Editing Button car plan (section)

==Initial planning==
Industry consultation began in mid-1983 and the scheme was announced in mid-1984. It came into effect in 1985, after Senator Button visited Japan to inform the car companies there of the content of the plan. At the time of the plan's inception, Australia's motor industry was heavily protected by import [[tariffs]], and quotas or quantitative restrictions on imports. These measures were used to support local assembly of thirteen models by a range of manufacturers. 

The Button car plan aimed to slash the number of locally manufactured models to six, by forcing industry consolidation——there were to be three groups each producing two models each by 1992.<ref>{{cite web | last = Bowerman | first = Robin | date = 27 August 1989 | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hrMyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SZEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3101%2C5753540 | title = What's in a badge? New car buyers may ask | work = [[The Age]] | accessdate = 10 February 2016}}</ref> The overarching aim of the scheme was to make the motor vehicle industry in Australia more efficient through consolidation of resources, and so allowing the import tariffs to be gradually reduced.