Holden will be gone in 2017.

[Goggles]

http://www.news.com.au/national/the-...-1226783057648

Don't care where the next commodore is made, but I'm still not convinced a largish rwd sedan post-ve/vf is out of the question.

It just needs a good volume. IMHO the Chev SS program is not a token gesture to give Holden a few thousand more sales of the VF.

I don't think large rwd sedans are on the nose. Aren't most of the large german sedans sold in this country and around the world rwd?

[mac06]

I wonder if they'll drop the luxury tax on the imports, now that's there's nothing to protect ?

I wouldn't be surprised if import tariffs went up once Holden and Toyota go. The govt says it won't go into budget surplus as early as they anticipated. What a quick and easy way to raise much needed cash.

[XUV]

Q and A's from holden
https://www.facebook.com/holdenaustr...044705584898:0

this gets me but , they always blame the dollar,

2. Why did GM decide to stop manufacturing vehicles in Australia?

There is no one factor. A raft of economic drivers have worked against continuing to manufacture vehicles locally. Australia’s automotive industry is up against a perfect storm of negative influences, including the sustained strength of the Australian dollar, high cost of production, relatively small domestic market and arguably the most competitive and fragmented auto market in the world.
The extent of the competition and fragmentation in the Australian market is highlighted when compared to other global markets. For instance, Australia has 51 brands of passenger car on sale compared to 43 brands in the United States, yet the American passenger car market is about 16 times larger than Australia’s.


Cruze is made in 11 plants around the world, most of which also export it. While there is some global demand for large rear-drive cars like Commodore and Caprice, the high Australian dollar means Holden’s export programs are running at a loss.


All three vehicle manufacturers in Australia deal with the same issue regarding the extra cost of manufacturing cars in this country. For Holden, it costs $3,750 more to produce cars here than in some overseas plants, including higher labour, transport and supplier costs.


Since 2001, the Australian dollar has risen from US50c to as high as US$1.10. The appreciation of the currency alone means that at the Australian dollar’s peak, making things in Australia was 65 percent more expensive compared to just a decade earlier.


The sustained and unprecedented strength of the Australian dollar, combined with the weakening of currencies of our imported competitors, means importers are at a significant advantage.

back in 2000-01 they were blaming it for the price on imported parts, and why weren't they exporting it baCk when our dollar was UA$0.50.

[johnfin]

Where is Mad Max when you need him. Aussies have always had the best and innovative cars. You guys need to start your own car company. Every tom, dick and harry here in the states starts a car company.Build one with a big engine, supercharger, missles, guns and a light on top and I will buy one for sure. God and if they are going to build them in Korea leave the Holden name off of it, call them Chevys.

[mjrandom]

...Build one with a big engine, supercharger, missles, guns and a light on top ...

NSW Police have one of those now...

[Goggles]

NSW Police have one of those now...

Yeah they do

[jaykay]

No GTS or LSA badges but a Walkinshaw badge made its way there

[Goggles]

No GTS or LSA badges but a Walkinshaw badge made its way there

Yep and it has quite a nice exhaust note. It has more power than a standard Gen-F GTS.

[planetdavo]

Where is Mad Max when you need him. Aussies have always had the best and innovative cars. You guys need to start your own car company. Every tom, dick and harry here in the states starts a car company.Build one with a big engine, supercharger, missles, guns and a light on top and I will buy one for sure. God and if they are going to build them in Korea leave the Holden name off of it, call them Chevys.

Too many Aussies these days do NOT want an Australian made car, especially one with a big lion on the front and back- because apparently bogans buy local Holden's. Doesn't matter how much you get for your money, how much technology is put in it, how economical they are now for their size, or how nice they are to drive. Even comparisons between imports and local car reliability hardly factor. If it's "Aussie" it must be sh!t, and everything else is better. Just because it is.
Apparently, according to some, we don't make a Holden relevant to our market anymore. Even though the only time Commodore dropped out of top 5 sales was right near the end of runout, and one current model variant has a waiting list of over 3 months...
The rapid change in what makes someone "Australian" over the last generation has been fascinating to watch in it's speed, but sad to watch how it's turned out. We really have virtually lost our unique national identity.
At the end of the day, we now have DOUBLE the brands available to you in the US on sale here- for just ONE million sales a year- and a culture that now barely values "Aussie". We've, unfortunately, become addicted to global technology and greed as a means of having "a better life". It isn't hard to figure out the numbers of what that means...

[SCiFiRE]

Too many Aussies these days do NOT want an Australian made car, especially one with a big lion on the front and back- because apparently bogans buy local Holden's. Doesn't matter how much you get for your money, how much technology is put in it, how economical they are now for their size, or how nice they are to drive. Even comparisons between imports and local car reliability hardly factor. If it's "Aussie" it must be sh!t, and everything else is better. Just because it is.
Apparently, according to some, we don't make a Holden relevant to our market anymore. Even though the only time Commodore dropped out of top 5 sales was right near the end of runout, and one current model variant has a waiting list of over 3 months...
The rapid change in what makes someone "Australian" over the last generation has been fascinating to watch in it's speed, but sad to watch how it's turned out. We really have virtually lost our unique national identity.
At the end of the day, we now have DOUBLE the brands available to you in the US on sale here- for just ONE million sales a year- and a culture that now barely values "Aussie". We've, unfortunately, become addicted to global technology and greed as a means of having "a better life". It isn't hard to figure out the numbers of what that means...

I distinctly remember when i first started working around ~15 years ago, if someone had had started a business and was doing really well they'd go buy a new Calais - to be fair I grew up in a blue collar area, but now the idea is laughable to most Australians. It's gone from "Hey, he just bought a new Calais, he must be doing alright" to "He bought a Holden? Really? Why??"

and the general ignorance of the public is astounding... "Australia hasn't built cars people wanted in decades" (when only a decade ago they were outselling nearest competitors 3 to 1, and even now are still selling the in top 10)... "They wasted their money rehashing the same shitty cars and the same shitty technology" (Just in the last 10 years - New platforms(Zeta), SUVs(Territory) and hatchbacks(Cruze), New engines (hfv6, ecoboost), more and more in-cabin technology). mneh. I give up. I lost it a few weeks ago when I had 3 people trying to tell me the Mazda6 was bigger than a commodore... and they wouldn't believe me that a similarly specced Calais-V is about $5-6k cheaper.

[CLUBRED]

My aunt bought a 6 a few months ago (after a long line of commodores spanning from the late 80's), I asked why "because the salemens said it was the safest and had a good electronics system.".....?? karma though, she's been back to Mazda twice with complaints, which appear to be falling on deaf ears.

No local product means eventually running costs rise, every time I've done comparisons with insurance the imported car was at least 50% dearer to insure. Allot of them were premium fuel ONLY and required twice yearly services..

[VXSS346]

Too many Aussies these days do NOT want an Australian made car, especially one with a big lion on the front and back- because apparently bogans buy local Holden's. Doesn't matter how much you get for your money, how much technology is put in it, how economical they are now for their size, or how nice they are to drive. Even comparisons between imports and local car reliability hardly factor. If it's "Aussie" it must be sh!t, and everything else is better. Just because it is.
Apparently, according to some, we don't make a Holden relevant to our market anymore. Even though the only time Commodore dropped out of top 5 sales was right near the end of runout, and one current model variant has a waiting list of over 3 months...
The rapid change in what makes someone "Australian" over the last generation has been fascinating to watch in it's speed, but sad to watch how it's turned out. We really have virtually lost our unique national identity.
At the end of the day, we now have DOUBLE the brands available to you in the US on sale here- for just ONE million sales a year- and a culture that now barely values "Aussie". We've, unfortunately, become addicted to global technology and greed as a means of having "a better life". It isn't hard to figure out the numbers of what that means...

Very true.

This is not the Australia it once was, ........all the values we grew up and believed in over the last 20-30 years are all gone.

Well done to Australia.

BTW: Without getting too political, has anyone else noticed how all these politicians, (state and federal, ....government and opposition), are all putting forward fighting words against each other, trying to 'look' like they actually care?

[jackvz]

The Commodore will never be the same car after 2017 ,because its Aussie soul will not be there. Holden should retire the name and let the Commodore finish as the last Aussie built car. I for one will never buy a Chinese or Korean built Holden. Finally bring back Kingswood country ,that was Australia!

[redvxr8clubby]

The Commodore will never be the same car after 2017 ,because its Aussie soul will not be there. Holden should retire the name and let the Commodore finish as the last Aussie built car. I for one will never buy a Chinese or Korean built Holden. Finally bring back Kingswood country ,that was Australia!

If you were Holden would you kill the name off? I wouldn't, it has recognition and while they would have a marketing exercise to advertise and promote it in its new form, it makes sense to make use of what you have. I don't see they will have that with another name, like the Malibu etc, no recognition of the product at all.

[HSV,_I_GOT_ONE]

If you were Holden would you kill the name off? I wouldn't, it has recognition and while they would have a marketing exercise to advertise and promote it in its new form, it makes sense to make use of what you have. I don't see they will have that with another name, like the Malibu etc, no recognition of the product at all.

Only problem is what is the point? If they aren't manufacturing they are only importing. I would not be surprised if GM scales back the brands until it really is down to Chev and Cadilac (for their premium buyers). The amount of costs involved with all these multiple brands they have must be phenominal. Against other worl manufacturers this is a big disadvantage.