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"Why Holden turned its back on bogans"

Wildboy

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I've owned a 1971 HQ Kingswood station wagon, 1972 HQ Belmont panel van, 1974 Kingswood sedan (end of year metric version) and currently love my fully restored 1973 HQ Belmont Ute packing a 5 speed attached to a supercharged 308.
I bought my first commy back in 2012. She is a 2011 SV6 Sportwagon and I do love her so. I love the lines/curves, I love the comfortable and spacious interior and above all else, I love the power and the fact it was made in Australia.
My VE wagon will be the last new Holden I will ever buy. If I want an Opel Insignia, I will buy an Opel Insignia.
I was talking to a German Engineer the other day and we got onto this topic. The idea of the commodore being an insignia made him laugh. Apparently the Opel brand is the lemon of european driving. Yay for Holden. Next car for me? BMW of course.
 

VS_Pete

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Pics of fully restored 1973 HQ Belmont please
 

c2105026

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In the glory days, GMH's bread and butter was the fleet market. 80% of sales. Fleets have since gone to small cars, and small SUVs for various reasons. Without fleet sales, the Big 3 would never survive on private sales alone.
 

Reaper

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Do you honestly think Holden would still be here if they hadnt imported cars in the past? The turn away from local manufacturing, and dropping a small volume seller from the lineup wasnt done on a whim.

And keeping the Commodore name will anger some, but it's just a name that has come to signify their large 4 door family sedan. Why risk people being confused as to what the Holden Insignia or whatever they would have chosen to call it actually is? Much like when Nissan introduced the Tiida.....and then went back to selling it as the Pulsar. Brand name recognition is worth more than a few grumpy people.

Closing local manufacture was over 10 years in the making. TBH Australia could have very easily been kept viable save lack of will at Rencen over in Detroit. Sure as hell would be far cheaper than what it has cost to shut it down which is far far far over budget.

Believe it or not, Elizabeth was still actually making an operating profit in the 6months ending Dec 16. before redundancies and other abnormals associated with the shutdown.

With regard to this thread however, it may be fine that Holden are abandoning the bogans for fknose who tbh??? Are the trendy LGTBIFUKNOSEWHO metro sexuals likely to drop $50+k on a new highly profitable set of wheels every few years? Not sure but it's immaterial as they simply don't have such a product. The GP to Holden for any Commodore aside of base model is crazy. HSV is just obscene yet they have abandoned the entire line for cars out of Europe with slim margins and limited market appeal.

Even if they did take the Commodore off shore and keep it in it's RWD config with whatever LS GM offering then it then volumes will be still sustainable. I won't be surprised with sub 500 unit months becoming the norm with the Insignidore.

Marketed properly, the Commodore did have a good future in NA and the middle east but alas not to be.
 

Brettly-2008

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Yeah, I read this and couldn't believe the quoted 'spokesperson' was just a Holden PR spin doctor. All that's happend is Holden PR have sent out a media release and lazy, time-poor, inner-city journalists have ran with what they think is a great story and the 'true' Holden future from the wrong person just because there's some easy contact details at the bottom. Quote them and it's legit.
 

monstar

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Like it's only Australia that has red blooded males of all ages and socio economic backgrounds hooning around and gathering over a beer or two in man caves...
 

Sean880

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The news release sounds like something written by a bunch of lesbian feminists.

If that is how GM are going to pitch themselves here in future I suspect their showrooms are going to be a little sparse. Yes we have all noticed how many manufacturers are pitching some of their models to women because females buy cars too. It's just that most of them would not have a clue what is a good or bad model to purchase and if they ever opened the bonnet most of them would not be able to tell you what was what.

It is interesting to read reviews of imported vehicles sold here by GM, the problems and how they are dealt with. They are often concluded with statement "I am never going to buy another Holden".

I have little doubt the Holden dealers are not going to be very happy when they no longer have any home built Commodores and HSVs to adorn their showrooms but just a line up of average to dubious quality, imported, mundane vehicles with poor sales volumes that you can similarly buy under numerous brand names in like configurations anywhere else.

But then again GM might surprise with something interesting in future but having read that depressing news piece generated from their outpost down here I very much doubt it.

At least Ford made an effort with the Mustang introduction here. They seem to be selling quite well and there is a new 2018 model release later this year in the US and available here next year.
 
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zero_tolerance

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The news release sounds like something written by a bunch of lesbian feminists.

You're not wrong. This whole trendy/hipster/gay direction that Holden is taking is just wrong on so many levels and evokes such anger in me that it makes me feel like selling my Redline, burning all my memorabilia in a bonfire and completely disassociating myself from what is quickly becoming a joke and disgrace of a company.
And this is coming from somebody who has lived and breathed Holden for their whole life.
If Holden wants to salvage what little is left of their image in Australia they need to weed out and immediately sack those responsible for implementing and pushing this gay/hipster image within the company and start from scratch, because their campaingns of late have made Holden a laughing stock and is nothing more than a one way path to self destruction. So many people would be turning in their graves if they could see what a joke Holden has become of late.
 

Sabbath'

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You're not wrong. This whole trendy/hipster/gay direction that Holden is taking is just wrong on so many levels and evokes such anger in me that it makes me feel like selling my Redline, burning all my memorabilia in a bonfire and completely disassociating myself from what is quickly becoming a joke and disgrace of a company.
And this is coming from somebody who has lived and breathed Holden for their whole life.
If Holden wants to salvage what little is left of their image in Australia they need to weed out and immediately sack those responsible for implementing and pushing this gay/hipster image within the company and start from scratch, because their campaingns of late have made Holden a laughing stock and is nothing more than a one way path to self destruction. So many people would be turning in their graves if they could see what a joke Holden has become of late.
How this reads:

"I bought a Holden cause it used to be a mans car, specially with them building them V8's and stuff so people knew i was a real man when they heard me pull away from a set of lights. Now with them not selling V8's and wanting that equality and trying to market cars to shielas, im not sure if driving one of their cars is enough to prove to people that im a true aussie bloke."
 
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