Does anybody remember a Mitsubishi 380 ? No ? Anybody seen one lately ? No ?
I realise that 15 years ago is a long time in car years ( more than dog years), but back then, if Australians wanted a large(ish) FWD sedan, they would have bought it. They didn’t.
The 380 was not a plug and play like the Camry, it was developed from a US Galant (not unlike the original VB) and pushed, prodded, and massaged into an Australian developed and manufactured car on a shoestring budget.
I had one as a rental for 3 weeks in Tasmania (no, I did use my money to buy it, before somebody accuses me ) but with 4 adults on board with associated luggage, (who needs a SUV ?) and I was surprised by the interior space, and absence of FWD biased handling.
It deserved to succeed. It didn’t because Australians did not buy FWD large sedans. And that was still the thinking in 2011. Holden should have known that, but hindsight is great.
Maybe the RWD Torana Mk2 and the AWD ‘Nullabor’ SUV could have saved Holden. If you can ignore the GFC, currency exchange rate, and GM management attitudes.
Now, Australians still don’t buy large FWD sedans, they buy large FWD SUVs, and large SUVs are just an appliance.
The large RWD sedan is a dinosaur, and so am I.
Hey.. Holden ! Where's my bloody VE Monaro ? Ohh …. you mean my 1.18 Biante model is closest I'll get ? Bugga !