also called for a revival of the local carmaking industry. His remarks came in May, after Chery International president Zhang Guibing called on the federal government to modify its policies to bring back car factories with increased automation.

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The prime minister said “there’s no reason why we can’t make [electric] vehicles”, adding, “At the very least, we can make parts and components, including batteries, here. Indeed, there are companies looking at doing just that.”

It’s been just over 10 years since Ford stopped making cars down under as the Blue Oval called time on doing so on October 7, 2016. The last Holden rolled off the production line in South Australia on October 20, 2017.