Calaber
Nil Bastardo Carborundum
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2007
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- Location
- Lower Hunter Region NSW
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- CG Captiva 5 Series 2
TBH that has as much credibility as Mike Deveraux saying right up to the start of this year that "no decision has been made to cease manufacturing in Australia". It was out and out bullshit. The decision was made a long time ago and the only blank to fill in was "When"
Because they are priced out of the segment here for reasons that are beyond me. Further, the recent Opel debarcle defied belief. What a disaster - from the biggest auto maker in the world Word is that Opel is coming back under the Holden banner though.
Correct.
My bet is that dealerships will be converted over to "GM" in the 3 years post 2017 with various sub brands attached. Near certain that the Holden name will be phased out but not for some time.
Coming to a "GM" dealership near you in 2017/18
Reap
I dunno - I am convinced the Holden brand WILL remain, for much longer than seems to be the view here. To me, thee is a huge difference between deciding whether to keep local manufacture, and whether to keep the existing brand. I don't accept that the name has run its course just because local production will cease. It's a readily recognisable brand name that is as iconic as Vegemite or Qantas. Australian's don't own Kraft, who owns the Vegemite name (and probably won't own Qantas much longer either), yet there is never a suggestion that those names be dumped. Keep in mind that the Holden brand existed long before General Motors was established and it IS a historic Australian company name in that sense. It isn't a confected (ie made up)name and it IS Australian in origin. I reckon it's safe.
My question regarding the sales of Opels here related to the future, not past experience. For whatever reason, but I suspect pricing, the Opel name flopped here last year. Astras and Vectras were very popular when sold as Holdens and were amongst the best in their class at the time. Even the AH Astras sold well, despite far more serious competition than their earlier versions faced. Holden has acknowledged that the model break up here is no longer competitive and that they need to look to Europe for new models. A new convertible Opel has already been demonstrated as a forthcoming Holden and the Astra is back on the menu. Pricing will always be an issue, as the Koreans have improved in huge leaps over recent years and their cars are now extremely competitive in every sector where they appear, so any marketing for the Euro Holdens will have to be on quality and engineering standards, rather than price.
Finally, if those new Euro models appear here as "Holdens", how does GM break the cycle and re-invent them as something else somewhere down the track? My bet is that the company will introduce completely new models over two or three years, including whatever replaced the Commodore, and continue marketing under the existing brand name. If sales do improve to the levels they are hoping for, the obvious question would be "Why fix what ain't broken?"