Holden brand to be retired from AU/NZ

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#2422641 17-Feb-2020 17:22

The exit is all Right-Hand Vehicles so I believe we won't see any GM product racing in Australia or New Zealand, would be a bit boring seeing all Mustangs in the field. I do remember seeing during a Supercars broadcast the idea of introducing the Kia Stinger as an option, but yes will be interesting to see what the Gen 3 regs come up with.

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ockel

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#2422642 17-Feb-2020 17:27

Obraik:

wellygary:

This will make it very interesting next time the police contract rolls round..... Toyota tipped their toe in the water last time round and there are still a couple of painted up Camrys that the police used as test vehicles, but I'm guessing with this development they might be back with a sharper offer, -

This seems to be in Toyota's favour now...their biggest competitor for the contract just disappeared. Unless Mazda makes a bid with the 6.

Some of the Aussie states moved to Kia Stinger's when Holden killed the Commodore. I'd say Kia is in the front seat for the police contract.

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Dingbatt

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#2422643 17-Feb-2020 17:27

Maybe they could do Toyota 86 vs Subaru BRZ? (For the Supercars).

Or iPaces....

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WyleECoyoteNZ

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#2422650 17-Feb-2020 17:54

Something doesn't add up..

Why would Chevrolet spend millions if not billions Developing the new C8 Corvette to be RHD, if they going to pull out of those markets?

Handle9

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#2422651 17-Feb-2020 17:58

WyleECoyoteNZ: Something doesn't add up..

Why would Chevrolet spend millions if not billions Developing the new C8 Corvette to be RHD, if they going to pull out of those markets?

Probably because at some point they have to cut the cord and say enough.

They have said they'll continue to offer some speciality vehicles (ie Corvette and Camaro) but not mass market offerings. It's all there in the press release.

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2422665 17-Feb-2020 18:17

DjShadow:

The exit is all Right-Hand Vehicles so I believe we won't see any GM product racing in Australia or New Zealand, would be a bit boring seeing all Mustangs in the field.

It's been boring since 1992. Instead of advancing technology, they booted the best car out of the competition. I've not watched since.

ANglEAUT

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#2422670 17-Feb-2020 18:27

Dingbatt: ... Or iPaces....

You might want to rethink that 🤪: Jaguar is stopping production of the I-Pace for a week because it doesn't have enough batteries

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dafman

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#2422709 17-Feb-2020 19:41

My grandfather was a Holden man, so was my father. When I was a teenager, I learnt to drive in a HQ V8 and there was only one King of the Mountain and his name was Brock.

But in the last 10 years or so, Holden has treated its customers like chumps: they ripped off the Aussie taxpayers, they sold substandard cars (Craptiva, Cruze and the 1-star death trap Barina come to mind) and there were some appalling customer service stories.

They reaped what they sowed.

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#2422717 17-Feb-2020 20:17

DjShadow:

The exit is all Right-Hand Vehicles so I believe we won't see any GM product racing in Australia or New Zealand, would be a bit boring seeing all Mustangs in the field. I do remember seeing during a Supercars broadcast the idea of introducing the Kia Stinger as an option, but yes will be interesting to see what the Gen 3 regs come up with.

They should dump Supercars and use the same class of vehicles used in the British Touring Cars and German Touring Cars. This will open it up to a lot more brands. Alternatively they could go EVs.

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#2422765 17-Feb-2020 21:45

Regarding the next police tender, it is rumored BMW was very competitive last time round. (The do emergency fitouts as part of the factory build, where every other brand does retrofits). They might have another crack.

Of course, with the police being now used to sub 200kW FWD cars, there are plenty of brands to pick from.

rb99:

LHD = third of the population and a quarter of the roads. Sounds like a fair chunk of the market to abandon.

Yeah, but other than Thailand, NZ & Aus, GM doesn't have a big presence in LHD markets.

In the press release it states that they couldn't justify keeping the Thailand plant open, and without it, would be not be competitive in that market. So that just leaves NZ & Aus, with no Colorado, Trailblazer & Commodore, the Holden lineup RHD is somewhat lacking (Spark, astra, Trax, Equinox, Acadia).

I think GM lost most of it's Europe brands operation in the last decade, so that's the UK out, and I think they struggled in Japan against local brands and euro's. Most of the remaining larger countries on the LHD list are quite poor, and I don't think GM had a big presence. With the likes of India, they would be competing with local brands, and 3rd word specific models from the likes of Toyota (Ultra cheap like Wigo / Cheap durable 7 seaters like the Innova, Avanza, Rush / preimum like landcruiser, prado, 70 series).

Personally I think they should have re-branded as Chevy a few years back.

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#2422791 18-Feb-2020 01:39

Scott3 is following rb99's mistake. NZ & Aus RHD, US LHD.

A decision based on which side of the car the driver sits is strange in an era where other car manufacturers can build cars to customer specification on the same assembly line. Gone are the days of the paint shop only doing one colour at a time.

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#2422844 18-Feb-2020 07:48

rb99:
LHD = third of the population and a quarter of the roads. Sounds like a fair chunk of the market to abandon.

Don't you mean RHD market.?

Regards,

Old3eyes

Bung

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#2422849 18-Feb-2020 08:01

Third of population and quarter of roads looks like it came from a Wikipedia article that used LHTraffic & RHT for roads and LHD & RHD for vehicles.

Handsomedan

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#2422858 18-Feb-2020 08:19

I think the saddest thing in all of this is the human element.

There's those in the manufacturing/fitting/dealership side, plus the corporate office people (all of whom are likely to be made redundant) and then of course people who bought brand new or second hand Holdens right up until yesterday with no idea this was coming...plunking down a wad of cash on a new vehicle and then hearing that the brand is no longer, must be quite hard to take, too. Think of the hit on resale after it gets to 3 or 4 years old (new car) or the inevitable "Wouldn't buy a Holden, they're dead" comments on Trademe listings of second hand cars...

Being made redundant is no fun (been through it 4 times) and it's going to hit a lot of people. I think it stinks the way that GM have gone about this, but at the end of the day other brands have ceased to exist and the world has gone on.

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ShinyChrome

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#2422862 18-Feb-2020 08:24

The Drive is speculating that it was a pure cost cutting measure and part of their strategy to pivot to EV vehicles.

Can't say I blame them; as someone else said, the writing was on the wall when the Commodore went. Anecdotally, most Holden owners I know bought for the brand, either because they were a "Holden person" or to buy "local", so when that brand is now a grab-bag of re-badged European/American commuter cars, what is there left to buy for?

🤞 for a fleet of 5 series police cars... but probably more likely a Camry/3 series/Skoda?

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