Jump to content
Create New...
  • William Maley
    William Maley

    Rumorpile: Holden To Transition Into Chevrolet After 2017

    William Maley

    Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com

    December 13, 2013

    With the announcement of Holden closing up production and R&D by 2017, the battle to keep the Holden brand alive has only begun.

    News.com.au reports that General Motors is considering dropping Holden and transitioning to Chevrolet. The reasons for this begin with the Holden brand not having any distinction once the brand begins importing vehicles in 2017. There is also an image problem as the brand could be seen as damaged with the shutdown of its factories.

    "There will now be the biggest fight ever to save the Holden brand from being shelved. Every time there is a new boss of Holden or a new head of General Motors, the question is asked, 'Why do we still have the Holden brand in Australia? Now that (Holden) won't be making cars and there won't be anything unique about the vehicles, the debate is going to come up again and it will be hard to win. There will be massive implications for the brand," a Holden insider said.

    "There is no emotion in this. It will all come down to money. If General Motors thinks sales will go down because the Holden brand is on the nose, then they will switch it to Chevrolet," another insider said.

    This isn't the first time that Holden had to fight back. Back at the start of the global financial crisis, Holden was on the chopping block alongside Hummer and Pontiac. Holden fought back with Mark Ruess at the helm.

    "The amount of money we've spent trying to defend the Holden brand to Detroit is ridiculous. But when executives from North America come out to Australia, they take photos of Chevrolet badges that people have fitted to their Holden utes, and use that against us," an insider said.

    Source: News.com.au

    William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at william.maley@cheersandgears.com or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    Is the Holden brand worth saving? Maybe not.

    Only in Australia is it known as Holden. When the Commodore and its siblings are sold in the ME and elsewhere, they are sold as Chevrolets. The Chevy SS in the USA is a Commodore (of sorts). Since there is no unique selling point to Holden (a RWD haven in this era of FWD appliances), especially given the ridiculous strength of the Australian dollar, Holden can go peacefully into the night. Holden RIP.

    And I say that as someone who mourned Oldsmobile's untimely passing in 2004.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

      On 12/14/2013 at 12:45 AM, Drew Dowdell said:

    Then Vauxhall should go too. They already sell Opel in the UK, no need for both.

    Saw a blurb somewhere today that Vauxhall could go also. Didn't realize Opel was in the UK, I knew it was in Ireland so they already have RHD Opel badged models...

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

      On 12/14/2013 at 2:18 AM, Drew Dowdell said:

    eh, apparently I was wrong... but I'm sure I saw Opels there before.

    Could have been gray market or from Ireland.

    Hard times still for GM. It's going to be hard for their regional niche brands to survive..

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    First it will be a transition to Chevy. Then with Chevy's failure in Europe, and Buick's continued China success, all Chevy will transition to Buick. Afterwhich GMC and Cadillac lose their way, marketing versions of the Spark to replace the loss of the original Chevy Spark, they and Opel (Vauxhall is just a memory by then) are all folded into Buick.

    In the beginning it was Buick... in the end it will be all Buick!

    • Agree 2
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

      On 12/14/2013 at 9:14 AM, SAmadei said:

    First it will be a transition to Chevy. Then with Chevy's failure in Europe, and Buick's continued China success, all Chevy will transition to Buick. Afterwhich GMC and Cadillac lose their way, marketing versions of the Spark to replace the loss of the original Chevy Spark, they and Opel (Vauxhall is just a memory by then) are all folded into Buick.

    In the beginning it was Buick... in the end it will be all Buick!

    In the beginning was Olds, not Buick. Buick is only 6-7 years younger than Olds when Olds was still around.

    I personally doubt that Buick will be the ONLY nameplate left. The people that buy a GMC truck would generally never buy a Chevy truck, for example. Chevrolet is in most markets around the world; Buick is in the USA and China only.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    The Holden thing is not really as big of a deal than it is to a hand full of purist.

    Number one Holden's present line up is pretty much Chevy bases already including a Volt. GM is not fooling Aussies as they are smart enough to know what a Chevy is and they do love Chevy.

    Number two They can save a lot of money on rebadging and Holden would be part of the deep pockets of the Chevy global Marketing Program. They would have so much more marketing money than they have now.

    Number three. GM made it clear the latest Zeta was not going to last long so 2017 is no surprise.

    Number four look for a Alpha Chevy sedan based on the under pinnings of the Gen 6 Camaro to carry on the SS and possibly a cheaper model with more options choices. This could be exported as Australia only needs 30K units a year and the money exchanges that way better.

    Number five GM has said it will re enter Japan with Chevy. They can only do this with RHD. Well we already have RHD down under in Malibu, Cruze and other small Chevy eh I mean Holden's so this would lead one to think Chevy for down under.

    Add to all this the ability to intro a Camaro and even a Corvette down under once the LHD version arrive. They are prime for a Camaro. I have a friend in Perth with a LS powered 68 Camaro and he is excited about this as well as many other of our customers. Many spend a lot of money to buy Chevys and import them. Some have to spend more to convert to LHD if they are in the east and it is a rich mans car.

    The only real negative is the loss of a old name and some equity here but that is about it. This is a country that has made the Mazda 3 number one so there is little loyalty to the home brands anymore.

    I would recommend a visit to the Holden site and just compare the line up to Chevy and realize it already is Chevy. Also I would recommend visiting the enthusiast sites and see just how many Chevys are in the country. They are prized and used for shows and racing. We have sold tons and tons of parts for their cars and few go to Holden's.

    The worst loss here is some 2900 jobs with the Zeta but that is the extent of their production there and that is less than many plants here.

    The markets have changed and the way we build and sell cars has to change as the cost involved anymore prevent so many brands and models anymore. The overlap has to stop. Like I have said before we will lose more names globally as there are still some weak companies that just can no longer go it alone.


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

      On 12/14/2013 at 6:15 PM, riviera74 said:

    In the beginning was Olds, not Buick. Buick is only 6-7 years younger than Olds when Olds was still around.

    No. Oldsmobile may be older, but Buick was the first GM company, controlled by Durant to acquire Olds, Oakland, Cadillac, etc.

      On 12/14/2013 at 10:53 PM, Drew Dowdell said:

    I think he was joking

    Yes, I am.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites



    Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
    Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

    Guest
    Add a comment...

    ×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

      Only 75 emoji are allowed.

    ×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

    ×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

    ×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • google-news-icon.png



  • google-news-icon.png

  • Subscribe to Cheers & Gears

    Cheers and Gears Logo

    Since 2001 we've brought you real content and honest opinions, not AI-generated stuff with no feeling or opinions influenced by the manufacturers.

    Please consider subscribing. Subscriptions can be as little as $1.75 a month, and a paid subscription drops most ads.*
     

    You can view subscription options here.

    *a very limited number of ads contain special coupon deals for our members and will show

  • Similar Content

  • Posts

    • I probably need to back up and watch it sometime.  Everyone has heard about it, but I've yet to see it.  On the "to do" list.
    • Amazing musician, if he is a doctor, WOW, he also could have been a Performer, love the song and the movie. Phantom of the Opera is a very soul moving movie imho. His other covers are equally amazing.  
    • First, I had a little bit of video from violinists on the QM2 playing various pieces of music.  I relayed this passage, which sounded familiar, to friends who couldn't peg what it was because the video was a short segment where I was also panning the fairly grandiose Queen's Room.  Finally, someone pegged it and said it was something important from "Phantom of the Opera" ... nothing I'd care to sit through.  At any rate, I found one musician also covering "All I Ask of You" on a violin. This YouTube can really make a person appreciate this instrument, this instrumental piece, and the precision needed to pull this off.  The musician is a young doctor, from what I can glean through the "about" info, and plays the violin to relax.  He does incredible work!
    • MECHANICAL PHOTOS This is the engine bay and the hood uses a prop rod.  The engine is a 2.5 liter 4-cylinder (HEV) augmented by an electric motor. The label shows conformance to all emission standards for model year 2025 and that OBD II just keeps going The orange fittings and plumbing apparently indicate what is part of the hybrid model, as was the case in a Honda Accord Hybrid I drove during the last year - - - - -  END OF PHOTOS
    • INTERIOR PHOTOS This is the view of the front of the cabin as seen from the driver's door This is the view of the front of the cabin as seen from the passenger's door This is one view of the "fixed" displays in the dash and the lower part of the center gauge, which can be customized by toggling;  note the symmetrically placed temperature, time, odometer, and range digital readouts This shows the controls found on each side of the steering wheel and, with the base LE trim, the steering wheel is urethane This shows the push button ignition, the infotainment screen's placement, the climate control panel, and the two lower center air vents This shows the gear selector, the cubby with ports, driving mode, parking brake release, and cup holders The tidy clustering of control buttons to the left of the steering wheel comes in handy Rear seat legroom appears to be decent for the average sized adult passenger Looking over one's shoulder shows a pleasing roofline and window outline, engaged headrests, and the contrasting upholstered areas in the LE model, not to mention good visibility The trunk capacity appears to be in line for this vehicle and for this genre
  • Who's Online (See full list)

    • There are no registered users currently online
  • My Clubs

×
×
  • Create New...

Hey there, we noticed you're using an ad-blocker. We're a small site that is supported by ads or subscriptions. We rely on these to pay for server costs and vehicle reviews.  Please consider whitelisting us in your ad-blocker, or if you really like what you see, you can pick up one of our subscriptions for just $1.75 a month or $15 a year. It may not seem like a lot, but it goes a long way to help support real, honest content, that isn't generated by an AI bot.

See you out there.

Drew
Editor-in-Chief

This Article

Write what you are looking for and press enter or click the search icon to begin your search