Nowadays, Australia may host more car brands than ever before, but we miss out on some very cool models.
That's because of a uniquely regional Australian Design Rule (ADR) requirement that can cost upwards of $5 million to implement for each series.
Known as ADR 34/03, it stipulates that three top tether anchorage points must be fitted across each rear-seat position. But it can also create years of delays and blow out business cases due to the subsequent expenses involved.
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Probably the most disappointing recent example has been the Renault 5 E-Tech.
Wooing buyers and critics alike, this award-winning electric vehicle (EV) hatchback has been a smash hit in Europe, melding desirable retro design with cutting-edge yet affordable tech.
However, as CarsGuide outlined earlier this year, Renault importer Ateco Automotive may not even bother releasing the 5 E-Tech into Australia because it cannot afford the extra millions necessary for it to comply with ADR 34/03. The maths just doesn't add up. Such a pity.
The same also applies to the Renault 4 E-Tech, a larger and more crossover-style EV wagon that, though not as racy as its closely related 5 E-Tech sibling, possesses family friendly packaging that might make it a more-practical proposition.
But all is not lost.
Unlike the 5 E-Tech which, despite its diminutive supermini proportions, is only available as a full-fledged five-seater hatch, the 4 E-Tech can be ordered as a two-seater panel van dubbed the Société Van that ditches the back row.
Since this eliminates the need to comply with ADR 34/03, it begs the question: why can't Ateco simply import the 4 E-Tech Société as a commercial vehicle? Post-sale, owners could then add a rear seat if desired, fitted to specification by a vehicle engineering firm in Australia.
This was widely done in the 1980s, notably with smaller Japanese cars like the Suzuki 800 hatch (1980), Daihatsu Handivan (1981) and Honda City (1984). Each one was only officially imported as a two-seater van.
However, according to Renault Australia General Manager, Glen Sealey, importing the 4 E-Tech Société is unlikely, given the extreme niche that passenger-car-based vans would occupy, adding that the Kangoo commercial vehicle broadly fills a similar role.
"We haven't looked at that as a solution, because for us, we've got the Kangoo," he told CarsGuide at the Renault Master large van launch in Sydney last month.
"And that small panel van passenger car market is negligible (in size) … it would be higher cost, for low reward."
This is in spite of the wider Renault brand portfolio actually already offering a number of car-based panel vans in right-hand-drive (RHD) Ireland.
"That RHD European market does utilise a typical passenger vehicle for (small panel van) commercial use," Sealey said.
"They do it in the Duster (small SUV). They do with the Sandero (small car). They do it with Megane E-Tech."
Sealey added that companies, not individuals, are buying electric vans in Australia, and they would not go for passenger-car-derived alternatives, that tend to attract individuals running small businesses.
"The tradie is not buying electric," he said. The corporate market is, and the corporate market is buying a larger van."