newsAI training better for Australia than building Holdens, according to TreasurerLocal vehicle manufacturing is not as attractive a proposition for investment in Australia compared to AI data centres, says the Treasurer of Australia. Max Stevens04:4723 July 20260comments + 1PhotosThe Australian Federal Treasurer has said Artificial Intelligence (AI)-training data centres are a better opportunity to attract investment to Australia than local vehicle manufacturing.Economist Alan Kohler asked Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers whether building data centres in Australia to train cutting-edge AI technologies was comparable to the way Australia once encouraged General Motors and Ford to build car factories in Australia, rather than importing vehicles. “I think our advantages here in 2026 are much more substantial than some of those historical examples," Chalmers told ABC’s That's Business podcast. “And the reason I know that, from discussions with investors right around the world and here in Australia, is because when investors look around the world, they see our renewable energy opportunity. They see our government stability, our geography, our national security arrangements, all of that is very attractive to them.”Decline of locally built new cars sold in AustraliaThe Treasurer said Australia was aiming to attract companies to build high-tech data centres of the sort that train advanced ‘frontier’ AI models, rather than less complex data centres that he said already operate in the country.“Now, you're right to point out that there's more than one kind of data centre. There's the the data centres, which are essentially about servicing cloud computing. And there's a lot of them around Australia already,” Chalmers said.“But the next step obviously is these very, very big data centres, which are about training. And in order to attract that investment, we have to make our expectations really clear, the obligations really clear.”Country of manufacture for newly sold vehicles in Australia | 2005-2025Local car manufacturing at scale completely disappeared in Australia between 2016 and 2018 with Toyota, Ford, and Holden (General Motors) shuttering their remaining local factories.Australia’s largest source of cars are now imports from China, Japan, and Thailand. Chinese manufacturing made headlines this year when it overtook Japan as Australia’s main source of new cars from February until the most recent data release in June. → Add Drive as a preferred source in Google Search Recommended cars for saleView all cars on Drive MarketplaceFor Sale2025 MG ZSVibe Turbo 1.5L SUV FWD$21,515Drive AwayFor Sale2025 MG MG3Excite 1.5L Hatchback FWD$19,190Excl. Govt. ChargesFor Sale2024 Mitsubishi OutlanderES 2.5L SUV FWD$29,490Drive AwayFor Sale2025 Suzuki FronxHybrid GLX 1.5L SUV FWD$26,490Excl. Govt. ChargesFor Sale2025 Toyota YarisAscent Sport Hybrid 1.5L Hatchback FWD Hybrid$32,888Excl. Govt. ChargesFor Sale2025 Kia PicantoGT-Line 1.3L Hatchback FWD$19,490Excl. Govt. ChargesFor Sale2025 Jaecoo J7Track 1.6L SUV FWD$29,990Drive AwayFor Sale2025 Toyota RAV4GX 2.5L SUV FWD Hybrid$41,085Drive AwayPreviousNext1 Image Max StevensNews JournalistMax is the Cadet News Journalist for Drive. He enjoys creating engaging digital content, including videos, podcasts, interactive maps, and graphs. Prior to Drive, he studied at Monash University and gained experience working for various publications. He grew up playing Burnout 3: Takedown on the PS2 and was disappointed when real life car races didn’t have the same physics.Read more about Max Stevens