If the Opel Commodore fails to sell can the Elizabeth plant be switched back on?

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Commodore did a lot more than just provide good RWD car sales,
it also buoyed all those other car and SUV sales that dealerships relied on.......

It's really hit the fan over at Holden, big time.

The brand loyalty borne out of generations of home grown models helped sell other cars. A Barina for the daughter, a Captiva for the wife, a Colorado for work...... that kinda thing. That evaporated into thin air in October 2017.

And they wonder why the new Commodore and Equinox are bombing

[mr smith]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

The brand loyalty borne out of generations of home grown models helped sell other cars. A Barina for the daughter, a Captiva for the wife, a Colorado for work...... that kinda thing. That evaporated into thin air in October 2017.

And they wonder why the new Commodore and Equinox are bombing

Spot on..

[vztrt]

Wondering how many Holden employees that had revolving fleet cars finished up when manufacturing closed.

[pottery beige]

Originally Posted by vztrt

Wondering how many Holden employees that had revolving fleet cars finished up when manufacturing closed.

eeek....

[b0son]

Originally Posted by GCRXR6

Are you for real? Do you know what qualifications a nurse requires? Do you know the hours of study required to get there?

Nursing degree is shorter than law, and has an ATAR anywhere from 10 points to 40 points (!) less last time I checked. Like I said, quite a bit easier.

The point is, you want to be well paid, you have to do something most people don't or cant do. You cant go into a career and then cry pay me more because I want you to. That isn't how the market works.

[Smoke Pursuit]

The ZB Commodore has already failed. It’s over priced for starters. Holden built a brand on selling cars heavily reduced below retail for the last 20 years. How they thought they could become a full time importer and do things any different is beyond belief.

The only way out is selling these imports at a loss to save face, which will only happen for so long unless they have huge margins in them... no one will pay $65k for a VXR... at best that car should have retailed for low 50’s.

Same with Calais V... we were buying VF’s for low 40’s in v6, now they want 57k for a car that’s pretty much identical on paper.

Worse of all, there’s not one car they sell that can prop the brand up. Ford has had a free kick with Ranger and Mustang, both of which have had very lucrative pricing structures.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by vztrt

Wondering how many Holden employees that had revolving fleet cars finished up when manufacturing closed.

Plenty, now they just roll them over quicker. 😂

[csv8]

b0son nurses have always been low paid as nursing was considered "women's work". If nursing was like the AMA from day 1, pay would be different.

[DJR-351]

Back to the original question......

No, cause there is virtually nothing left to switch on

[jpd80]

And even if you could, the Holden brand has been trashed

[Struggo]

Originally Posted by jpd80

And even if you could, the Holden brand has been trashed

Case in point, https://www.smh.com.au/business/comp...13-p4z9gs.html

[Vesper Martini]

An unprecedented sales slump.... Pretty obvious to most on the people on this Forum what was going to happen.

[Maka]

Holden needs to fix their predicament fast no doubt, i dont want them to dissappear completely because of poor marketing decisions etc.

I wonder how they would turn things around if things arent too late..

cheers, Maka

[jpd80]

Apart from all the vehicles at dealerships, rumor is that Holden
has around 13,000 more on the grass and shipments inbound.
( mentioned here a few days ago by another poster)

[Bossxr8]

Massive fire sale coming. Resale values will be in the toilet, leading to further misery.

[mike_nofx]

Since it’s basically the Holden version of a Camry, it should be priced accordingly.

Around $30k for a base 4 cylinder, to a Max of $50k for a specced up V6.
Still, the Camry is probably a better car.

[Bossxr8]

Amazingly when they launched the ZB they were spruiking that it was slightly cheaper than the VF. Yet it was for a smaller FWD 4 cylinder. How is that in any way a good comparison? It should have been massively cheaper, not slightly cheaper for a smaller, inferior vehicle.

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by Bevsta007

An unprecedented sales slump.... Pretty obvious to most on the people on this Forum what was going to happen.

I was expecting a drop in sales but not this much nor this quickly.

[Mercury Bullet]

Originally Posted by Smoke Pursuit

The ZB Commodore has already failed. It’s over priced for starters. Holden built a brand on selling cars heavily reduced below retail for the last 20 years. How they thought they could become a full time importer and do things any different is beyond belief.

The only way out is selling these imports at a loss to save face, which will only happen for so long unless they have huge margins in them... no one will pay $65k for a VXR... at best that car should have retailed for low 50’s.

Same with Calais V... we were buying VF’s for low 40’s in v6, now they want 57k for a car that’s pretty much identical on paper.

Worse of all, there’s not one car they sell that can prop the brand up. Ford has had a free kick with Ranger and Mustang, both of which have had very lucrative pricing structures.

For comparison, you could drive away in a sprint 6 for under $60k
Same with an xr8.

I'm guessing you could grab the top model stinger for less than a vxr.
Base model mustang gt, probably the same, under$60k now while on run out.
Take people for fools and suffer the consequences.

GM are delusional.

Only way out I can see is a Colorado Specced at ranger xlt level and minimum $10k cheaper might sway a few people to have a look.

[jpd80]

I think Holden is already doing the Colorado special at the prices you mentioned, maybe even less..

$44,990 drive away for LSX springs to mind...

[DFB FGXR6]

The negative comments made across many social media platforms (forums included) with the likes of "Holden are done", "Holden fighting for survival", "The Brand is trashed" ect ect ect which may or may not be true but this is absolutely toxic for Holden's public image.

The more people read these comments, the further it spreads and more people will not consider their products. Holden then go on a discounting spree to shift product which then burns resale values which in turn burns those buyer that gave them a go. A very, very toxic and difficult situation for GM to manage.

The thing is, Holden actually have some competitive products. Not segment leaders but if potential buyers wont go near the brand because of the negative vibes, what hope have they got.

[jpd80]

with respect, the press are the last to pick up on this, they are reporting what's already happened.

As said earlier, the moment VFII was declared dead or selling the last few thousand cars,
the knock on value of multiple sales within Holden families dried up, it's already happened
and those people are already off buying other brands.

It shows the utter fallacy of Holden's strategy of eliminating the RWD car so buyers would
be forced to buy the ZB without comparison to the former. What they didn't count on is that
all their other sales would disappear too...and that's the real tragedy in all this. It doesn't even
get to how good or otherwise Holden's products are, they don't even get a look from past buyers.

Or maybe that's too harsh and too soon.........

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by jpd80

And even if you could, the Holden brand has been trashed

If Holden brought back the SS I would be buying one. Doesn't have to be built here just needs a manual option.

Holden's issue is they didn't get lucky with Colorado. They need to grow that and bring in suv's that people might actually want. Their global SUV's don't give any impression of special and they can't get away with that as they don't have Toyota badges.

Holden didn't work hard enough on their other brands after the shutdown announcement. They should have been pushing their other cars hard with cheap fleet sales and getting cars other then commodore out there.

[Bossxr8]

Holden - "Let's go there". If "there" is to the bottom then I guess it makes sense now.

[mike_nofx]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Holden - "Let's go there". If "there" is to the bottom then I guess it makes sense now.

I guess they can’t stick with “Football, meatpies, Kangaroos and Holden cars”

Not sure a German or Korean equivalent? Something about Ice Hockey and Kranskys

[Syndrome]

Have they finished gutting the Holden plant?

[Maka]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

Have they finished gutting the Holden plant?

Idk, but the Holden Barina is gone now..

https://www.caradvice.com.au/685429/holden-barina-axed/

cheers, Maka

[pottery beige]

site is dead door nails :(

[simon varley]

but they are hiring engineers again

[Junkyard-Dog]

Holden made their name on RWD cars, now they want the customers to suddenly embrace FWD or FWD-based AWD. That's basically the situation. Even if they didn't have a "local product", they would have probably done ok if they kept selling a powerful RWD sedan/wagon.