Exit Holden, Enter Cheverolet?

[Nikked]

With General Motors now confirming the closure of the local manufacturing operation of Holden, is there a need to trade under that name? Holden is explicitly linked to the locally produced models, deeply ingrained in history and folklore as "Australia's car". This is now all but redundant, is there any point to the Holden badge now?


Now Chevrolet has pulled from Europe, there may be a push to expand operations in other countries, and unlike Europe, we now don't have a competing GM sub-brand, with Opel and Vauxhall effectively stopping any major success in Europe.


Australia on the other hand is a prime candidate now, as of 2017, the entire Holden range will be a rebranded Chevrolet line up. One has to wonder if General Motors will want to prefer to simply operations and just trade here as Chevrolet...there has to be expense in having to produce brand-specific additions...

[BlueOvalPrint]

Agree 100%. The Holden brand should be retired with dignity, like Ford announced it will do with Falcon. No way should an all-import, primarily from Korea, range in 2017 be associated with "Australia's Own Car".

[335POWER]

Yep, they need to go completely Chevrolet now.

[Iggle Piggle]

Originally Posted by Troy23

Yep, they need to go completely Chevrolet now.

Nah, to quote Tropic Thunder..."Never go full retard!"

[buickman]

Originally Posted by Troy23

Yep, they need to go completely Chevrolet now.

I was thinking when they announced the 2017 closure that they might start renaming the dealerships into another trading name Like GM, Chevrolet or Buick and drop the Holden name altogether.

[BENT_8]

They might dust off the ol' GM Daewoo signs...

[Gadgetman]

Well I think they should reboot the whole thing. Call it chev, lose the Korean crap they currently have and replace it with reasonably priced Opels. That will do them good no doubt long term.

[EgoFG]

Originally Posted by Gadgetman

Well I think they should reboot the whole thing. Call it chev, lose the Korean crap they currently have and replace it with reasonably priced Opels. That will do them good no doubt long term.

I am reading between the lines here, but Chev/Chevy will not be officially used worldwide, rather Chevrolet.

The reason is that in China the Cherry brand grabed the 'pronunciation' rights to Chevy in China, GM agreed to this in an effort to boost their business in China.

In Au Holden will be replaced by Chevrolet (IMHO)

[jpd80]

The reason Opel crashed and burned so badly was that Holden imports occupy the same retail space
but more importantly, those Korean designed Holdens are really cost effective...

I think the product lies somewhere between bargain basement Chevrolet and too expensive Opel/Buick.

You could use a Former US brand, "Saturn" to re image GM imports into a new brand identity whilst
keeping some familiar names. That way you could mix and match GM names as needed.

[XBGTFGGTP]

Talked to a ford exec earlier this year at a show and they were picking the end of the Holden name. They said much easier for GM to call everything a Chev to replicate Ford globally rather than different brands in different countries.

[nstg8a]

But arent they pulling chev out of europe?

I wonder how mmany holden owners are sitting back with their barinas and Colorados etc wondering what they're gonna buy once local manufacturing stops.

[Pepscobra]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

I wonder how mmany holden owners are sitting back with their barinas and Colorados etc wondering what they're gonna buy once local manufacturing stops.

kinda funny, coz its true.

[FTE]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

But arent they pulling chev out of europe?

I wonder how mmany holden owners are sitting back with their barinas and Colorados etc wondering what they're gonna buy once local manufacturing stops.

Ive owned around 20 Holdens and HSVs Since 1994 and I actually fit into this category properly.
Thankfully I didn't buy new after my 2005 VZ SS so once manufacturing ceases I will still have approx a decade worth of cars to choose from with the Commodore and Falcon V8 based cars.

[kypez]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

I wonder how mmany holden owners are sitting back with their barinas and Colorados etc wondering what they're gonna buy once local manufacturing stops.

And this is why they might not want to retire the Holden Brand. It still might fool some of the public into buying an "Aussie" Holden than an "imported" Chev.

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by kypez

And this is why they might not want to retire the Holden Brand. It still might fool some of the public into buying an "Aussie" Holden than an "imported" Chev.

ahh...but Holden have left Australia...


I remember when Ford announced its closure, I heard people say "What are you going to do when you can't buy fords no more?" and "They aren't selling fords anymore"


With Holden, its worse, most people knew that a lot of Ford's rage was imported, where Holden is seen as local, and a few people think Holden = Australia.

[kypez]

Originally Posted by Nikked

ahh...but Holden have left Australia...


I remember when Ford announced its closure, I heard people say "What are you going to do when you can't buy fords no more?" and "They aren't selling fords anymore"


With Holden, its worse, most people knew that a lot of Ford's rage was imported, where Holden is seen as local, and a few people think Holden = Australia.

So true. So many people said the same to me as well.

Though, when they see a Holden still available in 2018, they might think there was a reversal and that their beloved Aussie Captiva was saved!

Its a lot of brand equity to throw away.

[xtremerus]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

I wonder how mmany holden owners are sitting back with their barinas and Colorados etc wondering what they're gonna buy once local manufacturing stops.

The same number of Ford owners that think that all Ford models in Oz are made here, and will not be available when local manufacturing stops.

[Polyal]

What?

I actually think it would a bad thing to use the Chev name. Re-badging isnt cheap but its cheaper than launching another brand.

[Pepscobra]

And if Camaro does end up coming here, will they rebrand it Holden or leave it Chev?

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by Pepscobra

And if Camaro does end up coming here, will they rebrand it Holden or leave it Chev?

Good point, leave it Chev because historically thats what it was. Its not like they used to import Camaro's and call them Monaro's.

Good exception to the rule.

[TC200six]

Hard to say what they will do.

Holden, being a long standing name might be kept, due to its familiarity amongst Australians.

It wouldn't be the first time the Chevrolet name has been used here. Chev sedans were sold in Australia by Holden up until the late '60s.

Dual brand dealerships could be possible. In America, GM sell two of their brands under one dealership (can't remember which ones exactly, but one was Buick), so they could do that here.

[grey_esp]

Funny I was just talking with a guy at work about this earlier today. I reckon they will probably start to dual brand their dealerships with either General Motors Holden with the view to dropping the holden after a few years once all the current models have run their time. Or Maybe brand Holden/GMC or Holden/Chev again with the view to dropping the Holden after a few years. As they introduce new models like Camaro they will just bring them in as Chevs until there are no Holdens left.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by grey_esp

Funny I was just talking with a guy at work about this earlier today. I reckon they will probably start to dual brand their dealerships with either General Motors Holden with the view to dropping the holden after a few years once all the current models have run their time. Or Maybe brand Holden/GMC or Holden/Chev again with the view to dropping the Holden after a few years. As they introduce new models like Camaro they will just bring them in as Chevs until there are no Holdens left.

GMC is an abbreviation of "General Motors Truck Company".

They should ditch the Holden moniker and rebrand everything as Chevrolet.

[mcnamg]

Chrysler seems to be able to pull of the multibrand at one dealer gig with Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Fiat and Alpha nothing stopping GM from having General Motors dealers who sell Buick, Chev, Caddy, Holden

[TC200six]

The current Holden models that are known as Chevrolets in other countries include Barina, Barina Spark, Cruse, Trax, Malibu, Both Captivas, Volt and Colorado. So other than the Commodore-based vehicles, their whole line-up is Chevrolet already.

Originally Posted by Big Damo

They should ditch the Holden moniker and rebrand everything as Chevrolet.

I think it would make perfect sense if they did.

[fgpsi]

Holden drivers will now be driving Chev's with a Holden badge on them. Then they will replace the Holden badge with a Chev one.

Lol

[jpd80]

I have a feeling that without local production, those imported Holden vehicles will get very little showroom traffic.

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by jpd80

I have a feeling that without local production, those imported Holden vehicles will get very little showroom traffic.

Toyota have mentioned this at some stage haven't they? They were happy to accept a small loss on local product, as it was made up for with brand recognition and sales from other lines?

[UberKnee]

Originally Posted by Nikked

Toyota have mentioned this at some stage haven't they? They were happy to accept a small loss on local product, as it was made up for with brand recognition and sales from other lines?

How many people are even aware that Toyota have Aussie built cars though? Many people think Holden is 100% Australian with no imports or imported parts.

[Rodge]

Originally Posted by jpd80

I have a feeling that without local production, those imported Holden vehicles will get very little showroom traffic.

Good point. I can't help wondering if GM factored that in properly to their business model going forward ?