new member, new RS-V wagon, new look at an old name...

[arsevee]

Yes Prix Car they bought out toll Car carrying. An odd name and low key livery but the major player in car carrying interstate.

Good call on the RSV. Cant understand why Holden have just given up on ZB. Surely the buyers of Lexus BMW Merc sedans -some wish an alternative that's better value but nearly as many features. Why don't Holden advertise it run some ads in say Wheels or Modern Motor one of the last homes of drivers or car enthusiasts.

What does Hi per front suspension mean and do.

What you have told me is not good. I,m starting to think about buying a V6 zb rather than a 4 cyl. Not too much more expensive more features lazier easier drivetrain runs on 91 or e 10 rather than 95.

I don't think you're going to cross-shop a ZB against a premium Euro, but you're certainly going to compare it to the Mondeo, Mazda 6, Subarus etc. - as I keep telling people - where else are you going to get a year-old German-built V6 AWD for under $25k ($30k for the RS-V wagon).

-

HiPer strut is 'Hi Performance' - it's a modified McPherson strut that isolates the up-down movement of the wheel from the turning of the wheel hub - keeps the steering geometry more aligned throughout it's travel and provides better tracking - just Google it:

-

If you're in Qld. and do go with the four-pot, use United Fuel's E10 - it's 95RON and works really well - I've used it for years in several Euro fours with no issues - a lot cheaper than the usual 95RON. I'll be using it in the V6 anyway as it's a good quality fuel and United are an 'independent' group.

 

[kos]

Thanks for that info. I use e 10 from United in my current turbo 4 loves it.

But I still dont understand why Holden have given up on ZB , its a great car.

Maybe they don't make any money out of it as Opel is owned by PSA now.

 

[arsevee]

Thanks for that info. I use e 10 from United in my current turbo 4 loves it.

But I still dont understand why Holden have given up on ZB , its a great car.

Maybe they don't make any money out of it as Opel is owned by PSA now.

Honestly, I don't think they gave up, I think at a Dealer level they're just lazy...

At H.O. level, they're making more money on SUVs so focussing on the 'easy-sell' & think they're avoiding the 'mistake' they made by not calling it an Insignia...

If they promoted the car properly they'd probably sell more, but remember the buying public has gone away from large sedans, so it's going to be a hard sell whatever happens.

Personally I think they should focus their efforts on the Sportwagon.

 

[kos]

I read that the Vauxhall sports wagon :insignia has stopped production.. due to poor sales.
With the euro market being mainly left hand drive maybe this spells the end of zb sports wagon in oz.

And while Holden might be focussed on Trax Acadia and equinox commodore sold 412 last month the 3 suvs sold bout 200 each. Sure the zb is probably all low margin fleet sales.

I dont understand people lady at work 3 kids got a ve wagon time to trade up. I said have a look at zb. They bought a 2.5 Nissan x trail for 25 and she loves it. Reckons it’s got plenty of grunt on country roads lol reckon not.

 

[_R_J_K_]

Cant understand why Holden have just given up on ZB. Surely the buyers of Lexus BMW Merc sedans -some wish an alternative that's better value but nearly as many features. Why don't Holden advertise it run some ads in say Wheels or Modern Motor one of the last homes of drivers or car enthusiasts.

I think you've missed the main demographic of people that would buy BMWs and Mercs, not to mention the brand whoring. ZB just doesn't compare (or have the ability to) performance wise to those cars either. It's going to take more than some advertising to change peoples brand perceptions and proven results of other similar car lines that were released over 10 years before the ZB came to market, particularly when new ZBs are far and away more expensive than similar cars they're competing with.

Reckons it’s got plenty of grunt on country roads lol reckon not.

Have you driven one?

 

[kos]

I take your point but how does a 4 cyl merc c class for example compare in price and performance vs zb rs 2 litre?
Surely zb in 4 and v 6 is the value proposition.

No I haven’t driven a Nissan in 17 years when I gave up a company car maxima 3 litre v 6 as I changed jobs.

 

[arsevee]

I read that the Vauxhall sports wagon :insignia has stopped production.. due to poor sales.

They sold over 80,000 Opel/Vauxhall Insignias in 2018...

But it seems PSA are deliberately slowing production of ALL Opel/Vauxhall vehicles - seems as though they're trying to shift buyers to the Peugeot & Citröen brands in Europe.

 

[kos]

I read because of Brexit the car factories in the uk that build some Vauxhall models are on thin ice.

But the insignia is built in Germany. PSA bought the plant from GM when they bought Opel.

But the market fail of zb in Australia will be an interesting study for marketing students in a couple of years. GM cocked a lot of things up.
Zb is another cock up as far as marketing sales and planning goes. If it had a Toyota badge it would fly out of the showrooms ditto if it had a Mazda badge.

 

[arsevee]

I think you've missed the main demographic of people that would buy BMWs and Mercs, not to mention the brand whoring. ZB just doesn't compare (or have the ability to) performance wise to those cars either. It's going to take more than some advertising to change peoples brand perceptions and proven results of other similar car lines that were released over 10 years before the ZB came to market, particularly when new ZBs are far and away more expensive than similar cars they're competing with.

You're not gong to cross-shop a ZB Commodore with a C-Class or a 3-series, you're going to be comparing it with Mondeos and Mazda 6s - at which point they are price-competitive; I've just been through that exercise...

 

[arsevee]

I read because of Brexit the car factories in the uk that build some Vauxhall models are on thin ice.

But the insignia is built in Germany. PSA bought the plant from GM when they bought Opel.

But the market fail of zb in Australia will be an interesting study for marketing students in a couple of years. GM cocked a lot of things up.
Zb is another cock up as far as marketing sales and planning goes. If it had a Toyota badge it would fly out of the showrooms ditto if it had a Mazda badge.

Most UK manufacturing in the UK is on thin ice ATM, until they sort out Brexit...

Not sure why you say the ZB is a 'market fail' when it's consistently outselling every other brand apart from Toyota - much of the problem (apart from the negative sentiment brought on by using the Commodore name) is the fact that the mid-large sedan marketplace, which for decades has been the mainstream in Oz, has now almost totally shifted to SUVs. The same thing is happening with Opel/Vauxhall/Buick - it's not just a ZB issue...