The Year Ahead For Holden:How To Increase Market Share???

[teamkiwi]

Well another year has gone and yet again Toyota increases its leading Holden (by a BIG margin). So what is installed for Holden for the up and coming year that will put a halt to Toyotas dominance? Ah not that much in the sense of new models, bar the Sportswagon and VF update, What are your theories and ideas as to how Holden can increase it market share?

Here are some of mine i have gathered up from various sources:

Commodore:
Facelift VF? is due around August, im guessing that it will be mainly engineering and mechanical changes, For example, intro of DDI V6 + 6 Speed Transmission in high end models, with the HFV6 going into the Omega and Berlina. AFM for V8 models. I don’t believe that there will be too many cosmetic changes to the VF, only because with the ute havin only just being release and the wagon be released in April with what im assuming will be the same VE look, as I doubt that they will release the VF that would make the VE ute and wagon look different.

As we all know the Sportswagon is going to be released around April, which should increase commodore sales significantly. Apparently, Holden currently sell at around 1000 units per month, so one would assume that the new Sportswagon would be around this figure if not better, with an increase in private buyers but a decrease in fleet sales maybe?

Astra:
Unaware of any changes for the Astra this year or when it is getting an upgrade, but currently it and the focus are the oldest models in the small – med car in its segment, and is looking quite dated and in need to a overhaul to boost sales again. Introducing a sedan version may help increase sales as I notice a lot of Mazda 3 and Corolla Sedans around in NZ.

Viva:
Completely new model is due 4th quarter this year. The new Viva will be the 2nd of GM-DAT’s new products after the Captiva, so it should be just as promising. The spy shots are promising so it should help boost the sales of the Viva which are no where near what Holden was expecting.

Epica:
Like the Viva, it isn’t quite generating the sales expected by Holden, is due for an exterior and interior upgrade in Korea, which includes a 6 speed Automatic , which all could help Holden boost Epica sales. The introduction of a diesel model could help as well. Its going to have a tough time competing against the new Mazda 6.

Captiva:
Has only just had a minor MY08 upgrade so not much installed for it this year. Possible sales booster could be the introduction of a FWD, because apparently 2wd models make up close to 50% of Terrie sales, which was a major factor why the Kulger has just been released with a both FWD and 4WD. A sports or performance model could also help increase sales.

Would like to see the instrument cluster upgrade and the position where the Sat Nav should be, filled with something more useful because both make the Captiva look really cheap. Maybe Reverse Camera and Screen in that space?

Barina:
Although the Barina is getting some reasonable sales results, it is in need for a facelift/upgrade which is on the cars for early this year. We will either be getting the Daewoo Gentra X upgrade or the Europe Chevy Aveo upgrade. I personally prefer the Europe Chevy Aveo upgrade because its sporty youthful looks (although controversial) will attract more younger first car buyers, in which the Barina is intended for.

Another idea is the introduction of the Opel Corsa as either a Barina MaXX or Barina Euro (similar to what Honda does with the Accord) which will sit above the Korean Barina, commanding more $$$. With the current Barina, it only competes against basically entry models with nothing to compete against top end models of the other manufacturers. And with petrol tip to increase even more, it could be a successful move.

HSV:
Some of the rumours for HSV:
• Senator Estate and/or GTS Sportswagon anyone????
• 7L GTS-R
• 6.2L Engine Upgrade (Not realty a rumour, just a matter of when)
• The Clubsport being reintroduced into the lineup (remember at the time of the E-Series release they said the Clubbie will make a comeback as a cheap intro into the HSV brand) as maybe a Supercharged V6???
• Greater engine/power differentiation between R8 and GTS + a new model to fit in between the two.
• HSV Captiva (Saturn Vue Redline as a start maybe?)
• HSV Corsa VXR?

Others:
Some of the other realistic things that could help increase sales are:
The introduction of a RAV4 competitor ie T2X concept?
An even smaller SUV/4x4 ie Opel Agila?

[NickS]

Some of the rumours for HSV:
• HSV Captiva (Saturn Vue Redline as a start maybe?)

God I hope not ...

[Steve-LS2]

With 3 shifts per day at Elizabeth, Holden can produce 611 vehicles per day.

If they are selling 1000 per month in Australia, not including the imported Holdens (Astra, Vectra, Captiva etc) then what happens to the remaining 12525 cars per month that are built there??

What about the 86000 V6 model Commodores and Stateman/Caprice's that were recalled?

Based on your Figures the VE has been out for the last 7 years......

Not only that, there would have to be almost 800 Holden Dealer ships in Australia which only sell 1.2 cars per month?????

Hmmm me thinks this is crap!

Holden are a strategic part of General Motors and they are making their multi billion dollar investment into Holden pay off by creating vehicles for overseas markets.

The Zeta platform is where it is for GM soon to be followed in the states by the Alpha platform.

The other models that Holden offer will never compete with the imports that Toyota bring in from Taiwan, purely because they can make them cheaper that Holden can.

So, Holden have to have a variety of cars to be competitive across all facets of the market but they really only care about having the highest selling LOCALLY built car, which they have had for the past 12 years.

Exporting this vehicle and making money off that is a bonus but it doesn't make Holden any money because GM benefits from it.

[Carby]

Well I fully expect Holden sales to decrease this year in comparison to 2007 and for the Commodore to lose sales leadership to the Corolla - yes an unpalatable thought but highly likely. Why? The new Falcon is going to be launched and it is fair to say that the vehicle to suffer most by this release is the Commodore - it's natural competitor. It's fair to reason that the new Ford will be more economical (it already is in the sixes with the ZF), the motor will be more powerful and of course will kill the Holden V6 for torque. In the bread and butter stakes, the Falcon, if it looks half decent, will be superior to the VE and should win over a lot of those non aligned sales.

The only thing I reckon will stop a significant shift (enough for Commodore to lose leadership to the Corolla) to the Falcon is if Holden brings out a 6 speed auto for it's six, gets DI for it's six like the Caddy and brings out a Diesel model. By the sheer lack of rumours, it would appear that Holden is doing nothing on these fronts and as such we can fully expect to see their Commodore range lose market share. Only Holden's Hero (SS /HSV"S) cars will have it over the Fords.

As for the rest of the range - the Territory is better than the Captiva (lucky Ford don't have a diesel), the Fiesta is better than the Barina, The Focus is better than the Astra and the Epica has the much superior Mondeo to contend with.

By my reckoning, Holden is in for a rough year.:bawl:

[smoov GTS]

With 3 shifts per day at Elizabeth, Holden can produce 611 vehicles per day.

If they are selling 1000 per month in Australia, not including the imported Holdens (Astra, Vectra, Captiva etc) then what happens to the remaining 12525 cars built


I think he means 1000 wagons sold per month, and assumes the Sportswagon would have similar volumes. Which seems logical enough.

[mac06]

When VE was released the pricing was kept very sharp. This was achieved at the expense of fleet sales and to the benefit of retail sales. A positive for retail customers is the resale value of their VE's are now better that VZ (ranging from 9-15% depending on model according to Glass's Guide) whereas in the same time period Toyota Aurion has dropped 2-3%. So there is a price to pay for purely increasing market share for the sake of gloating over numbers. That's not to say that Holden wouldn't love to have the market share Toyota has, but they would have to think about the price they would pay in trying to achieve this. Toyota's net profit last year was around $10 million from memory. Holden had invested over a billion dollars into VE and will take some time to recoup this money, hence the losses they show at the moment. Throwing in discounts to achieve numbers isn't necessarily the best way to go about increasing market sahre.

To compound things, people who used to drive Holdens and Fords as company cars are now having access to novated leasing. Many of these are now choosing to drive something different for a change and are going to other manufacturers.

Fuel also prices haven't helped the large car cause, and while the fuel prices stay high, more and more people will choose to drive smaller cars. Totota has had this sown up for quite a while with affordable and dependable cars. The Astra/ Vectra was always well built, but perhaps out of the pricing that the majority of buyers wanted. New Barina/ Viva has helped in this regard no matter what many here may think of them. The current Barina still sells more than the Opel Barina (Corsa) and the Viva fills the hole created by people who don't want to pay the extra for the Astra.

As new models come out, especially from the Korean plant I think we will start to see some increase in numbers, just not right now. Patience is required. In the meantime Holden can take kudos from their export market, the biggest being the US market. If the G8 takes off there as expected, then Holden will benefit from that, recouping their investment a lot faster. That in turn will mean more options for importing other vehicles from GM plants across the globe.

[Evman]

Breaking news: Holden puts a hold on imported car "upgrades" and concentrates on the new Torana, hopinh to have it on sale early 2009...

*Sigh* if only....

[CSP]

Release the Torana.
Add DoD technology to the LS2.
Release LS7.
Release a deisel engine option across the range (not HSV).

[Jac001]

This is an interesting thread, but the focus of many companies isn't about getting market share but making money.

Toyota for many years has sold more cars that holden, yet (previous to 2005/6) holdens has always been more profitable.

With VE holden has purposely moved away from fleet sales. Why sell more cars for less money, when you can sell less cars for more , (not to mention the money they save by building less cars).

Private sales for 2007 where 36% up on 2006 for the VE range.

I had heard that the epica was the third highest selling car it its class (can't find any numbers though) but if it is true it is very good for a model with no history.



Also just a slight clarification:

The Elizabeth plants runs 2 shifts in General Assembly (GA) making 310 a shift = 620 / day.

Bodyshop has a full 3rd shift and a couple of plants have skeleton shifts.

If GA do 2 shifts, then they are a two shift operation, if GA do 3 shifts then they are a 3 shift operation, (doesn't matter what the other plants do).
:)


At the end of the the day Holdens needs to run its own race.

Build a good quality car with good relaibility and people will buy it, and it won't really matter what everyone else does.



My prediction for for 2008:

With the sports wagon being released in a few months , i do NOT expect that holden will go to VF this year, probably early - mid 2009.

[teamkiwi]

With 3 shifts per day at Elizabeth, Holden can produce 611 vehicles per day.

If they are selling 1000 per month in Australia, not including the imported Holdens (Astra, Vectra, Captiva etc) then what happens to the remaining 12525 cars per month that are built there??

What about the 86000 V6 model Commodores and Stateman/Caprice's that were recalled?

Based on your Figures the VE has been out for the last 7 years......

Not only that, there would have to be almost 800 Holden Dealer ships in Australia which only sell 1.2 cars per month?????

Hmmm me thinks this is crap!.

Yeah sorry, i was implying what 'smoov GTS' said, that the make up of monthly Commodore sales is around 1000 Wagons and 3500 Sedans out of say a total of 4500 commodore rather than 1000 total commodore per month. (Half the reason as to why Commodore sales where only down in Dec, as VZ wagon production had ceased )

[Evman]

Market share has a big effect on sales still. If a car/manufacturer is selling really well there "must" be a reason for it, so people will look more favourably at that car/manufacturer.

[VQST80]

Thats why you build a product that basicly sells itself.

It has to be what the customer wants.

And as Jac001 said, "Build a good quality car with good relaibility and people will buy it, and it won't really matter what everyone else does.

[BigFella]

toyota will continue to domminate. holden have no chance of catching up at all, petrol goes up, toyota has better and more fuel efficient cars. and alot are much better built. (mind u i find the toyotas very very boring lol)
It also helps that they have a massive fleet sales market and i mean MASSIVE!




lol on another note, we (honda) out sold ford for the first time( we are half ford and honda), they have fleet, and have a larger yard next to us too!
They need that new falcon very badly!