Commodore Name Sentenced To Death

[Big-Al]

It was time for a new name anyway.

 

[Calaber]

If its not made here dont use the iconic name. Im not old enough so can someone tell me, did people care that much when the kingswood ended production? Keeping in mind it wasnt this easy to communicate. Its more about no more aussie built cars. Every new car we buy will profit another country.

When the HZ Kingswood sedans and wagons went out of production in 1980, Holden made a commercial stating that after twelve years, the Kingswood would soon be no more, and urged people who might still want one to purchase it before it was too late. At that time, the Commodore was really starting to take off and the Kingswoods at dealerships were sort of shoved to the back of the showroom. They were yesterday's cars, they looked pretty old by then (the basic shape was nine years old, after all) and the Commodore was a much more modern car, with distinct European styling. As best as I can recall, the end of the Kingswood didn't really upset people much and the name wasn't really all that iconic. Whilst Kingswood and Belmont are both suburbs in NSW, they actually originate from much older Chevrolet models in the states.

As pointed out elsewhere in this thread, the Commodore nameplate isn't even Australian anyway - the VB brought it to Aus, but it had been running around for a few years on Opels. I think by the end of the VF, it will have run its course and a new name would be fine with me.

What wouldn't be good though is the thought that we no longer had the Holden brand name and we were offered bloody Chev badged Opels. If GM does dump the Holden name, they will effectively kill off much of whatever brand loyalty remains at that time.

 

[c2105026]

Keeping the extra badge/model would cost GM more. Having unique trim, badges, even handbooks, dealership material etc, being unique, would increase cost. The people who will buy a holden for it's RWD heritage won't buy an Insignia (or similar) badged as a Holden, for then it's really not that much different from say a Camry or Mazda6 (bit bigger perhaps?). So, to keep costs down...yup I see GM forsaking the minor brand loyalty to save on making duplicate trim items.

GM has made a rod for their own back by having multiple brands worldwide. You can buy a Cruze as a Chev or a Holden, the Astra is sold as Vauxhall or Opel, GM even sells Chevs in the EU against local Opel/Vauxhall product. Duplicate brands and models increases overheads. OTOH Ford has the one brand basically everywhere; the only major market you cannot buy a Ford Fiesta is Russia, but you can get the Focus anyway. Maybe a reason why GM just about went broke in the GFC, and Ford didn't (I think...)

 

[Bravotwozero]

Might finally get a Holden with decent build quality if a Euro is imported. Kind of surprised they'd go that route though. The main argument for canning the Vectra and Astra and changing the Barina to a Korean car was because of the cost of importing Euros.

 

[Towcar]

“But when executives from North America come out to Australia, they take photos of Chevrolet badges that people have fitted to their Holden (cars), and use that against us.”

PMSL.

I agree Commodore name should be retired when it is no longer produced in RWD

To be honest, I will not buy a GM/Holden/Opal FWD car, there are plenty of other options out there for that, but few, and getting fewer RWD cars, the best of these to me is the Commodore.

 

[commodore665]

I kind of excited to see what does replace the Commodore , but that means I might have to change my user name , how does Great Wall 665 sound .

 

[monkey]

How does Great Wall 665 sound? Not good, not good at all

 

[commodore665]

How does Great Wall 665 sound? Not good, not good at all

Ah well, just a thought

 

[Calaber]

Keeping the extra badge/model would cost GM more. Having unique trim, badges, even handbooks, dealership material etc, being unique, would increase cost. The people who will buy a holden for it's RWD heritage won't buy an Insignia (or similar) badged as a Holden, for then it's really not that much different from say a Camry or Mazda6 (bit bigger perhaps?). So, to keep costs down...yup I see GM forsaking the minor brand loyalty to save on making duplicate trim items.

GM has made a rod for their own back by having multiple brands worldwide. You can buy a Cruze as a Chev or a Holden, the Astra is sold as Vauxhall or Opel, GM even sells Chevs in the EU against local Opel/Vauxhall product. Duplicate brands and models increases overheads. OTOH Ford has the one brand basically everywhere; the only major market you cannot buy a Ford Fiesta is Russia, but you can get the Focus anyway. Maybe a reason why GM just about went broke in the GFC, and Ford didn't (I think...)

If we accept your point of view, why market Daewoo or Opel models as Holdens now, or as has happened since the first Viva appeared in 1964? The name "Holden" actually means something in this country, in the same way that "Chevrolet" does in the US. Do you really think the cost of a few badges, handbooks etc, are worth the risk of killing off any brand loyalty? Many people who know nothing about cars but buy Holdens do so because the name means something to them, in the belief that they are true "Holdens", not badged Daewoos, Opels or even Suzukia and Toyotas at one time.

If the name meant nothing, why do we still have it? So what if Ford is Ford regardless of where you go in the world? Are you then suggesting that Opel (strongly identified within Germany as a German brand) or Vauxhall (the butt of Top Gear jokes, but better cars than Jeremy will admit because they are really Opels) should all become Chevrolets too? If the car is made in RHD and meets ADR's, the cost of making it comply is met by the Corporate Head Office. Those costs will be the ones that influence the eventual price here, not a few badges and books.

And this bullshit about people not buying FWD cars because Holdens have traditionally been RWD needs to be put to bed. People have been buying FWD cars for many decades, without any idea which wheels propel the things and not giving a damn. Most car buyers are NOT car nuts - it's only enthusiasts like you get on this forum who get emotional over the thought that RWD will die out and say they won't buy "X" because it is/will be FWD. If someone came up to me and said "would you like this Insignia?", I wouldn't have the slightest hesitation in accepting it, because of the engineering standards the car was built to, and RWD be damned. I know I am not alone with that view.

I reckon the brand name should and will stay, regardless of which end of the car does the work.

 

[c2105026]

If we accept your point of view, why market Daewoo or Opel models as Holdens now, or as has happened since the first Viva appeared in 1964? The name "Holden" actually means something in this country, in the same way that "Chevrolet" does in the US. Do you really think the cost of a few badges, handbooks etc, are worth the risk of killing off any brand loyalty? Many people who know nothing about cars but buy Holdens do so because the name means something to them, in the belief that they are true "Holdens", not badged Daewoos, Opels or even Suzukia and Toyotas at one time.

If the name meant nothing, why do we still have it? So what if Ford is Ford regardless of where you go in the world? Are you then suggesting that Opel (strongly identified within Germany as a German brand) or Vauxhall (the butt of Top Gear jokes, but better cars than Jeremy will admit because they are really Opels) should all become Chevrolets too? If the car is made in RHD and meets ADR's, the cost of making it comply is met by the Corporate Head Office. Those costs will be the ones that influence the eventual price here, not a few badges and books.

And this bullshit about people not buying FWD cars because Holdens have traditionally been RWD needs to be put to bed. People have been buying FWD cars for many decades, without any idea which wheels propel the things and not giving a damn. Most car buyers are NOT car nuts - it's only enthusiasts like you get on this forum who get emotional over the thought that RWD will die out and say they won't buy "X" because it is/will be FWD. If someone came up to me and said "would you like this Insignia?", I wouldn't have the slightest hesitation in accepting it, because of the engineering standards the car was built to, and RWD be damned. I know I am not alone with that view.

I reckon the brand name should and will stay, regardless of which end of the car does the work.

We still have the name because the Commodore (a 'true' locally engineered Holden model) is still at the guts of the range, and makes up a good fraction of the sales. With the Commodore gone, there will be less incentive to keep the name on obviously. At the very least the Detroit beancounters would be analysing the cost of a duplicate brand as compared to income generated from customer loyalty to that duplicate brand. It may well be the case that enough Cruzes, Barinas, Trax, Epicas etc are bought simply because they are badged Holdens to justify keeping the name alive. It's true there is brand duplication in GM and the Vauxhall brand is really only sold in the UK, but with a local market of a mere 24 million people, one brand just for such a small market, hmm, dunno.

As for me, well, I got the VB because I wanted a classic car, not because I wanted a Holden, actually. I very nearly got a '65 VW Beetle instead. I got the VX because I wanted a big daily driver car for a change, and it was the best available locally. When I got the Fiesta I could have got a Barina but I got the most driver-focused car I could buy at my price point, badge be damned. Could my next classic be another Holden? Maybe but classic holdens are dear, there is better value to be found in other marques.

However, there is nothing sadder for a badge to be trading simply on what it 'was'. When Commodore goes, and assuming the Holden marque remains, Holden may well be doing this. Other brands are guilty of this. OTOH there are other brands whose time is now or will be in the future.