Donated Range Rover adds value to training
24 May 2004
Automotive students at Kangan Batman TAFE will benefit from the donation of a late model Range Rover to the institute valued at $65,000 on Thursday 27 May.
Donated by the Range Rover company, the 2001, four-door, automatic model has only 25,000 kilometres on the odometer, features leather seats and a wood-grain dash.
The vehicle will be used at the Coburg and Richmond campuses by apprentices, pre-vocational students and four wheel drive short course students.
The Range Rover will have the benefits of being able to be used across a number of training areas, from transmission, fuels and electrical to four wheel drive use, maintenance and servicing.
Mechanical Technology Manger at Kangan Batman TAFE, Mr Angelo Ciavarella, says the donation represents a positive vote of confidence for the institute from industry.
"It is very encouraging to have donations like this from industry because it indicates very strongly that we are meeting the training needs for their apprentices," said Mr Ciavarella.
"The vehicle will also be used in the Certificate IV program and will be viewed by our students as an upmarket training aid," he said.
"It will also send positive messages to our current students that as an institute we value their commitment to train at Kangan Batman TAFE and make every effort to provide current training aids for their use," said Mr Ciavarella.
The Premier Automotive Group is a Global Company which manufactures and markets the Range Rover, Land Rover and Jaguar and Volvo vehicle product range.
The Premier Automotive Group is also a supporter of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) Automotive Donation Program. Through this program, a total of six Range Rovers have been recently donated to TAFE Institutes around Australia.
The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, (FCAI) operates a program out of Automotive Training Australia. Through this program, components are obtained from car and truck manufacturers and donated to TAFE Institutes. This year alone, $4 million worth of components and assemblies will be donated by the automotive industry for apprentice and post-apprentice training in TAFE Institutes.
This unit is a luxury four-wheel-drive vehicle and comes with two power options - a 4.4 V8 petrol driven model and a 3 litre turbo-charged common rail diesel model.
It is a five-speed automatic transmission with a constant four-wheel drive through a torque sensing transfer case. It rides on air with its state-of-the-art electronic air suspension, has four wheel electronic traction control, a dynamic stability control and hill descent control.
Kangan Batman TAFE is in the process of building a world-class training centre to ensure the future growth of the Victorian automotive industry at the Docklands precinct.
Victoria is the hub of the Australian automotive industry, home to three of the four vehicle manufacturers, 51% of the industry's jobs, 58% of its production, and more than 54% of its exports.
The State Government has provided funding for Kangan Batman TAFE to build an Automotive Centre of Excellence in the Melbourne Docklands, which will be the first and largest facility of its kind in the southern hemisphere.
Kangan Batman TAFE is currently Victoria's largest automotive training provider, and the only TAFE delivering training for all areas of the automotive industry, from vehicle manufacturing to sales and service and repair. Currently, this training is conducted from two campuses in Richmond and Coburg.
The new centre will contribute to the future competitiveness of the automotive industry by meeting the demand for a highly-skilled workforce trained in the specialised technologies used in the modern automobile.
The Automotive Centre of Excellence is being designed in consultation with the automotive industry. The State Government has funded $14 million for the first stage of building.
