Will the Holden brand survive?

[eb2fairmont]

The plan was to build what we know as the ZB commodore locally.

[Vormund]

The other car was either Equinox or the Cruze, both on Delta 2 platform. This was to take them to 2022.

[lra]

Originally Posted by Vormund

The other car was either Equinox or the Cruze, both on Delta 2 platform. This was to take them to 2022.

and in 2022, GM then would have announced the closure of the Elizabeth factory, with Holden in the same position as it is now.

[Sprint XR8]

Holden to auction several heritage cars from collection

Some significantly historic Holdens are up for grabs in a surprise auction

Eight separate listings on an online auction site suggest Holden is clearing some space in its heritage garage, with several ‘first’ and ‘last’ versions of some of its models joining some notable cars in being sold off.

According to the listings, the auction is set to begin on midday, November 18.

MOTOR has contacted Holden (and Manheim, which is undertaking the auction) in search of a reason for this sudden and rather unceremonious sale.

MOTOR has been able to certify via Manheim that the auction house has agreed to auction a specific set of Holden’s heritage cars in a sale.

Amongst the cars for sale is the first-ever Holden VFII Commodore Motorsport Edition, resplendent in Holden’s traditional red and showing only 9km on the odometer. The starting bid for the six-speed auto is listed at $65,000.

Car number one of 1200 built for Australia (another 151 went to NZ) is listed with 'SOLD ON BEHALF OF HOLDEN AUSTRALIA' in its description, as are the others Manheim is offering for auction.

Similarly, the first VFII Director, the Calais-V based executive sedan, is up for grabs (also starting at $65,000) also with just nine klicks on the clock.

The first copy of Holden’s acclaimed VF series, built in 2013, is also for auction, with a $30,000 starting bid and a mere 56km on its odometer. Also a six-speed auto, the first VF is a Calais-V painted in Prussian Steel.

Its VEII predecessor is also represented here, with the last VEII built (a 2012 SS-V in Chlorophyll Blue) up for grabs with a $45,000 opening bid.

If something a little rarer might take your fancy, Holden is also offloading its first V2 Monaro CV8, this one with 3742km travelled under the power of its 5.7-litre LS1 V8.

Bidding for the CV8 is set to begin at $40,000.

Some cars which have also undergone significant achievements are also included in the auction, like the 1995 Commodore VRII rally car driven by Ed Ordynski to victory in the 1995 Round Australia Trial, covering around 19,000km. The odometer shows 47,306km and bidding starts at $12,000.

A 1990 Barina which Holden used for a world record economy run and as a Round Australia Trial car is included in the auction, with a $5000 starting price.

Lastly, A 1980 VC Commodore driven around the country in 10 days by two motoring writers, Evan Green and Matt Whelan, features as the oldest member of the auction lineup, with $10,000 as its starting bid and with a relatively low (given where it’s been) 20,235km showing.

https://www.whichcar.com.au/news/hol...ection-auction

[au2000]

hmmm .. commodore sales numbers have just jumped up for Novembers stats.....!

is this a sign that the end is near? clearing the decks so to speak ?

[jpd80]

Could be a sign that the end is closer than people think...
maybe making room for the first and last ZB sold.

[BENT_8]

Wouldn't surprise me one bit, let's be honest, the Holden brand was only ever a post war marketing exercise aimed at giving Australians something to be proud of and in return secure employment.
It's not necessary anymore.

That it lasted 70 years is more of a surprise.

Whether GM continue to stay in our market is the bigger question for mine.

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

That it lasted 70 years is more of a surprise.

They almost died in the 1980s

[Bossxr8]

Are they that desperate for cash?


Read in the carsguide today that a ZB Calais has a redbook valuation of 17% after 5 years. Holy jeezus. They burned customers resale values hardcore by chopping the hell out of the RRP of the ZB, to clear that huge stockpile they had.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Are they that desperate for cash?


Read in the carsguide today that a ZB Calais has a redbook valuation of 17% after 5 years. Holy jeezus. They burned customers resale values hardcore by chopping the hell out of the RRP of the ZB, to clear that huge stockpile they had.

To be fair I don't think Mondeo fairs any better.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Smoke Pursuit

To be fair I don't think Mondeo fairs any better.

Surely it's not that bad. 17% is the lowest I have ever seen.

[au2000]

quick check on car sales comparing Calais Wagon & Mondeo Titanium Wagon ( between 2018 / 2019 with less than 40,000 ks ) has a 4 grand difference in price in favour of the Mondeo for the cheapest available models of each. mind u there are 28 Mondeos compared to 68 Calais available,

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Could be a sign that the end is closer than people think...
maybe making room for the first and last ZB sold.

My thoughts also.

Wouldn't mind that Monaro to be honest.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Smoke Pursuit

To be fair I don't think Mondeo fairs any better.

yeah but ZB sales would have to be ten times greater than Mondeo.

[Brazen]

Need a new family bus and was checking out the Acadia today at a small Holden dealer. Love the car. But the interesting thing was while there for 20 mins a couple of other families came into look at the Acadia and someone checked out a Colorado. Can’t draw any conclusions, but lately looking at other car makers yards it’s been pretty dead. Maybe life in the old girl yet.

[Syndrome]

The media doing it's usual job of telling people what they should think. Smacks of desperation.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/i...ac68d6a1ba4fef

[prydey]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

The media doing it's usual job of telling people what they should think. Smacks of desperation.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/i...ac68d6a1ba4fef

Yeah I saw that. Trying to drum up some extra sales... media still married to the Holden brand.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Brazen

Need a new family bus and was checking out the Acadia today at a small Holden dealer. Love the car. But the interesting thing was while there for 20 mins a couple of other families came into look at the Acadia and someone checked out a Colorado. Can’t draw any conclusions, but lately looking at other car makers yards it’s been pretty dead. Maybe life in the old girl yet.

I think that the most compelling part of your story is how many other buyers
you didn't see at the Holden dealership. A few yeas back, Holden dealerships
would be abuzz with people coming and going, be it to look at new cars or to
get cars serviced or buying parts, don't see much of that anymore.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

The media doing it's usual job of telling people what they should think. Smacks of desperation.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/i...ac68d6a1ba4fef

It is strange that they keep doing their part trying to support Holden, like they are still australia's own. That died the day the last VF went out the door at 'Lizbeth.

They are no more australian than any other brand, except the badges, which could be replaced with Chevrolet ones in a heartbeat.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

It is strange that they keep doing their part trying to support Holden, like they are still australia's own. That died the day the last VF went out the door at 'Lizbeth.

They are no more australian than any other brand, except the badges, which could be replaced with Chevrolet ones in a heartbeat.

Well look at that, we agree on something, who'd have thunk.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by jpd80

I think that the most compelling part of your story is how many other buyers
you didn't see at the Holden dealership. A few yeas back, Holden dealerships
would be abuzz with people coming and going, be it to look at new cars or to
get cars serviced or buying parts, don't see much of that anymore.

Not making excuses, but i guess it depends when you're looking.

With money tighter these days quite a lot of families are relying on 2 wages which in some cases can be rotating shift work, so the old days of shopping on a Saturday or late night shopping when the yards stayed open isn't as easy to do and weekdays are almost out of the question unless all the stars line up, this is why a lot of dealers offer to bring the car to you as it can be a logistical nightmare trying to arrange a time when it suits both partners.

I know when we bought our SZ last year we watched the car online for almost a fortnight before we could get a day when we could both go look at it and that had to be between my split shifts on a day when the Wife was off and even then it wasn't a simple process as I was given an additional last minute run which gave me 2 hours of wait time that just happened to be close to the dealer or it would have been another 2 week wait until the stars lined up again.

My neighbour does about an extra 10hrs a week after the dealership he works for just taking cars to customers who cant get to him, he's always bringing different cars home, which is a bonus for me as I get to drive the latest without the dealer hassles you get when you walk in off the street.

They've still been selling around 4k a month until recently which is more than many other brands, so people are still looking, the biggest problem is the size of the dealer network is unsustainable now that the numbers have tumbled.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Not making excuses, but i guess it depends when you're looking.

With money tighter these days quite a lot of families are relying on 2 wages which in some cases can be rotating shift work, so the old days of shopping on a Saturday or late night shopping when the yards stayed open isn't as easy to do and weekdays are almost out of the question unless all the stars line up, this is why a lot of dealers offer to bring the car to you as it can be a logistical nightmare trying to arrange a time when it suits both partners.

When I was doing Driving Interstate and we wanted to buy something my wife would look at it when she had time I would the do the same when I got home.

We didn't feel that we had to both go at the same time. It's not that hard.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by GasoLane

When I was doing Driving Interstate and we wanted to buy something my wife would look at it when she had time I would the do the same when I got home.

We didn't feel that we had to both go at the same time. It's not that hard.

Agreed, but everyone is different.

When we bought the Picanto i'd seen it in the local shopping centre on a Thursday afternoon, spoke to the Wife about it when we both got home and went down to look and test drive that evening, unfortunately the Kia dealer didn't do late night shopping hours so we looked at a few on the yard and she told me to test drive myself.
Luckily the following day I had an hour spare so I called in during work hours in the bus, turns out the salesman was a driver in a previous life so we made small talk about the industry and I used it to my advantage, told him work was slow and I needed a cheap runabout and that i'd love the 3k dearer GT line but didn't know that it was a good move considering, he said what would it take to get you into one, I gave him a list of the extra's I wanted, my budget and he came back with a good price drive away.
I signed on the line and collected the car a week later.
I was on the yard in business hours for all of 20 minutes if you overlook the test drive.
I took it in for its first scheduled service last fortnight on a Monday, wandered around the yard whilst waiting, didn't see another customer other than others having services in the hour and a half I was there and Kia is one of only a few showing growth, go figure.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by jpd80

I think that the most compelling part of your story is how many other buyers
you didn't see at the Holden dealership. A few yeas back, Holden dealerships
would be abuzz with people coming and going, be it to look at new cars or to
get cars serviced or buying parts, don't see much of that anymore.

Yeah it means nothing, just that day I went to Toyota and Honda they were both dead so I was expecting a ghost town at Holden. Anyway it doesnt mean much the rest of the week they may not have a single customer. I dont know. Just interesting seeing people looking at cars there and someone in an office looking like they were buying.

So much of the market is business, rental and government buyers anyway and they are not looking on a Saturday like us private buyers.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Brazen

Yeah it means nothing, just that day I went to Toyota and Honda they were both dead so I was expecting a ghost town at Holden. Anyway it doesnt mean much the rest of the week they may not have a single customer. I dont know. Just interesting seeing people looking at cars there and someone in an office looking like they were buying.

So much of the market is business, rental and government buyers anyway and they are not looking on a Saturday like us private buyers.

You only have to read posts from people like Timanhaley about how bleak Holden dealerships are, it may be different in Western Australia or South Australia where you have a lot more commercial fleet sales on your door step courtesy of mining but on the East coast, most things regarding Holden have changed immensely in the last two years,I've never seen a brand close up so quickly short of Opel.

With regard to October sales,

Sales were down irrespective of buyer type. Private sales were down 5.2 per cent (35,395), business fleet sales fell 8.2 per cent (34,822), rental sales fell 27.2 per cent (6083), and government purchases dipped 7.3 per cent (3065).

I can see where a lot of the business appears to be fleet but I wonder how much of that hides vehicles as part of salary packaged, a subsumed group of vehicles presenting as work vehicles but actually someone's weekend getaway vehicle..

[DFB FGXR6]

Holden expands it Maven car rental service to the general public.

https://www.caradvice.com.au/807458/...ntal-customer/

Translation - "we can't sell the cars, so will we rent them out instead".

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Holden expands it Maven car rental service to the general public.

https://www.caradvice.com.au/807458/...ntal-customer/

Translation - "we can't sell the cars, so will we rent them out instead".

The cost to rent them is about what it would cost to get a loan for one. Only a bonehead would rent one long term.

There are exceptions like business's that might need a short term rental etc. But it's as financially sound as a rock for someone wanting a new car.

[lra]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

The cost to rent them is about what it would cost to get a loan for one. Only a bonehead would rent one long term. .

The millennials that the 'scheme' is aimed at ……... are they the same ones who
seem to be always holidaying overseas, buying the latest phones, eating takeaway and Uber meals, complaining about rental costs, and not being able to afford to buy a house ? But there is always the Bank of Mum & Dad.

Climate change is going to make us all extinct by the time Greta finishes travelling the world extolling her views, but if it works for Holden in the meantime, smart move.

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by lra

limate change is going to make us all extinct by the time Greta finishes travelling the world extolling her views, but if it works for Holden in the meantime, smart move.

[hayseed]

This Might Give Holden a Leg up..!! If It happens that is..??

https://www.whichcar.com.au/news/che...O6k1tFqkaPrMj4