Opel to sell cars in Australia

[Rollo]

http://www.carsguide.com.au/site/news-and-reviews/car-news/opel_to_launch_in_australia
The German brand is on a drive for global expansion and is aiming for conquest sales from Volkswagen, Renault, Peugeot and Citroen with a starting lineup of three cars.
The Astra will be Opel's born-again hero downunder and joined by the compact Corsa and award-winning mid-sized Insignia. The plan is confirmed today by the heads of General Motors' two brands, Nick Reilly of Opel and Mike Devereux of GM Holden.
Holden is helping with the move but Opel is genuinely going alone, with no commitment to Holden dealers and no intention of integrating its small-car lineup with the cheaper Korean-made cars that dominate the Holden range.

The Corsa and Astra (and Vectra) previously appeared under the Holden badge but now it appears as though because Holden have replaced them all with rebadged Daewoos, Opel will now move into the Australian market.
When Holden replaced the Corsa and Astra and Vectra, their replacements the new Barina, Cruze and Epica became completely anonymous on the roads. I'd be surprised if more than 1000 Epicas have been sold since they came out.

Basically I think that the long term strategy from GM Head Office is thus:
1. Bring in Opel to compete with Holden by selling higher quality cars.
2. When Holden isn't able to justify it's existance through flagging profit margins cull the brand.
3. End production of the Commodore because of Holden's demise.

Holden tried to sell the Monaro (as the Pontiac GTO) to the US, and the Commodore as the (as the Pontiac G8), when GM pulled the plug on Pontiac, Holden found that its biggest export market died. Maybe the ploy in Oz is to attack the trunk so that the tree falls over.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Holden has survived only because of Australia's isolation from the world market.....in this new shrinking world, Holden's unique cars maybe threatened. Shame, I like the Commodore/G8 as it was sold up here.....

[driveace]

And the large racing Holdens at Bathurst .What are they using now?

[Eki]

Holden McGroin

[Rollo]

And the large racing Holdens at Bathurst .What are they using now?

Curious question.

Officially they use the Commodore, but the only two components which the road car and the race car share are the Holden badges which sit on the front and rear of the car. The rest of the car is shorter, narrower, and lower than the road car.
Even then the "Car of Tommorrow" to be used in the 2013 (no transition period) is expected to be a common car, which will share zero components with the current spec Commodore or Falcon.

The current VE had A$1bn spent on developing the platform (Zeta) which became the basis for the Chevrolet Camaro, but when the model cycle ends in 2015, I don't think it will be renewed.

[rah]

Using the rebadged daewoos was the worst decision for Holden, but I can understand why they did it, afterall GM gave it too them to manage.

I doubt GM want to kill Holden. Commodore is still doing well because of the export market in mid east and asia. Holden do good design work for GM and I am sure this will continue. Better yet, Holden still makes money for GM.

It will be interesting to see the impact Opel have in OZ.

[Rollo]

Using the rebadged daewoos was the worst decision for Holden, but I can understand why they did it, afterall GM gave it too them to manage.

I doubt GM want to kill Holden. Commodore is still doing well because of the export market in mid east and asia. Holden do good design work for GM and I am sure this will continue. Better yet, Holden still makes money for GM.

It will be interesting to see the impact Opel have in OZ.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/holden-profits-still-stuck-in-reverse-20100331-rexz.html
CAR maker GM Holden revealed yesterday that it had posted a $210.6 million loss for calendar 2009 - the fifth run of red ink at the Red Lion in as many years.
However, the Australian arm of the giant US company General Motors was able to put a positive spin on the result, saying that auditors' concerns aired in Holden's 2008 financial reports that the company could soon become unviable were no longer being raised.

When reports hint at a company's viability, and the fact that a unit doesn't make money, GM have shown in the past that they can and will shut them down in a hurry.
The big question is why bother to employ Australian workers, when you can employ Koreans or Indians at a cheaper price?

[Bob Riebe]

http://www.smh.com.au/business/holden-profits-still-stuck-in-reverse-20100331-rexz.html
CAR maker GM Holden revealed yesterday that it had posted a $210.6 million loss for calendar 2009 - the fifth run of red ink at the Red Lion in as many years.
However, the Australian arm of the giant US company General Motors was able to put a positive spin on the result, saying that auditors' concerns aired in Holden's 2008 financial reports that the company could soon become unviable were no longer being raised.

When reports hint at a company's viability, and the fact that a unit doesn't make money, GM have shown in the past that they can and will shut them down in a hurry.
The big question is why bother to employ Australian workers, when you can employ Koreans or Indians at a cheaper price?When GM went into the ****ter, Holden was one of the strongest makes. The U.S. is using chassis from Holden.

[Steve Boyd]

Interesting contrast to GM's marketing strategy in the UK where "Opel" models bear the traditional UK "Vauxhall" brand while the Daewoo imports now wear "Chevrolet" badges.

[555-04Q2]

I don't think Opel will scare the local manufacturers in OZ too much. I have owned 2 Opels in the past and all I can say is I will never touch another one again, not even with a 1 mile long pole :down:

[rah]

http://www.smh.com.au/business/holden-profits-still-stuck-in-reverse-20100331-rexz.html
CAR maker GM Holden revealed yesterday that it had posted a $210.6 million loss for calendar 2009 - the fifth run of red ink at the Red Lion in as many years.
However, the Australian arm of the giant US company General Motors was able to put a positive spin on the result, saying that auditors' concerns aired in Holden's 2008 financial reports that the company could soon become unviable were no longer being raised.

When reports hint at a company's viability, and the fact that a unit doesn't make money, GM have shown in the past that they can and will shut them down in a hurry.
The big question is why bother to employ Australian workers, when you can employ Koreans or Indians at a cheaper price?

There you go, that is surprising. Still I doubt they will shut it down yet, they get some nice subsidies for manufacturing in aus. It would be interesting to see what models it is losing money on. I don't know how the commodore went in 2010, but it was the best selling model in 2009. I know Holden are still number 2 in sales for aus, so what models are they losing on? Daewoo at a guess.

[Azumanga Davo]

Daewoo at a guess.

Jalopnik had a story this morning saying Daewoo as a name will be no more in South Korea, to be replaced by Chevrolet. I bet they will still be Korean rubbish though.