Will ZB be the end of GM in Australia

[Calaber]

if Holden is anything like my own house hold , I'm just the silent partner , I leave all major things to " she who must be obeyed " .

While the other half has a strong interest and influence in our car choices, the final decision rests with me for two reasons. I know more and I'm paying.

 

[vc commodore]

So is Holden really on the nose ????

Read the following story, it pretty much supports what many of us think.

https://www.whichcar.com.au/car-news/wounded-lion-holdens-struggle-to-stay-alive-report

Strangely enough I read in the motoring section of the paper, the ZB wagon is the preferred car for towing....(Can't remember the exact wording as it was on Friday)....

Then you have Holden about 5th on the best sales list, above Ford....And this is only a recent report (ie within a month)

So what story do you believe?

 

[greenacc]

And I still haven't seen a ZB! Something strange is going on here.

 

[MYVESSV8]

if Holden is anything like my own house hold , I'm just the silent partner , I leave all major things to " she who must be obeyed " .

we are looking at a new car for her and as it has always been, she likes the look of this, this, this, and that, you do the rest, test drive, compare etc, just tells me colour and accessories

 

[MYVESSV8]

Why I think it might be doomed to failure is because all I seem to be reading on this forum is, the ZB is rubbish, yet I doubt half the people knocking the car have actually driven it. .. They just say it looks butt ugly, or looks like a Mazda and has no V8. The reviews I see on here from those that have driven them actually seem positive....

Fair enough, no V8 is available, yet surprise surprise, V8's seem to be far and few these days between main stream manufacturers....You have Nissan, Ford, and Toyota....That's it from what I can think of....And the order of sales, best to worst... Toyota, Ford then Nissan...

A lot of cars look the same between manufacturers...Been like that for years, so what's the difference with the ZB Commodore?

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Holden actually start getting to the top of the sales chart in the next 10 years, especially considering they seem to be targetting the market with FWD'S AWD's and 4WD's, which is the way the market is going

we are looking for a new car for her, and as my previous post, it included the new ZB, Stinger, Lexus, Merc, and BMW, took the ZB for a run (VXR) and it is different, has plenty of features, entry/exit front and rear seats is good, played with all the settings etc, even had it park itself, not keen on the high revs you need to get it excited (4500-5000rpm for max torque) comfortable to drive but found the window line too high at my normal seating position, hard to close the rear hatch (only manual pull down) a replacement for the previous models it is not! but as a new car to the market (should have called it anything but a commodore) it would do ok, does look alot like others (vice a versa too) Lexus was excellent allround except rear entry to seats, bmw just didnt like it but had lots of everything else, merc was the same looks good but was not really what i'd expect, for model to model comparison lacked the go she wants, one to go !!, **** this thing moves, handles and stops, and the layout is nice, accessories i'm still trying to work out, and i drove the 4 and 6, looks like the Stinger may well get the nod,

 

[commodore665]

While the other half has a strong interest and influence in our car choices, the final decision rests with me for two reasons. I know more and I'm paying.

Same deal here

 

[mpower]

If they want to survive they are going to have to do it the way Hyundai did it.
Hyundai was a swear word 10 to 15 years ago. Now after years of building customer confidence up by improving their product, competitive pricing and long warranties, they're popular as.

GM don't do this though, they never have. They had access to a lot of cash to improve the cars they make but they are a volume and low margin manufacturer and haven't even tried to do anything but that. Look at the trash they've trotted out for the last 30 off years.

But, the biggest problem they have is an image one - Hyundai were underdogs and the press and public saw them as an up and comer with no baggage - and I'm sorry but many people see Commodore and think "bogan". And even bogans don't think they are or want to be bogans.

I don't even know how they shake that one, because well bogans buy anything cheap and then rip it to bits and glue eBay all over it. Older commodores for the most part are in the hands of these muppets.

GM knew they needed to break that image and the marketing strategy for several years has been away from the bogan market but the bogans keep buying used ones - i kind of think it won't be shaken because people are pretty simple and bogan = commodore is easy shorthand for "I'm not one because I bought brand X instead". Fact is bogans do buy anything but yeah, even someone who goes out buys a brand new Clubsport or something is just then labelled a cashed up bogan. It's a no win for GM, the narrative is written and ingrained in the culture. It's why they need a break from the nameplate, a clean break but they look at our market and as long as they have sales here they don't care really. The dropoff in sales might mean the ZB is the sad footnote to something we should be proud of but many are ashamed of because we've lost any semblance of loyalty and pride in locally made product.

 

[ausmac91]

Was in Lizbeff yesterday and Peter Page had an RSV wagon sitting low on Simmons sitting in the mall. Must be a thing at the moment dressing them up. It looked ok but Simmons well Tempe? Least they're making an effort to get the looks issue out the road and show what COULD be if you buy one. But still, that badge on the rear just clashed with my sensibilities. Slowly working on swaying opinions, good on them, but didn't looks as good as the black one a few pages back...

 

[VS 5.0]

What if they built this.....

Or this.....

 

[Skydrol]

VW made an attempt to make an Ute with a FWD VW Rabbit, was an epic fail.