Will the Holden brand survive?

[Big_Daz]

Originally Posted by GO FURTHER

The question we should really be asking is...

Does the Holden brand need to survive?

Since Holden no longer manufactures any cars and just imports and rebadges, do we still need the local Holden brand?

Seems like the Y generation prefer Chevy badges on their Holdens anyway.

At least Ford for now, still makes vehicles and is a global brand.

I have been wondering the same thing, will they just badge them all Chevrolet (or some other GM brand) and kill off the Holden name all together...

Ford is Ford whether its here in AU, America, UK, etc whereas Holden is ONLY here in AU.

Would be a shame to see the name die off, considering they have been around since mid 1800's (started as a Saddlery) but got into Cars (body Manufacturing) from the 1915 (i believe).. Hell they even used to do Ford Bodies for a while...

There is a hell of a lot of history behind the name, I hope it doesn't die off but in the end GM will do whatever it needs to do I suppose...

[b0son]

I too think they should badge it Chev. Might stop people thinking it's a rebadged Daewoo.

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Agree. I think its one of the many reasons for Toyota and Mazda's success. They have remained so consistent with model names and even trim names. People know what to expect.

Holden? Take mid sized sedans. Camera, Apollo, Vectra, Epica, Malibu and Insignia have all been marketed over years, meanwhile Toyota stuck with one name and there is no question as to what it is or who makes it.

Consistency is a good thing, but Toyota did change Echo to Yaris (getting the Aus car in line with other markets) and it hasn't hurt that brand toooo much. Also they have split names for different markets, Corolla/Auris for eg.

Biggest fail was probably Nissan's: Pulsar->Tiida->Pulsar->Extinct.

[fgpsi]

i think holden will come back one day as a manufacturer in australia. it will happen in the next 10-20 years imo

[ozrunner]

Holden Hoverboards has a ring to it

[zipping]

Originally Posted by fgpsi

i think holden will come back one day as a manufacturer in australia. it will happen in the next 10-20 years imo

Not without a Trump type character to make it happen and our pollies are weak as and have no idea how to create conditions to encourage manufacturing.

In fact most of them on both sides have ensured and encouraged the destruction of manufacturing.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by fgpsi

i think holden will come back one day as a manufacturer in australia. it will happen in the next 10-20 years imo

Not in a million years.

[minheim]

Originally Posted by fgpsi

i think holden will come back one day as a manufacturer in australia. it will happen in the next 10-20 years imo

Well I would love to see car manufacturing return one day, but I think we have lost it for good. There is serious over-capacity at existing plants for many makes world wide and our location and being right hand drive don't assist us competitively. If we previously had a national brand rather than foreign subsidiaries maybe we would still be manufacturing and have been an exporter but that will never happen in the future now.

[fgpsi]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Not in a million years.

thats a stretch

[GO FURTHER]

Originally Posted by Smoke Pursuit

Apparently Holden aren’t getting anymore Commodores till next year.

They don't need anymore, they have unsold stock of ZB's coming out of their ears.
The current stock levels would probably see them well into next year at the rate they are selling.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by fgpsi

thats a stretch

Not as big a stretch as your suggestion Holden could start manufacturing here again

Once the supply base is gone it's nearly impossible to fire it back up. Not to mention their facilities are now gone.

GM would just build a plant in a low cost base country if it wanted another overseas plant. Then they wouldn't have to worry about labour costs, OHS, EPA, high energy costs and the extreme redtape they cop here.

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by GO FURTHER

They don't need anymore, they have unsold stock of ZB's coming out of their ears.
The current stock levels would probably see them well into next year at the rate they are selling.

The 'funny' thing about dealing with Holden. When a model exceeds the forecast sales, the Holden buyers demand tier 1 suppliers reduce their piece price. But when a model fails to meet the forecast sales, they NEVER offer to pay more because of reduced volumes.

[Sprintey]

I've been thinking about this and am convinced only reissuing the Kingswood can save them now. With 21st century features like 5 speed column shift and heated front bench seats. I'd buy a wagon.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

The 'funny' thing about dealing with Holden. When a model exceeds the forecast sales, the Holden buyers demand tier 1 suppliers reduce their piece price. But when a model fails to meet the forecast sales, they NEVER offer to pay more because of reduced volumes.

All car makers cut costs to their cars.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Sprintey

I've been thinking about this and am convinced only reissuing the Kingswood can save them now. With 21st century features like 5 speed column shift and heated front bench seats. I'd buy a wagon.

Or a modern take on the Humpy (FJ) with a powerglide 2-speed hybrid transmission......

Now if we could only get people to look up from their iPhones...

[CyberWasp]

Seeing that they don't manufacture here any more, aren't Holden more like Ateco now?
Ateco don't put their badge on any of the vehicles they bring in.
It would be irreverent to do so.

[hackney]

Originally Posted by IanC

If the ZBs are mostly selling to rentals and fleets maybe we will see a load of second hand ones dumped on the market cheap in a year or two. Ten years ago you could get a 2 year old base model Falcon for $20,000. That was good buying. A two year old ZB for $18,000 would be attractive especially if it was a station wagon.

My local Ford dealer has a ZB on the lot (LT variant) @ $30,990.Cheers

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Or a modern take on the Humpy (FJ) with a powerglide 2-speed hybrid transmission......

Now if we could only get people to look up from their iPhones...

Why not,
Mini's, Fiat Bambino's Mustangs and remember those awful PT cruisers come to mind.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

Why not,
Mini's, Fiat Bambino's Mustangs and remember those awful PT cruisers come to mind.

I remembered the 2006 Chevrolet HRR, needs a slight change to the bonnet..

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by jpd80

I remembered the 2006 Chevrolet HRR, needs a slight change to the bonnet..

image


image

What with ? A sledgehammer...

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by roddy1960

What with ? A sledgehammer...

Funny you should say that....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecwTnIOAoak

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Funny you should say that....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecwTnIOAoak

Cool ...That really was a cool ad ..Thanks.

[Nikked]

Wheels are reporting that Holden have done a Tony Abbott...https://www.whichcar.com.au/news/hol...re-and-equinox

[GO FURTHER]

Originally Posted by Nikked

Wheels are reporting that Holden have done a Tony Abbott...https://www.whichcar.com.au/news/hol...re-and-equinox

Exactly as I mentioned last month...

https://fordforums.com.au/showpost.p...&postcount=310

[The Yeti]

Originally Posted by jpd80

I remembered the 2006 Chevrolet HRR, needs a slight change to the bonnet..

image


image

That's about as close to the hold humpy styling as the new mustang is to the mustangs of old


Ohhhhh yea I see it now

[Big_Daz]

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to see this one coming.... When I got my Redline serviced I had a chat to the salesman that sold it to me while I waited and he mentioned he had heard this may happen... He said the only Commodore queries he see's are people asking if they have any VF2 Redlines left...lol

[CATXR8]

Last person out turn out the lights.

[383hq]

It was only a matter of time - from the wheels website:

Wheels article:
Holden halts production of Commodore and Equinox
By Toby Hagon, 17 Oct 2018 News

Mail
Slow sales of key models leaves Holden with thousands of excess vehicles in stock
Holden has made an extraordinary decision to stop production of many of its popular models, affecting factories as far flung as Germany, Thailand and Mexico.

The order to stop the boats delivering more new cars was made to address a worsening stock crisis due to slow sales

Fresh from its worst ever sales result – just 3927 cars in July – and months of market share below 5 percent, recently appointed Holden boss Dave Buttner has negotiated to halt production and deliveries of crucial models to clear existing stock.

Holden has thousands of cars gathering dust in paddocks and holding yards, a result of excess orders before anyone predicted the dire position the brand would be in once it ceased local manufacturing late in 2017.

“The sales were going like that,” Buttner says, motioning to the ground. “… and the tap hadn’t been turned off, so the production’s still coming towards us - and that horrified me as an old [product] planner.”

“We’re trying to get back to a reasonable stock carry level by the end of the year, so we can get into the new year in a healthy position.”

Buttner’s request to turn off much of the supply had the support of General Motors executives in Detroit, who hired the former Toyota Australia chief to try to turn the Holden brand’s fortunes around in what has been its most challenging period.

With some Commodore models, Holden has requested the Opel factory in Germany (a factory now owned by the parent company of Peugeot and Citroen) not to build cars until 2019.

Similarly, the Equinox SUV has also been put on hold to address its poor sales position; in the first nine months of 2018 Holden has sold just 3621 Equinoxes. That’s about as many as top-selling competitors sell in six weeks.

Buttner says stopping the boats – in turn putting pressure on factories to deal with lower production levels – is about being realistic and accepting Holden has an uphill battle to build sales.

“If you don’t recognise the state of your sales and own up to it quickly you’ve got a pretty huge pipeline coming towards you.

“We’ve looked at the whole portfolio, looked at what our standard stock should be … it was just a normal sales stock rundown … it’s not rocket science.”

But Buttner is adamant the slowdown in orders is a one-off about positioning the brand for challenges ahead.

“You have to be able to turn production down, but the idea is that you don’t have to do that often,” he says. “This is a fairly unique situation where we allowed the stock to keep coming towards us. Being an old manufacturing guy I’m fully cognoscente of the burden that puts on a manufacturing plant.

“We’ve had good cooperation from the plants but it wouldn’t be something I’d like to repeat on a regular basis because from a credibility point of view you don’t build it by doing that.”

It’s understood Holden has recently been clearing some cars produced in 2017, which is far from ideal in the last quarter of the year.

[FairmontGS]

I think the RS-V @ ~ $45k has to be great value. It's a Grand Tourer in the classical definition and a good-looking car to boot. But people just don't want this sort of car any more...

[383hq]

Yeah I'd consider a diesel wagon given the kays I do at these giveaway prices, but I doubt I'd get a 2T tow bar and smart bar like I've got on the FG sedan and RTV, so I haven't bothered