Goodbye... Holden :(

[Smithston]

It's a fair point, nostalgia, namesake and history does play an important part in someone's driving but for me, it doesn't. I assess vehicles purely on technical performance because that's what a mechanical device is meant to do. Whenever I go back home, I always try and drive a Buick Regal (ZB under another name) and before that, Pontiac G8's. The re-badging doesn't bother me as long as the performance is the same.

Holden should have written to every VF owner in the country and given them an AWD V6 ZB for a 24 hours test drive. 25Kw more coupled to an AWD drive train is just sweet. Maybe if they did that, they would have sold more ZB's.

I'm not trying to pick an argument with you just pointing out that if.nostalgia and history dont mean.anything to you with regard to a car then you won't understand why this whole Holden commodore stuff means so much to most of the people who grew up here. Hence my feeling of being kicked when you said "if you have to blame anyone blame yourselves". Possibly true but not what anyone wants to hear right now.

It is a lot more than a piece of machinery. Its what my pop drove us along country roads in rural Victoria. They are the cars my dad and i watched on TV every Sunday and so on. I drove my pops 2 speed powerglide HR at 160kph up the highway to get to my dad 8n hospital before he died

They are both gone and these memories are all that is left and now the Holdens that were a part of them are gone as well.

Just a bit sad whoever is to blame

 

[figjam]

That is true but the faithful started deserting the badge a few years earlier than the start of the ZB series. Sales started declining in 2003 and have never recovered since then. There were simply not enough of the "Holden Faithful" to keep it going.

I don't know how many Australians are "Holden Faithful", I suppose I am one.
But my garage is full of aging Australian made cars, a 11 year old Ford, and 17 and 15 year old Holdens, so I am part of the problem for not buying new Australian/Holden cars.
As I have written before on his forum, Holden did not build what I wanted to replace them with. And that goes back to GM refusing to greenlight those Holden proposed replacements.
There is no way I am buying Mustang, a suspension and brake challenged soot blowing 'ute', or a monstrous gas-guzzler truck, and there will be time in the future where my age and physical ability will dictate that I buy a small, turbo'd 3 cyl, 1 litre, FWD, Chinese made 'performance' SUV.

It is all too late to speculate on what might have been. Holden had the only factory in the world to make a range of different vehicles on the same assembly line. I refuse to believe that in 2006, they could not have started to ramp up production to supply the GM RHD world with just about anything.
Ahhh … but the costs !! ..... BS. Volume exports as GM badged, not Holden, vehicles would have amortised that.
Ahhh...… but what about hybrids and electric cars ?? More BS. Remember the eCommodore, and that Australia led the world at the time with solar powered prototype vehicles.

Anyhow, I'm off now to clean my teeth with my Indian made toothpaste on my Indonesian made toothbrush.

 

[blackve76]

My VF SS has 6600kms on it at this rate should last until no fuel so I'm all good.

 

[blackve76]

Email I received from Holden,

Dear Trevor,

By now, you may have heard the news that General Motors will be retiring the Holden brand in Australia and New Zealand. This announcement will be felt deeply by the entire Holden family, our customers and our fans.

While we understand the impact that this decision may have on you, we want to provide assurance that Holden will continue to support customers in the following ways:

· Honour all existing warranties and guarantees

· Honour all free scheduled servicing offers

· Ongoing call centre support

· Provide servicing and spare parts for at least 10 years, through national aftersales networks in Australia and New Zealand

· Recalls or safety-related issues if they arise

We have a long transition in front of us and we are focused on supporting our customers and our Dealers through this change. The doors do not close tomorrow. In fact, your local Dealership remains in operation and any existing bookings and agreements remain in place.

We are commencing work with our Dealer partners on timing to cease sales of new vehicles, as well as transitioning dealerships to authorised service outlets. Any future changes to our Dealer network that have a direct impact on you, will be communicated at that time.

This decision has not been taken lightly, especially considering the iconic status of the Holden brand. Holden will always have a special place in the development of our countries. As Australia and New Zealand grew, Holden was a part of the engine room fuelling that development.

This announcement will be felt deeply by the many people who love Holden, drive a Holden and feel connected to our company which has been with us for 160 years.

Kristian Aquilina

Interim Chairman and Managing Director
GM Holden

It's a big cost to close down surprised they didn't sell the rights to a importer company and network.

 

[Calaber]

It's a big cost to close down surprised they didn't sell the rights to a importer company and network.

If GM hadn't done so much to repress the Holden name overseas, it might have been worth something to another buyer but taking the brand on probably isn't an option. Its very different with names like MG, which was well known world wide.

 

[Skylarking]

yeah don't think that's the case.. what if new VF sales had have hypothetically been continuing now or into 2021/22 for a handful of unsold cars?

Quite sure it’s as I’ve described... have a look at the following from @mpower’s post, particularly Mahmoud’s example.

https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/products-and-services/problems-with-a-product/cannot-be-repaired

Repairs and spare parts are available for a reasonable amount of time
Examples only (outcomes may differ in individual cases):

Mahmoud buys a new camera. Six months later, the camera stops working. Mahmoud discovers the camera was a discontinued model, and the manufacturer cannot access spare parts to fix his camera. The manufacturer did not ensure that repairs and spare parts were available. This is a major problem, so Mahmoud can ask for a refund or replacement.

Rohan bought a new shirt, and when he took the shirt home several buttons came off due to poor stitching. The tailor who made the shirt could not supply matching buttons. Rohan is entitled to ask for a replacement or refund.

 

[wetwork65]

Email I received from Holden,

Dear Trevor,

By now, you may have heard the news that General Motors will be retiring the Holden brand in Australia and New Zealand. This announcement will be felt deeply by the entire Holden family, our customers and our fans.

While we understand the impact that this decision may have on you, we want to provide assurance that Holden will continue to support customers in the following ways:

· Honour all existing warranties and guarantees

· Honour all free scheduled servicing offers

· Ongoing call centre support

· Provide servicing and spare parts for at least 10 years, through national aftersales networks in Australia and New Zealand

· Recalls or safety-related issues if they arise

We have a long transition in front of us and we are focused on supporting our customers and our Dealers through this change. The doors do not close tomorrow. In fact, your local Dealership remains in operation and any existing bookings and agreements remain in place.

We are commencing work with our Dealer partners on timing to cease sales of new vehicles, as well as transitioning dealerships to authorised service outlets. Any future changes to our Dealer network that have a direct impact on you, will be communicated at that time.

This decision has not been taken lightly, especially considering the iconic status of the Holden brand. Holden will always have a special place in the development of our countries. As Australia and New Zealand grew, Holden was a part of the engine room fuelling that development.

This announcement will be felt deeply by the many people who love Holden, drive a Holden and feel connected to our company which has been with us for 160 years.

Kristian Aquilina

Interim Chairman and Managing Director
GM Holden

I wonder what Kristian's new job will be?
One of the 200 left behind to answer the phone for a while? Doubt it.

 

[tml678]

Quite sure it’s as I’ve described... have a look at the following from @mpower’s post, particularly Mahmoud’s example.

https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/products-and-services/problems-with-a-product/cannot-be-repaired

Repairs and spare parts are available for a reasonable amount of time
Examples only (outcomes may differ in individual cases):

Mahmoud buys a new camera. Six months later, the camera stops working. Mahmoud discovers the camera was a discontinued model, and the manufacturer cannot access spare parts to fix his camera. The manufacturer did not ensure that repairs and spare parts were available. This is a major problem, so Mahmoud can ask for a refund or replacement.

Rohan bought a new shirt, and when he took the shirt home several buttons came off due to poor stitching. The tailor who made the shirt could not supply matching buttons. Rohan is entitled to ask for a replacement or refund.

not sure comparing a shirt or camera to a soon to be defunct car company is comparing apples and oranges. And I'm not sure it's reasonable to expect that someone who buys a 'new old model' car some years after manufacturing ceases should have the same expectation as to the availability of spare parts for the same time period as the person who bought the car whilst it was still in production.

In any case, the person who bought that last VF in 2019 has a guarantee until 2023 at least. Four years on an obsolete car from a defunct manufacturer would seem more than reasonable in most peoples books I would suggest.

 

[Skylarking]

What alt.right bullshit website did you get that crap from? There is actually only a few percent difference in CO2/heat between black and brown coal.

Go to a black coal power station and look at the size of the burner-boiler, then do the same with a brown coal power station of comparable power output... notice the huge difference in burner-boiler size... hint: it’s a heck of a lot more than a few % bigger.

Brown coal contain lots of moisture, up to 70%, so brown coal consumption is considerably higher than black coal. The fuel itself, which can be wet, is dried by the hot combustion gasses, then pulverised and thrown into the huge burner... as such so much more brown coal is burnt as compared to bone dry black coal... So not alt-right or anything... just visual observation

Heck, getting rid of brown coal power and replacing it with black coal would be a huge CO2 reduction (if you negate the CO2 produced by black coal transport).

 

[Skylarking]

not sure comparing a shirt or camera to a soon to be defunct car company is comparing apples and oranges. And I'm not sure it's reasonable to expect that someone who buys a 'new old model' car some years after manufacturing ceases should have the same expectation as to the availability of spare parts for the same time period as the person who bought the car whilst it was still in production.

In any case, the person who bought that last VF in 2019 has a guarantee until 2023 at least. Four years on an obsolete car from a defunct manufacturer would seem more than reasonable in most peoples books I would suggest.

In law the car is viewed just like the camera and shirt example which are all equally valid.

The real issue is if a manufacturer/importer ceases operations and divests all assets. What and who is left to provide any support to buyers or dealers.... no shop front to go to... no one to complain to... Luckily the dealer is still on the hook but how many have closed shop, phoenixed the ABN and wiped their hands of the whole shebang...

The law is clear... sell a product and you must support it.
The law is also clear on winding down a company... and the limited liability around things... don’t leave enough funds within the remaining shell to provide the needed support and it goes under freeing one of the burden (which seems to be the way, just look at what James hardy did).