Recently I've started receiving online updates from a GM related site giving the developments planned for the company and the most profitable lines. No surprise, they are turning their fortunes around by cutting costs (closing plants), cutting models, particularly sedans and marketing more expensive trucks. Cadillac looks to be the only brand that will continue building sedans, but the emphasise will be on electric powered models under development now.
When you read their production plans, there is a massive emphasis on Chinese manufacture of GM models and GM selling Chinese vehicles in some markets as GM cars (sound familiar?) The one thing that's obvious to me is that RHD markets are of little interest to GM, as there are very few open RHD markets these days world wide. The largest, Britain, was abandoned with the sale of Vauxhall/Opel and the other large RHD country, Japan, is virtually closed to large scale imports. So how would you honestly expect, or believe, that GM really has any long range intention of selling cars here?
The doomsday merchants who claim Holden could have remained viable as a local builder disregard a few important facts. 1. Large sedans are unwanted worldwide. 2. GM's obvious determination to take advantage of much lower wages and production costs, and larger market share offered by China. 3. The comparative lack of success of the VF2 as a Chev simply reinforces the increasing demand for trucks in the States and the declining demand for cars like the VF in that market. 4. The fact that the last VF left the production line over 13 years after the first VE. The model had reached the end of its marketable life. This is borne out by the existence of unsold VF2's 18 months after production ceased.
