Andrew Hastie has attacked "nameless cowards" and "muppets" in his party who questioned a social media post where he bemoaned the loss of Australia's car-making industry.

The aspiring Liberal leader, who has publicly declared his desire to one day take the reins of the party, posted to Instagram on Monday about the loss of domestic car manufacturing.

"We used to make complex things in this country … Both the Liberals and Labor have let us down in the past by letting the car industry disappear," he said.

"It's time to put Australians first," the caption read, parroting US President Donald Trump's "America First" slogan.

When Holden and Ford ended production in Australia more than a decade ago, the then-Coalition did not bail out the companies, which had been heavily subsidised over the

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