Two-time Bathurst 1000 champion John Bowe believes the demise of the car manufacturing industry in Australia can only have a positive effect on the V8 Supercars.

The 1995 Australian Touring Car Champion said both Holden and Ford were currently losing money “hand over fist”.

“In the next couple of years their businesses will become profitable and I see no reason why they should leave motorsport,” Bowe told reporters at Summernats 27 in Canberra on Friday.

Bowe, who held the record for most Australian touring car starts (225) until July last year, added that the increased profit for Holden and Ford should flow on to the V8s.

“They’ll have more marketing money to spend,” he said.

“I can only see it as positive thing. It’s just a shock to everybody.”

This year will also be the second year of the `Car of the Future’, which allows new manufacturers other than Ford or Holden to enter the series.

He said with Holden and Ford both taking their manufacturing offshore, rival car companies may see an additional opportunity to try and break into the V8 Supercars competition.

He said there was no reason brands such as Hyundai, Toyota, or even Kia, couldn’t join the series.

“The scene is not like Ford versus Holden as it use to be for the last 20 years. It’s in a transitionary period,” he said.

“It’s better for the sport if there’s seven or eight (companies). The world is not a little place.”