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The trip follows a visit by Mr Bracks to the US cities of Detroit and San Francisco in April, when a delegation of 20 Australian automotive parts suppliers met the general manager for purchasing at Ford.

Mr Bracks said he was confident advanced discussions were under way on two or three long-term supply deals with Ford following that visit, and he is now hoping the mission to the Middle East will enhance Australia's reputation as a leading automotive exporter to the Gulf states.

"What I'm hoping to achieve in the Middle East is further support for our export products into those countries," Mr Bracks told The Australian. "To present our credentials, to talk about our history, to talk about what's coming down the line like the new Holden Cruze and the hybrid Camry manufactured in Australia. We have something to talk about.We want to reinforce the reliance on our market and talk about the future prospects for expansion," he said.

"Another of the things we want to pursue, and it was recommended in the car plan, is to advance further the free trade agreement possibility between the Gulf Co-operation Council and Australia."

The Middle East is now the major export market for Australian carmakers.

The Toyota Camry is exported to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as is the Holden Statesman, which is rebranded as a Chevrolet.

"The fact we have almost every taxi in the Middle East as a Toyota Camry is a good credential," Mr Bracks said. "

With some of the reforms that are happening in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, women will be driving for the first time. That will double demand over time and demand for a product they know."

While the export of Australian finished motor vehicles to the Middle East has been hit by the high exchange rate, Mr Bracks said local carmakers would continue to compete on quality.

"There's nothing you can do about exchange rates," he said. "The industry isn't obsessed by it. They just get on with it. We have to compete on the quality end, the reliability end."

The impact of the strong dollar can be partly offset by reducing the price of imported components.

Mr Bracks is one of two "automotive envoys" employed by Canberra to promote the nation's three carmakers -- Ford, Toyota and General Motors Holden -- as well as the 200 Australian automotive suppliers. The other is former Toyota Australia chairman John Conomos, and both were recently reappointed by Industry Minister Kim Carr. They are assisted by an expanded Austrade adviser network in China, India, Korea and Thailand.

Their appointments followed the 2008 review of the automotive industry led by Mr Bracks, and the subsequent release by the federal government of a report entitled A New Car Plan for a Greener Future.

So far the work of the two envoys through the automotive market access program has won more than $60 million in sales for Australian automotive suppliers.

Futuris and Air International now have contracts in the US, China and parts of Europe supplying the automotive industry. Futuris won a contract last year to supply internal upholstery to electric vehicle manufacturer Tesler. Recently it won a contract from US electric carmaker Fisker.

"A lot of the representation I do is talking about our industry with global decision-makers and the opportunity it has got, and keeping that before them," Mr Bracks said.

"The second is the opportunities. The premise of the car plan is that the automotive industry can only survive if it gets volume -- to take some of our component part companies in Australia to the market and sell them internationally, to find a niche for them with contracts that are beyond just Ford and GM so they can get their volume up and be competitive in Australia when they are bidding back into the supply chain."

Mr Bracks met a trade delegation from the Czech Republic during the recent Australian Automotive Week conference. It was the only European state represented at the conference.

While the local car industry has been criticised for its level of government subsidies, defenders point to the fact Australia has cut its car tariffs to 5 per cent, while many other countries have not, and say assistance is at the lower end of the scale internationally.

Imports now comprise more than 80 per cent of total domestic car sales, up from less than 10 per cent in the 1980s.

The three local carmakers are still smarting from the early closure of the $1.3 billion green car innovation fund, which would have provided $1 in taxpayer money for every $3 in investment from multinational car companies to increase local production of hybrid cars.

The fund was a recommendation of Mr Bracks' review, but the scheme was scaled down this year and the money redirected to fund reconstruction work following the Queensland floods.

Holden had spent more than $1.4bn on research and development over the past five years, and in February started production of its Cruze small car.

Mr Bracks said he would have preferred the long-term funding support for the industry to be maintained, but there were extraordinary circumstances.

"Thankfully a portion of the fund had already been committed to three of the key car producers, which wasn't a bad thing," he said.

The peak local body, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, said it was satisfied with a subsequent pledge by Mr Carr that the remaining industry funding over a decade from the continuing $3.4bn automotive transformation scheme was safe.

"There is still $4bn of long-term assistance on research and development and production volume and export incentives that is there as part of the automotive assistance scheme," Mr Bracks said.

"When I travelled around the industry post the decision, it wasn't a first-order issue for the automotive companies. They understand government priorities change over time."

But Holden warned the federal government last month its future in Australia was under review because of concerns about the carbon tax and the scrapping of the green car innovation fund.

GM Holden chairman and managing director Mike Devereux warned that its parent company was reconsidering long-term investment in Australia.

The company was criticised by some for seeking further government assistance, but Mr Bracks said: "GM were doing what they should do and advocating for their industry.

"At the end of the day, GM have had some support from the green car fund, and the Holden Cruz is an example of that.

"They're getting assistance on production volumes and research and assistance from the transition scheme, which is supporting their operation in Australia."

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