Holden Archives - Swadeology

Holden “We’re Here” Ad Shows Just How Much GM Doesn’t Get It Sometimes.

[dropcap]So[/dropcap] you’ve just announced that you’re going to bring an Australian institution to an end. You are THE Australian motoring icon and you’re going to stop manufacturing here and become an importer like (almost) everyone else.

What do you do next?

a) Lay low for Christmas and let the next few years take their course, promoting your range of vehicles as normal as you wind down to being a full importer in 4 years from now?

Or….

b) Do a TV ad where you rub the closure in and galvanise the ill-feeling towards your 90% mediocre vehicle range?

Guess what GM-Holden did.

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That ad campaign has been shown ad nauseum over the last week or so – It was on every 10 or 15 minutes yesterday during the biggest cricket match of the year – and it’s drawn over 1000 or so angry comments on Facebook and elsewhere.

Customers and employees alike don’t accept the “We’re here” line because Holden announced a few weeks ago that they will cease manufacturing in Australia, in 2017.

Customers will be reluctant to accept the whole “we’ll still make the best cars for Australia” line because the cars that GM have shipped to Australia and slapped Holden badges on in the recent past have been absolute crap. Holden’s last best-seller that wasn’t called Commodore was the Astra, which they canned in favour of cheaper cars from Korea and then tried to resurrect by bringing Opel into Australia – a campaign that lasted less than 12 months.

I think GM’s marketing people may have mis-judged (surprise, surprise) the connection between Holden and the Australian public. Many Australians aren’t particularly enamoured with Holden’s product but they have a soft spot for the company based purely on historic association and its identity as an ‘Australian’ company. Nearly everyone has owned a Holden at some stage or has a family member or close friend who has. Most still have an in-built fondness, however residual or historic in nature.

To try and trade on that when you’re axing the one good car you still make for us, however, is Manipulation 101 and people can see through it.

Holden won’t be Australian when it leaves and everyone knows it. It’s barely Australian now and most of the company’s Korean-built range has been canned by one publication or another in the last 5 years. The Viva was a disaster and the Epica was such an epic(a) fail that it lasted only a few years.

Soon, Holden will be just another car brand. In 2017 it’s going to sever the one final connection that made it different from everyone else – its Australian manufacturing base.

As one commenter said:

“It’s like the ‘I still want to be friends’ line after a break up”

Well, no.

Holden just cut us off from the one true redeeming quality it had: It was one of us and we could relate to it. Holden has been drifting for a decade or so and now, it’s going for good.

Time to survive on your merits, Holden.

Time to earn some merits, actually. Judging by the way this ad campaign was rolled out, it’s going to be a long road.

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A final note:

If you’re going to shoot an ad that has the potential to really annoy people, at least try to avoid using REALLY CRAP PARKING!!!!!

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GM vs No GM?

Here’s a genuine question for friends in the US.

I remember back in 2009 there were a lot of people – and I mean a LOT – crying foul about the US government’s bailout of General Motors. This week, the US government sold its final shareholding in the restructured GM, booking a total loss of $10billion on the bailout.

For that $10billion, you basically got to keep your national car industry. You got to keep the jobs (not just GM’s jobs, but most likely Chrysler’s and Ford’s, too), you’ve got the products, the investment and innovation that comes with the industry, retirees got to keep their pensions.

Continue reading GM vs No GM?

Holden Are Barely Holden On (Actually, They’re Not)

Why let the facts get in the way of a good headline? Holden are not holding on at all. The company has slipped down the sales table again and the slow downward spiral has the automotive community in Australia transfixed.

Holden used to fight with Ford for the top of the sales table in Australia until Ford left the fight for good. A decade or so ago, Holden was overtaken by Toyota for the #1 sales position, which Toyota has never relinquished since.

Last year, Holden was overtaken by Mazda as the #2 seller in Australia. We were stunned.

In February 2013, Holden was punted from the Australian Top 3 for the first time in its 65 year history, thanks to Nissan. Holden blamed a computer error for that one (seriously).

Today it has been revealed that Holden were overtaken by Hyundai in monthly sales for March – and Nissan beat them again, too, placing Holden in 5th position on the sales table with market-share continuing to plummet. This month, Holden are blaming the strong Australian dollar (fair) and the Japanese government (fuzzy, at best).

In a pre-emptive strike on the currency issue, Holden popped up in the news yesterday for having been the recipient of more than $2billion in government funding and tax breaks over the last 12 years. That’s more than $2,000 per car built. Holden’s argument is that it couldn’t continue to build cars here without the taxpayer subsidies, citing the dollar and the alleged Japanese government’s manipulation of the Yen as cases in point (so THAT’s why those Japanese cars sell so well here, not quality).

There’s been plenty of chatter here in Australia over the last few years about whether our tiny car manufacturing industry is worth propping up. We give assistance to Toyota and Ford, as well as Holden. With two of the three manufacturers we give assistance to tumbling down the sales charts, the chatter is only going to get louder.

Holden were once revered as The Australian Car Company, building cars in Australia that were suited to Australian conditions. The truth is that they stopped being an Australian car company many years ago and compounded their loss of reputation with poor quality Korean-sourced cars, several of which being cynically marketed and short-lived as a result. Any Aussies still own a Holden Viva?

Australians till take some pride in Holden’s design and engineering arms. The Camaro and Holden’s V8 racing success being the most obvious examples. But even those lack some relevance as the Camaro isn’t sold here and people take their eyes off family V8’s in increasing numbers.

Holden on?

Barely.

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VF Holden Commodore SSV – That’s More Like It!

A few days ago I showed the new VF Holden Commodore in Calais V for – the luxury spec model. I thought it looked both bloated and derivative. I wasn’t impressed, though the poll from the same post shows that readers didn’t mind its gastronomous looks as much as I did – you voted for the new one almost 3-to-1. Overnight, images of the VF Holden Commodore SSV version, the sportier model in the Commodore range – and it looks a hell of a lot better.

I still have problems with that ducktail on the rear end but over all, this is a much more appealing look than the Calais V we saw the other day. The chrome treatments on the Calais have been replaced with sportier, more aggressive black. The quad-pipe exhaust, sportier foglamps embedded in deeper bumpers also change the car’s mood considerably.

Finally, I like it.

US readers – GM’s North American head honcho Mark Reuss is due to release this car on the weekend in North America as the Chevrolet SS, hence Holden releasing images today even though the VF Commodore won’t go on sale until mid-year.

Click the images to enlarge.

Holden Commodore SSV

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