Confirmed: Holden Manufacturing in Australia to Close 2017

[SavVYute]

http://http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/holden-numbers-tell-the-story-for-the-small-fry-of-general-motors-ecosystem-20131213-2zcyb.html

Interesting read. Explains a lot.

 

[mpower]

http://http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/holden-numbers-tell-the-story-for-the-small-fry-of-general-motors-ecosystem-20131213-2zcyb.html

Interesting read. Explains a lot.

That whole read made me sad, especially just how cavalier those jerks in parliament can be.

 

[SavVYute]

It made me think "just how incompetent are these guys running the show?"

To put the size and scale of that writeoff in perspective, GM has signed a $US559 million, seven-year deal to put the Chevrolet name on Manchester United's shirt. The first year of that deal - the biggest endorsement in European football - is next season, by which time GM won't actually be selling Chevrolet cars in Europe.
Manchester United announced the deal on a Friday and GM announced the resignation of chief marketing officer Joel Ewanick the following Sunday night. ''Mr Ewanick failed to meet the expectations the company set for its employees,'' was GM's statement.

 

[cali]

I heard a whisper that Toyota is next to exit Australia,sounds like Aussie is going the same way NZ did 20 years ago and just have a distribution centre.Besides whatever car they end up importing and calling it a Holden will basically be made in China as the bulk of the components will be made there so we may as well all go an buy a Great Wall and be done with it.

 

[Calaber]

Anyway read a report on news.com.au suggesting Holden could be rebranded as Chevrolet. Makes sense. People already fit chev badges to Commodores lol.......apparently there are 233 dealerships remaining (used to be 500!), and would cost 500k-1000k to rebrand each site. New signs must be expensive.......

I don't think it makes any sense at all to sell the cars here under the Chevrolet name. The Holden name has a meaning in this country and nowhere else. It is just as iconic to Australians as Chevrolet is to Americans. Sure, the Holden dominance of the market has diminished dramatically but the name still has a strong presence here, even if local production is only a small percentage of the total sales.

I believe that failing to retain the Holden name will ensure that the market share of the company after local production ceases will drop like a stone. Chevrolet is recognisably American but it lacks the cachet in Australia that it has in the States. It has no higher reputation for engineering excellence and quality than does Holden; it is after all, the GM cheapie of their range. It is only petrol heads who would honestly want the Holden name to be replaced here by "Chevrolet".

 

[corhijasna]

I think the name holden should stay however before there was holden most of the cars on the roads in the pre-war era and shortly after were fords and chevs etc,it was the government of the day after the war that wanted a Australian named and built car for Australia,hence how holden came to be

personally if they are fully imported I would still buy a chev as long as it is similar to the commodore,the name could still remain just be built elsewhere

 

[SavVYute]

Forget the commodore name and revive the torana with the chev 130r?
Yeah....

 

[TMM]

personally if they are fully imported I would still buy a chev as long as it is similar to the commodore,the name could still remain just be built elsewhere

You would buy a front wheel drive american pile of junk? Ok then.

Granted, Australian build quality is nothing to write home about but American build quality really does take it to all new lows. Not to mention that most american cars are appalling soulless front wheel drive turd burgers. Excepting the Corvette and Camaro (which is built on the Commodore platform..), not a single model in Chevrolet's current car lineup is front engined and rear wheel drive like the Commodore, nor is any model remotely driver oriented. They are all white goods on wheels, designed to transport fat americans from A to B as economically as possible.

I'd sooner drive a Toyota Camry or whatever the Korean flavour of the week is than a badge engineered chevrolet large car. If i'm going to buy a white good, i might as well get one that is put together properly.

The closest you will get to a Commodore or Falcon is a BMW 5 series. The large FR cars are a dying breed and it's sad to see them go, or at least be pushed up into a more 'exclusive' price bracket.

I heard a whisper that Toyota is next to exit Australia,sounds like Aussie is going the same way NZ did 20 years ago and just have a distribution centre.Besides whatever car they end up importing and calling it a Holden will basically be made in China as the bulk of the components will be made there so we may as well all go an buy a Great Wall and be done with it.

That is an extreme generalization. You can build quality products in China, you just have to invest the right amount of money into the factory. It's just that cheap labour causes China to become a hub for making cheap products (like Great Walls...).
Look how far Korean cars have come in the past 10-20 years. Chinese cars will follow suit.

 

[cali]

You would buy a front wheel drive american pile of junk? Ok then.

Granted, Australian build quality is nothing to write home about but American build quality really does take it to all new lows. Not to mention that most american cars are appalling soulless front wheel drive turd burgers. Excepting the Corvette and Camaro (which is built on the Commodore platform..), not a single model in Chevrolet's current car lineup is front engined and rear wheel drive like the Commodore, nor is any model remotely driver oriented. They are all white goods on wheels, designed to transport fat americans from A to B as economically as possible.

I'd sooner drive a Toyota Camry or whatever the Korean flavour of the week is than a badge engineered chevrolet large car. If i'm going to buy a white good, i might as well get one that is put together properly.

The closest you will get to a Commodore or Falcon is a BMW 5 series. The large FR cars are a dying breed and it's sad to see them go, or at least be pushed up into a more 'exclusive' price bracket.


That is an extreme generalization. You can build quality products in China, you just have to invest the right amount of money into the factory. It's just that cheap labour causes China to become a hub for making cheap products (like Great Walls...).
Look how far Korean cars have come in the past 10-20 years. Chinese cars will follow suit.

Will HSV carry on with the v8,or will they just suck the sav and try and convince people that a four cylinder is the new v8 (look what happened with the xu6).

 

[corhijasna]

You would buy a front wheel drive american pile of junk? Ok then.

Granted, Australian build quality is nothing to write home about but American build quality really does take it to all new lows. Not to mention that most american cars are appalling soulless front wheel drive turd burgers. Excepting the Corvette and Camaro (which is built on the Commodore platform..), not a single model in Chevrolet's current car lineup is front engined and rear wheel drive like the Commodore, nor is any model remotely driver oriented. They are all white goods on wheels, designed to transport fat americans from A to B as economically as possible.

I'd sooner drive a Toyota Camry or whatever the Korean flavour of the week is than a badge engineered chevrolet large car. If i'm going to buy a white good, i might as well get one that is put together properly.

The closest you will get to a Commodore or Falcon is a BMW 5 series. The large FR cars are a dying breed and it's sad to see them go, or at least be pushed up into a more 'exclusive' price bracket.

no offence but in time all the vehicles will be fully imported,half the commodore is now.chev or buick motor etc
no I wouldn't buy a front wheel drive vehicle unless I had no choice as I did with the aurion,good car,no good for heavy towing etc
makes no difference to me where the car is made as long as it suits my requirements,i would and always will support the aussie made gear however if they are not made here I don't have much choice