Ford will shut up shop at its Melbourne plant by October 2016, with Holden and Toyota to follow in 2017.

But what does this mean for the Aussie car buying public?

Well, probably not a massive change.

A number of car companies have ceased production here before now, but have still gone on to have successful import-only businesses.

Take Mitsubishi for example – it stopped making the Magna here way back in 2008, but in 2013 it still placed seventh in the top 10 of Australia’s top-selling brands.

Toyota has already announced it will import the popular Camry model after production ceases in Australia and while Ford and Holden are in the process of determining what new models will be available where, they’re confident car buyers will always be able to buy an alternative car that meets all of their expectations. Ford will most likely start importing their vehicles from Thailand, Europe and the US when production ceases.

And with the news of the closures, Aussies seem to have had a bit of a change of heart – more and more are starting to lose their sense of patriotism (or guilt over not buying Australian-made vehicles) and are indulging in a wider choice of affordable, and possibly more desirable, imported cars.

Sales of the Mercedes Benz C-Class skyrocketed in popularity earlier this year with news of the local closures and other luxury cars such as Audi and BMW also saw a rise in popularity. Even high end makes such as Alfa Romeo and Porsche made it into the top 30 of Australia’s most popular in October.

But that doesn’t mean sales of Aussie faves have completely died.

In fact, the top five selling makes in the country last month were Toyota, Hyundai, Mazda, Holden and Ford, showing Aussies still have confidence in the market. Toyota’s Hilux was the biggest seller, followed by Toyota Corolla, Hyundai i30, Ranger and the Mazda3.

So will sales of Ford, Toyota and Holden change dramatically when manufacturing has moved completely offshore by 2017? Probably not.

What affect the closures have on car prices remains to be seen though, with interest rates sure to have the most impact on what types of cars Aussies buy, but experts suggest that as far as the range of vehicles available goes, equitable alternatives will be available post-2017.