Holden Assist

[ssberlina]

Guys,

I have noticed that the Holden Assist option has now been deleted from most of the commodore/monaro range.

Was this because it wasnt being taken up or is it too expensive. I have noted that Toyota have just released a similar thing.

Fortunately for me I have it installed in my series 3 monaro as it certainly give more peace of mind when parking it.

[Holden]

SSBerlina - it was low takeup, pure and simple. It remains standard in WL Caprice as our flagship vehicle.

[ssberlina]

SSBerlina - it was low takeup, pure and simple. It remains standard in WL Caprice as our flagship vehicle.

I gathered that was the case. It is very surprising though how many people didnt even know it was available or what it did. This includes both the general public and the insurance companies. I spent at least 30 minutes trying to explain what it was to the Insurance girl on the phone. That was even after I told her to log onto the Holden site. They eventually had to log it down as a Quick track type of system. In the whole I think the sales department for Holden really stuffed up or maybe it was designed to fail because if it got popular how would of the factory kept up. As it was it added three months to the delivery of the monaro. (Meant I got a series 3 instead of the series 2 I ordered so I wasnt complaining)

The main problem you had, was that the dealers didnt promote it as it was a factory fitted option and they wanted to sell the cars in there yard. Most of the dealers I was talking to at the time I was buying tried very hard to talk me out of it rather than order it.

If you look at another factory installed option like this maybe there will need to be some incentive for the dealers otherwise it will be another sales disaster.

The holden assist is excellent.

[VooDoo]

Ive used it in my Caprice about 4 times (damn battery) and its worked very well. I like the peice of mind as well. It helps my decision to buy another caprice with this fitted rather than the Statesman. (Plus the DVD's are cool too)

[V82xist]

I have it in my SS and think it's a brilliant idea....didn't get the sat nav but should've as I believe it's a marriage saving device :D
I'm glad to see it's still continuing in the Caprice as I was getting worried about continued support.

[Fixel]

The wife and I have used Holden Assist a few times and love the security it gives.

I had the same problem as ssberlina with my insurance company and explaining what HA was and did. I was thankful that that Calais was stolen and recovered at the Crown Casino during my negotiations. One of the things I sent to my insurer was the newspaper clipping.

The only real annoyance I have had with Holden Assist is the limited range of its GSM, I don't have to be too far away from metro Melbourne to have it's little red light staring at me. It's funny how insecure I felt.

[ssberlina]

Why doesnt Holden talk to the insurance companies and offer to the public items that will reduce the insurance and market the options that way.

It is really pathetic that an item as good as the "Holden assist" is taken off the market due to poor sales and even now when you speak to the insurance companies they dont know about it two years after it was released.

Items such as Holden assist, brake upgrades, wider tyre upgrades, ABS, Electronic Brake Assist (EBA), Electronic Stability Program (ESP), Cornering Brake Control (CBC), Traction Control (TC), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) etc should be openly flaunted to the public as safety items and Holden should also make the insurance groups fully aware of the products they are offering to reduce the buyers insurance.

Surely i am not the only one to have noticed the high premiums we are paying.

If you mention brake assist, to the general Joe public they dont have a clue what you are talking about.

Guys the marketing of the safety features of the cars is very very poor. Just have a look at the Holden web site for the calais. The items such as brake assist etc are not even mentioned in the safety section but the mechanical. This in my opinion is a major mistake.

I know you are only representing the design team but maybe you could pass these comments on to the marketing section or get them on the site as well.

[Holden]

SSBerlina - We certainly work very hard to promote the safety aspects of our cars and can point to a number of Australian safety firsts (eg airbags!). You can certainly get a lot of safety features in various Holden cars in 2004 and yes, we talk to the insurance companies. Appreciate your other points but you can't continue to offer any product that isn't what the market actually wants - can be terminal for your business if you do.

[LSX-438]

HA has an integrated phone and GPS. I would have liked to see Holden offer an option where you can bolt on a SatNav and phone handset to take further advantage of these features. Obviously these things cost money, and I've heard the security compromise argument (surely there are technical solutions though) but right now we're left with no system at all. Rather moot now I guess.

[ssberlina]

SSBerlina - We certainly work very hard to promote the safety aspects of our cars and can point to a number of Australian safety firsts (eg airbags!). You can certainly get a lot of safety features in various Holden cars in 2004 and yes, we talk to the insurance companies. Appreciate your other points but you can't continue to offer any product that isn't what the market actually wants - can be terminal for your business if you do.


Thanks for your reply. I am sorry if you took this the wrong way.

The point I was really trying to make (albeit poorly) was that even though you have some of the best safety features on the market, nobody knows about them other than the holden fanatics like myself. (Preaching to the converted.)

They dont get advertised. You spend all of your time designing state of the art features like I noted in my last post and then they get pushed aside in the marketing. If it is like most marketing section I know they are only interested in colours and not the mechanics of them.

A good example of the lack of advertising was with the Holden assist. The first time I personally saw a TV add on the Holden assist (Caprice add) was after you had dropped it on the general range due to poor sales. Luckily for me I made myself aware of the features (web site) and already had it on the monaro.

You should see how may people ask me what the buttons on the rear view mirror are and then are incredible impressed when I tell them. They just didnt know it existed.

Look at the tv adds for the SV6. Now this car has some fantastic features along with the new V6 calais, but I havent seen one magazine, TV add that mentions it.

When I mentioned it to some friends (fellow mechanical engineers currently driving Hondas and WRX's) they thought that I was talking BS when I commented that Electronic Brake Assist (EBA) the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) and Cornering Brake Control (CBC) was now available a Holden.
There comment to me was, again, why doesnt Holden promote them !!!


Sorry to rant if I wasnt so interested in promoting your great products I would be even bothering spending the time to write this.

Keep up the great work guys.

Thanks again for spending the time on this site.

[Holden]

Hey, it's all healthy discussion!