Holden's future model line-up

[Calaber]

In the paper today, a photo an article appeared about the new Chevrolet Malibu, which is supposed to be marketed by Holden from late 2012 as a replacement for the Epica.

The Malibu looks as though it has the goods, very stylish, a bit like a larger Cruze and will be a FWD, to fit in between the Cruze and the Commodore. You can see a distinct similarity between all three cars, particularly if the VF looks like that new Wheels magazine feature.

I'm wondering how Holden is going to market three cars that are not all that different in size. While the Cruze is a reasonable mid-size car, and the VF Commodore will adopt some of its styling features, how will the Malibu sit in the market? There really isn't that much difference in size between the Commodore and Cruze to permit an "in-betweener" and Holden has acknowledged that within a couple of years, the Cruze could be outselling the Commodore.

Has anybody else seen the preview shots of the Malibu? And do you think there is room for three different Holden designs when they are so similar in size?

[Jonno]

i have pictures if u want mate,.. been around for a while

edit ill put them on anyway

[DevilDRake]

It looks alright :O

[TinSnips]

[Hangman]

Looked like an Aurion at first glance.

[Jonno]

i dont mind it, interior needs work tho

[Big_Simmo]

interior still looks better than the VE

[joshyewahh]

just looks like a more stylish 09-10 corolla / aurion

[Drawnnite]

looks alright, but id like to ask, what about the small car market?
i could see this "Malibu" looking really good in a hatchback style
but front wheel drive? if maybe it was AWD or RWD it would be better.

and as long as it has a HOLDEN Badge itll look even better.

[Jonno]

just looks like a more stylish 09-10 corolla / aurion

Which is what majority of people want these days

[Calaber]

OK, so it's looks appeal to some and not to others. But how will Holden sell this car when it is so close to the Cruze and the Commodore in appearance and size? There isn't that much difference in size between the Cruze and Commie and the Malibu has to fit into that slot. That means it has to be priced between them, so around $28-30 k starting price, with the top shelf model probably close to $40k. This overlaps the Commodore and Holden has already admitted that the Cruze is likely to become their volume seller before long.

So, will the Malibu work in Australia and will it hurt Commodore sales? Overlook the fact that it's FWD - most Noddies wouldn't know and wouldn't care which end was driving the car.

[DAKSTER]

I suspect it will work very well. It does look Aurionish, but that is what people like now. As for where it will fit, they leave themselves in danger of it fitting in between a little too well..

People are likely to upsize from the Cruze and downsize from the Commodore, which is a very large car when it comes down to it. I disagree that the Cruze is close to a Commy in size, the styling is similar and of course the Cruze is way bigger than an Astra, but the Commy has grown a lot too..

I dont like this one much as it is, but thats a styling thing. I am sure if Holden were to restyle it it would look a lot better. I much prefer Holdens treatment of the Commodores that got restyled as Pontiacs, the yanks just dont get it when it comes to detail.

[DAKSTER]

I think you might find FWD to be more of a problem than you think though, the Australian public have traditionally always preferred RWD in larger cars, even the average noddy. An AWD version might have a good shot at knocking off the Commy though...

[Calaber]

I think you might find FWD to be more of a problem than you think though, the Australian public have traditionally always preferred RWD in larger cars, even the average noddy. An AWD version might have a good shot at knocking off the Commy though...

I think a few things will influence buyers of the Malibu. The first will be the styling. The interior is a bit too "American" for Aussie tastes and might need to be toned down a bit. The revised styling of the Commodore with the VF might make people take a second look at it, whereas the existing VE is now looking dated, particularly inside. The amount of interior space in the Malibu will be important, especially if it's close to Commie dimensions and has reasonable performance with superior economy, which is likely. I think the size of the Commodore is working against it these days - private buyers are looking at what they can buy for the same money or less and the Commie comes up a bit short in equipment compared to slightly smaller but better equipped and cheaper cars. The Commodore's size is no longer the attribute it was.

[Full Spectrum]

At first glance i thought shit that's the VZ Bumper.

I'm starting to see this small mid size gap closing in on the large car (commodore)..

This week i parked next to the mondeo and s2 commodore. my car looked the mid size car next to them. the mondeo is a large car playing in the mid size market. the cruze is nothing close to a small car, holden is kidding themselves with that. any wonder the commodore's days could be numbered. this Malibu is the first test to see if commodore people will drive a larger fwd car with the Holden badge on it.

[Mick1988]

Yuck. I bet these sell just as well as the Epica. Epica was epic fail.

[heyitsEnricoPallazzo]

Personally I think the current Commodore is too large and heavy.

The biggie for Holden will possibly be it's fuel consumption. If it's in the Alloytec ballpark people will wonder why.

It would need to have major drivetrain differentiation over Cruze and Commo for people to consider. Eg, AWD, Diesel and or Hybrid.

Perhaps they ought to adopt Toyota's failed Aurion 'Game Changer' add campaign. Conomos will be watching.

[Drawnnite]

holden really needs a small car, medium car, large car and thats all (not counting utes etc).
by having too many of a similar design/size/style etc it creates too much choice which can be overwhelming.
pretty much "Less is More"

too much choice is never a good thing.

[Mick1988]

They don't need the Malibu. They should get rid of the Barina spark too that thing is HORRIBLE.

Barina hatch, barina sedan, Cruze hatch, Cruze sedan, Commodore. That's all they need.

[Calaber]

Their sedan line-up used to be Barina (ex Opel), Astra (Opel), Vectra (Opel), Commodore and Stato. Every one of those smaller cars was up with the better cars in their class, when they were sourced from Opel, and there was a clear distinction between each model in size and engine capacity.

They now have the Spark (spew - Daewoo), Barina (really old and out of date Daewoo - must be about the oldest current model on the market - and spew again), Cruze (Daewoo, but much later and much better than earlier efforts, Epica (epic spew - should never have been sold here - obsolete before it was even released in Oz - another Daewoo), Commodore and Stato. The Malibu slots into the Epica's position. The Spark seems bloody pointless - a smaller Barina? Wasn't the Barina a small car? I think it's due to be replaced by the Aveo later this year, but that car is small too - too many tiddlers for me. The Cruze has grown to the point where it is the size of the Vectra, which in theory is the market slot that the Malibu would replace, so it sort of leaves the Malibu in no-mans-land.

I can't see anything other than a further reduction in Commodore sales once this car hits our market, perhaps long range to the point where the RWD Commodore Zeta platform is killed off. Holden say they will continue with RWD for the Commodore, but they won't if sales can't justify it.

[Full Spectrum]

Their sedan line-up used to be Barina (ex Opel), Astra (Opel), Vectra (Opel), Commodore and Stato. Every one of those smaller cars was up with the better cars in their class, when they were sourced from Opel, and there was a clear distinction between each model in size and engine capacity.

They now have the Spark (spew - Daewoo), Barina (really old and out of date Daewoo - must be about the oldest current model on the market - and spew again), Cruze (Daewoo, but much later and much better than earlier efforts, Epica (epic spew - should never have been sold here - obsolete before it was even released in Oz - another Daewoo), Commodore and Stato. The Malibu slots into the Epica's position. The Spark seems bloody pointless - a smaller Barina? Wasn't the Barina a small car? I think it's due to be replaced by the Aveo later this year, but that car is small too - too many tiddlers for me. The Cruze has grown to the point where it is the size of the Vectra, which in theory is the market slot that the Malibu would replace, so it sort of leaves the Malibu in no-mans-land.

I can't see anything other than a further reduction in Commodore sales once this car hits our market, perhaps long range to the point where the RWD Commodore Zeta platform is killed off. Holden say they will continue with RWD for the Commodore, but they won't if sales can't justify it.

I'd almost take one of the epica's with diesel. i know it's terrible, but very well speced with wonderful standard options. it's great value for money even if great pain in the spew bucket.

I read somewhere Holden had the idea people didn't want over priced fancy cars. what they wanted was well spec with good options cars that are good enough. look good enough. but more importantly cheap enough. Holden has always had a good finger on the pulse, but im not sure they will get it 100% right this time.