Why the Bathurst 1000 still matters to Ford, Chevrolet and now Toyota

10/11/2024 01:00 PM

The V8 Supercars Bathurst 1000 takes place this weekend at Mount Panorama – a few hours' drive westwards from Sydney – but does winning it still pull fans into Australia's new-car showrooms?

Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons that battled it out for decades are no longer in Australian showrooms – at Bathurst 2024 it's a bunfight between the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro, but only one of those (the Ford) is still in production.

In 2026, there will be a third manufacturer with Toyota entering the fray with its GR Supra V8 Supercar to make it a three-way Bathurst battle.

It also means the two best-selling car brands in this country year-to-date – Toyota and Ford in that order – are believers in motorsport and therefore part of the Bathurst faithful.

When Ford fitted a Mustang V8 engine into an Australian-made Falcon sedan – creating the now legendary Falcon GT – and won the 1967 race, the recipe for this weekend's race was created.

Yet, has Bathurst lost its relevance as a new-car showcase – or does it still help move stock off the showroom floor?

"I'm not sure that 'win on Sunday, sell on Monday' is still true," Toyota Australia sales and marketing boss Sean Hanley tells Drive as the most recent car maker to join V8 Supercars.

"But brand recognition [and] brand association from this sport is true.

"You only have to look at the loyalty of the fans here [at Bathurst]– you have an incredibly loyal customer base very channelled into the team they want to be with," Mr Hanley adds.

"There are teams that will tell you quietly – no matter where they are on the [championship points] ladder, there's only one they want to win – and it's Bathurst.

"It has a lot of meaning – it has a lot of meaning to the fans, and it's historically relevant to Australia because even non-motorsport fans who may only tune in once a year – they tune into Bathurst; it's powerful."

In 2023, the switch from Holden to Chevrolet saw the Camaro win its first Bathurst 1000, with Shane van Gisbergen and Richie Stanaway at the wheel of the #97 Red Bull Ampol Racing Camaro.

Jess Bala – General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) Australia and New Zealand managing director – says the Camaro's on-track presence at Bathurst is still a winning model.

"The minute you walk into Bathurst, you can just see how huge it is and the history that's here," Ms Bala told Drive.

"It's the biggest [event]of the year – it absolutely sells cars because there's still a very strong association that's tied to it.

"The bow-tie [Chevrolet logo] on the front of a [V8 Supercars] Camaro is the same bow-tie that's on the front of a Silverado truck, so there's definitely a connection. People driving our vehicles around see that bow-tie and make that connection."

Long-standing rival Ford says it has the numbers – both in terms of sales and research data – to show motor racing sells cars, and Bathurst is the biggest bang-for-buck in Australian motorsport.

"For us – Bathurst is absolutely still relevant," Ford Australia Product Communications Manager Ben Nightingale told Drive.

"It's still the biggest race in the country; it's still got the biggest amount of eyeballs – outside the football grand finals it's the most-watched sporting event in Australia.

"Look around – there's a lot of people here – and if you go for a wander out through the car park and up the top of the mountain to the camp grounds, you see a lot of Rangers, a lot of Everests and still see Falcons and of course Mustangs.

"We have data that tells us that motorsport enthusiasts are more likely to buy the brands that they're aligned with they see on the racetrack. That's not Mustang, that's Ford holistically.

"They also buy new cars more regularly than the general population – so they're an engaged audience that are loyal to a brand and are turning their cars over more often – they're a key audience.

"Motorsport sells cars for Ford – and everyone involved – because we know that there is still tribalism that exists in this space; and that's why Toyota's coming – they want a slice of that pie."

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