Australian March 2009 Sales Results

Twenty years ago, who would have thought that Toyota would not only top the sales charts - they would outsell Holden by about 50%?

 

DO you know why ??

they build beter cars and holden is selling less cars because more then 1/2 the cars from holden ARE NOT holdens.

the commerdore is too big for old poeple, the barina is a daewoo( now chevi ) and its not a nice car and not appealing for the young.
and everything between it is OLD models from OPEL or daewoo.

if holden wants too improve sales get the OPEL Insignia too aussie and the new opel corsa.

but thats what i think

 

If Holden knew what they were doing they'd be driving to drive the Astra further into the market place. Instead they're talking about axing it. Go figure.

Best thing that can happen to Holden right now would be for GM to cut them loose and a private investor to pick them up.

 

mr reaper :Clearly you don't.as you wrote has nothing 2 do with it. just a different opinion .
toyota hasent been sleeping the last few years they have been exploring every segment for years. yes they have more money than holden but holden is GM.and GM as you know is about 15 brands world wide and there 4 plenty of know how.
and quality has got alot to do with it. toyota has been top of the satisfaction list for years ( j.d.powers in u.s.a) all around the world.

 

With the way car prices are going they're practically disposable. Drive them till too many parts fall off, then throw it in the bin and get a new one.

Barina's have always been aimed at the budget segment, it makes sense they'd offer the cheapest tin can on wheels they can. The Astra I really can't fathom because that's where I see the money to be made, small quality cars.

Astra's are still a good car. Underrated in my opinion. Now the Vectra has been phased out I'll be interesting to see how well the Epica takes off... Poorly as far as I can tell.

It's an easy mistake to assume that just because a business is big, that the corporate knowledge they've accumulated is well documented, managed and disseminated appropriately throughout the business. Often this is not the case.

I think part of the reason that the Japanese car makers have the upper hand now is not so much that their vehicles are superior (in many cases they are, but in many cases they aren't), rather it's that their local markets have been demanding smaller more practical, economical cars for far longer than ours and the US have. They've gotten the game down well, whereas the Yanks are playing catch up.

 

Umm aren't they the February results, not March???

 

Mavro

I already had a pretty fair idea of WHY Toyota heads Holden today - my question was rhetorical.

As Reaper said, the range of Toyota vehicles is astonishing - in my opinion, far too large. They make a vehicle to suit every niche of the market, then create a new niche and fill it with a new design. Think about the RAV, Prado and Landcruiser. Who else has 3 separate 4WD vehicles aimed at the passenger market? And does the market really need all 3?

Toyota has marketed itself on quality for years and this is a claim which has stood up well. They have a reputation for solid and reliable cars. People who only want reliable, comfortable transport think Toyota. People who like to drive cars with a bit of character and excitement don't. Toyotas are bland and boring - I hate the bloody things, because they invariably seem to attract the triffid who just wants to drive at their own pace and do everything possible to annoy other drivers (especially the elderly, who seem to love Camrys).

The other point to Toyota's success is that their cars have been more attuned to market requirements for many years. With the exceptions of the Lexcen and Avalon, all their cars have succeeded in Australia, because they were marketed as economical, well engineered and practical. And that's exactly what they were.

Holden, on the other hand, is driven by a company that has failed to read the future as well as Toyota. GM is in trouble because for years, the big money on the US market came from small trucks and they were the vehicles that dominated the passenger market. The standards of engineering and advancement needed to improve trucks was not very high, so their market suffered through lack of need to build anything better. Now it has come home to bite them - hard. Nobody wants trucks, V8's are now being seen as evil, because fuel prices in the States are finally starting to reflect real world trends, the Government is now pulling the strings and the cars that GM needs are still only prototypes or drawing board proposals. All need time and massive funding to reach the market, neither of which GM has.

It's true that Holden's marketing decisions in recent years have been bad. Because of the need to maintain the $13990 pricing for the Barina, the XC Barina was dumped as it cost too much. Enter a tired and crude old Daewoo we had already seen and disliked. Likewise the TS Astra - replaced by the Viva. Another rehash of an unpopular Daewoo. The Epica - updated Leganza. How Holden thought that marketing Daewoos, which were very poorly regarded in this country, as Holdens, would work is beyond me. Only the Captiva is worth considering and it had considerable Holden input in its design.

If Holden was disposed of (and this is not too likely, surprisingly, it's Opel and Vauxhall that GM has discussed selling off), I would hate to see it end up in Chinese hands, which is the most likely scenario.

 

well said, all correct.....
this is the point i was trying to make to Reaper....
and yes THEY are boring inside and out, and when I'm 65 years old I mite buy one.

 

for an "economic downturn" im glad to hear things are starting to stabilize, everyone seems to be very worried about all this..

as long as when i want a new car someone is making me one and i can buy it, im happy, just like everyone else buying new cars.
the rise and fall of the economy is a neverending circle. i work in retail, and yeah its slowed up a little, but it cant run guns blazing forever.

 

GM is trying to sell Opel off (for $1 actually) with the whole restructure and CH11 issue they are going through. So there may be a problem there if they tried pushing it.

 

I Holden knew what they were doing they would have released the twin turbo short wheelbase Torana Hatch instead of the VE 6 litre barge. Like we all wanted them to do 5 years ago. Sure the VE is selling well but choped a couple / three hundred kilos out of it and see how good that would be

 

The falcon is a goner surely. 1,990 sales compared to 3,544 for the VE and the VE is nearly 3 years old, whilst the FG is still quite new. Not to mention in 6 cylinder form its also the better car and the sticker on the window shows 9.9L per 100km mileage.

I really don't see Ford Aus keeping a RWD aussie built Falcon much longer because its never going to sell. They build the better car and still get outsold nearly 2 to 1, why bother.

 

Reaper = funny screw the Americans! I hope the government buy Holden

 

Hmm... hadn't heard that. Surprising because Opel do quite well in the European market, as do Vauxhall (the Euro branding for Holden).

I'm hoping that only the GM retardmobiles, like the huge SUVs/Suburbans/trucks etc get axed, because some of their cars are actually decent and would be a shame to see them disappear.