Holden is dead. RIP

[AER]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-17/holden-car-...

[200bhp]

I read earlier that GM are no longer going to produce right hand drive cars which, is the reason Holden has been axed - I wonder if there will be a similar announcement regarding Vauxhall in the next few hours?

[RobDickinson]

Vaxhaul got sold to psa with opel afik?

Edit, yep owned by Peugeot

Vauxhall Motors Limited[7][note 2] (/ˈvɒksɔːl/) is an English car company, subsidiary of French car manufacturer Groupe PSA and based in Chalton, Bedfordshire, England.

[200bhp]

RobDickinson said:

Vaxhaul got sold to psa with opel afik?

Edit, yep owned by Peugeot

Vauxhall Motors Limited[7][note 2] (/?v?ks??l/) is an English car company, subsidiary of French car manufacturer Groupe PSA and based in Chalton, Bedfordshire, England.

Thanks.

[AER]

200bhp said:

I read earlier that GM are no longer going to produce right hand drive cars which, is the reason Holden has been axed - I wonder if there will be a similar announcement regarding Vauxhall in the next few hours?

No, the real reason is that their market share has gone down the stter in a big way. Ceasing manufacturing in Aus (and the way it was actually done) really dented the Australian public's warmth towards the brand and being forced to buy imported vehicles anyway, people weren't going to buy second-rate tat when so much better was already on offer.

[Pommy]

I got this email:

By now, you may have heard the news that General Motors will be retiring the Holden brand in Australia and New Zealand. This announcement will be felt deeply by the entire Holden family, our customers and our fans.

While we understand the impact that this decision may have on you, we want to provide assurance that Holden will continue to support customers in the following ways:

Honour all existing warranties and guarantees
Honour all free scheduled servicing offers
Ongoing call centre support
Provide servicing and spare parts for at least 10 years, through national aftersales networks in Australia and New Zealand
Recalls or safety-related issues if they arise
We have a long transition in front of us and we are focused on supporting our customers and our Dealers through this change. The doors do not close tomorrow. In fact, your local Dealership remains in operation and any existing bookings and agreements remain in place.

We are commencing work with our Dealer partners on timing to cease sales of new vehicles, as well as transitioning dealerships to authorised service outlets. Any future changes to our Dealer network that have a direct impact on you, will be communicated at that time.

This decision has not been taken lightly, especially considering the iconic status of the Holden brand. Holden will always have a special place in the development of our countries. As Australia and New Zealand grew, Holden was a part of the engine room fuelling that development.

This announcement will be felt deeply by the many people who love Holden, drive a Holden and feel connected to our company which has been with us for 160 years.

[whytheory]

GM are good at doing this to brands.

Shame but without a proper VE/VF Commodore replacement what was really Holden about the range?

In-fact what was really GM about them, much of their previous range would now have to be bought from PSA?

I guess they're just not gonna bother with RHD GM Korea stuff going forward.

Edited by whytheory on Monday 17th February 08:27

[aeropilot]

AER said:

200bhp said:

I read earlier that GM are no longer going to produce right hand drive cars which, is the reason Holden has been axed - I wonder if there will be a similar announcement regarding Vauxhall in the next few hours?

No, the real reason is that their market share has gone down the stter in a big way. Ceasing manufacturing in Aus (and the way it was actually done) really dented the Australian public's warmth towards the brand and being forced to buy imported vehicles anyway, people weren't going to buy second-rate tat when so much better was already on offer.

Yep, I think this was always the likely eventual scenario once GM pulled out of manufacturing in Aus.

[Jader1973]

whytheory said:

GM are good at doing this to brands.

Shame but without the a proper VE/VF Commodore replacement what was really Holden about the range?

In-fact what was really GM about them, much of their previous range would now have to be bought from PSA?

I guess they're just not gonna bother with RHD GM Korea stuff going forward.

The real reason behind all of this is nothing to do with where product comes from (the 2 PSA sourced cars had already been culled) but is to do with GM's share price. GM have decided that investing in other things is more important than investing in RHD. They are solely focused on North America and China because that is where the money is.

It isn't just Holden AU and NZ closing, Thailand is being closed as well and the factory sold to Great Wall. No RHD markets left after that.

It is all about the share price.

GM press release here:

[urlhttps://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2020/feb/0216-international-markets.html[/url]

“I’ve often said that we will do the right thing, even when it’s hard, and this is one of those times,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. “We are restructuring our international operations, focusing on markets where we have the right strategies to drive robust returns, and prioritizing global investments that will drive growth in the future of mobility, especially in the areas of EVs and AVs."

Mark Reuss said “We do believe we have an opportunity to profitably grow the specialty vehicle business and plan to work with our partner to do that,”

In other words, "We can make money by getting HSV to convert stuff for us."

[whytheory]

Jader1973 said:

It isn't just Holden AU and NZ closing, Thailand is being closed as well and the factory sold to Great Wall. No RHD markets left after that.

Didn't know that, bet the Colorado was Holdens biggest seller.

[aeropilot]

Jader1973 said:

It isn't just Holden AU and NZ closing, Thailand is being closed as well and the factory sold to Great Wall. No RHD markets left after that.

Presume then, that GM don't sell anything to the Japanese market?

[Jader1973]

whytheory said:

Jader1973 said:

It isn't just Holden AU and NZ closing, Thailand is being closed as well and the factory sold to Great Wall. No RHD markets left after that.

Didn't know that, bet the Colorado was Holdens biggest seller.

Yes it was. With Holden gone Thailand had to go. Holden could have carried on without Thailand IF GM put RHD in their Colorado, which they weren't going to do.

[Jader1973]

aeropilot said:

Jader1973 said:

It isn't just Holden AU and NZ closing, Thailand is being closed as well and the factory sold to Great Wall. No RHD markets left after that.

Presume then, that GM don't sell anything to the Japanese market?

They do, but in LHD same as the UK i.e. Cadillac and (current) Corvette.

[AER]

It's a company that's focused on its return to its shareholders. It's toast. It doesn't really give a toss about its customers, hence the lightly warmed over turds sourced from the smelliest and cheapest sthole on offer

[corozin]

I wonder what GM are going to replace Holden with branding wise?
Will it be Vauxhall, the brand widely derided in the UK?
Or Opel, which Brit regard with Nostalgia but Germans deride in it's home market?
Or will give up entirely and try to replace Holden with one of their American brands, which are derided everywhere in the world ?

[aeropilot]

corozin said:

I wonder what GM are going to replace Holden with branding wise?
Will it be Vauxhall, the brand widely derided in the UK?
Or Opel, which Brit regard with Nostalgia but Germans deride in it's home market?

Well it won't be either of them, as GM has already sold off the Vauxhall/Opel brands to Peugeot a while ago.......!!

[Pommy]

corozin said:

I wonder what GM are going to replace Holden with branding wise?
Will it be Vauxhall, the brand widely derided in the UK?
Or Opel, which Brit regard with Nostalgia but Germans deride in it's home market?
Or will give up entirely and try to replace Holden with one of their American brands, which are derided everywhere in the world ?

Theres been talk of Chevy. They already did model cross branding when the Commodore was sold in the states. Also a favourite mod of a few holden owners is to swap the holden badges for chevy badges.

They tried bringing Opel here a few years ago and it failed quickly and miserably.

[Jimmy Recard]

corozin said:

I wonder what GM are going to replace Holden with branding wise?
Will it be Vauxhall, the brand widely derided in the UK?
Or Opel, which Brit regard with Nostalgia but Germans deride in it's home market?
Or will give up entirely and try to replace Holden with one of their American brands, which are derided everywhere in the world ?

I imagine Peugeot would get upset and legal if GM tried to use the Vauxhall or Opel brands.

I assume that GM intends not to operate in Australia now. Europe is a much larger market than Australia and New Zealand in which GM has basically no presence

[Kolbenkopp]

That smells of the typical US short-termism. Good for them for a few quarters, good for the competition much longer . Shame it hits Holden, but a part from them and Corvette -- is there anything from GM that someone else isn't doing better?

[Hackney2]

corozin said:

I wonder what GM are going to replace Holden with branding wise?
Will it be Vauxhall, the brand widely derided in the UK?
Or Opel, which Brit regard with Nostalgia but Germans deride in it's home market?
Or will give up entirely and try to replace Holden with one of their American brands, which are derided everywhere in the world ?

Vauxhall would not go down well here,I can assure you of that.Nobody would buy them,period.They will import a few specialty brands,ie:few of their SUVs,Corvette(which IS coming in as RHD) & will be converted by perhaps HSV(or something equivalent,which is yet to be named)

Edited by Hackney2 on Monday 17th February 21:43