No more Holden V8?

[Goggles]

and what will become of the great race round Panorama??

nothing. there are RWD V8 Camrys and Fusions (Mondeos) running around Nascar tracks at the moment.

[offshore]

nothing. there are RWD V8 Camrys and Fusions (Mondeos) running around Nascar tracks at the moment.

Its bullshit mate Camrys are boring as no one cares if there is a V8 Camry at Bathurst its a boring motors sport.

[GR346]

Had our HSV Club end of year dinner Saturday night and the CEO of HSV was there and gave a great speech - he also responded to the news paper articles and stated that he wouldnt be to worried just yet...

So doesnt look as bad as first made out

[Marco]

Well yes, but what else would the CEO of HSV say? Yeah, it's all true and we're closing our doors/shifting to hotting up Malibus and Captivas from 2016?

Either way, HSV needs to seriously consider its business model in the next little while. They've had many good years selling V8s but if the door is about to close on that, then it's time to leap into new markets. HSV Cruze for starters.

[C4B]

Either way, HSV needs to seriously consider its business model in the next little while. They've had many good years selling V8s but if the door is about to close on that, then it's time to leap into new markets. HSV Cruze for starters.

I personally believe HSV are so strongly tied to V8 RWD Commodores that when Commodore ends they would be better off killing the HSV brand and starting afresh.

I wouldn't buy a 4 Cylinder HSV any more than I'd buy a Laptop made by Dewalt or a Watch made by Tampax...... We're not talking about a company like Yamaha which does a multitude of product lines, we're talking about a text book "one trick pony". They are brilliant at producing High Performance Commodores..... And that's all!

[Jag530G]

And in trying to do hotted up 4cyl HSV are going to be competing head on with $40K VW GTIs and Subaru WRXs. A whole different ball game compared with selling GTSs for $95K that have a massive price advantage against its competitors that sell for $150K-$250K. The $40K hot hatch market is highly contested.

I suspect HSV know full well that a HSV Cruze simply won't sell against a WRX or GTI and isn't worth the development money doing so. I don't think HSV sold many Astra VXRs and they were just a rebadge of the OPC Astra. Perhaps the next all new Cruze due in 2015/2016 will be a better base for an HSV version but HSV's brand image of hotted up V8s won't help.

Cheers, Matthew

[Aus8]

Do the right thing and kill HSV with dignity with the VF. Same with the Commodore dont tarnish its legacy. Ford did the righty killing the Falcon name plate hopefully the same thing happens with Commodore and HSV. New cars new names!!

[Marco]

I'd agree with that actually. A FWD Commodore is not a Commodore.

[VYBerlinaV8]

Its bullshit mate Camrys are boring as no one cares if there is a V8 Camry at Bathurst its a boring motors sport.

How would it be any different from any car in the field? The V8 supercars badged as Ford or Holden are really nothing of the sort.

[C4B]

Do the right thing and kill HSV with dignity with the VF. Same with the Commodore dont tarnish its legacy. Ford did the righty killing the Falcon name plate hopefully the same thing happens with Commodore and HSV. New cars new names!!

IMHO HSV should have created an offshoot for non-Commodore based variants a long time ago. That way they could have built up a brand image for that specific market. The problem is they would've needed to divert resources away from the profitable Commodore variants and that's a tough decision to make.

I know many in 4 Cylinder Turbo Brigade and I can tell you without hesitation they would not buy a HSV branded 4 Banger even if it had double the power and handling and was half the price. In their mind HSV is a company that builds Overpriced Commodores for Bogans with too much money.

If they think they're going to crack the Hot Hatch market using the HSV nameplate they're gonna have a steep hill to climb.

[Goggles]

IMHO HSV should have created an offshoot for non-Commodore based variants a long time ago.

which they first tried as far back as 1988 with the Astra.

I don't understand why they didn't persist. surely they could have absorbed a bit of a loss on the 4cyl variants with the profits made on the 8 cyl cars.

[Micks]

Read most posts above & agree, there's no stopping HSV importing a brand from the States etc. & enhancing it like usual.
I don't really want a Commodore & every V8 I have bought are not "Commodores" even though they maybe variant related!!

[calais190]

Read most posts above & agree, there's no stopping HSV importing a brand from the States etc. & enhancing it like usual.
I don't really want a Commodore & every V8 I have bought are not "Commodores" even though they maybe variant related!!

If ford are keen to bring the mustang, will the V8 exist through Camaros here? I can't see HSV removing themselves from the performance sector entirely. Plenty of good American muscle cars that can be sold here. The costs are in developing the RHD versions. Surely with all of the cash they spend on developing the commodore, they could use a portion of it to develop RHDs for at least one performance model for Import to AUS. If they brought camaros and mustangs here I honestly wouldn't mind sacrificing the commodore and the falcon. No one drives big cars anymore anyway....

[redvxr8clubby]

I can't see HSV doing much with a 4 cyl. They might have some scope with the demise of Opel in Aus, but really I think it would be much like the Astra VXR, not exactly a raging success. Perhaps there will be some V8 offering post 2016 and of course they won't be making much info public 3 years in advance. I can't see HSV putting up Cruze competing against Golf GTI or Renault Megane even ST Focus etc.

[seldo]

I can't see HSV doing much with a 4 cyl. They might have some scope with the demise of Opel in Aus, but really I think it would be much like the Astra VXR, not exactly a raging success. Perhaps there will be some V8 offering post 2016 and of course they won't be making much info public 3 years in advance. I can't see HSV putting up Cruze competing against Golf GTI or Renault Megane even ST Focus etc.

Problem with the HSV Astra thingy was price. HSV thought they could apply their normal profit margin to the Astras, but they forget that all these little 4cyl things are ultra price-conscious, which is why people buy them in the first place - it's not usually a size thing, it's because they are ultra conscious of the fuel cost of running them.
If you take an average guy that does say 20,000km/pa, in a V8 that averages say 14.5/100 of 98oct @ $1.75, and compare it against a little sub 2 litre car that averages say 8.5/100 of 91 @ $1.65, your annual fuel bill difference is $2,095, or $40.28/week.
Now, I doubt that many actually do the sums, but if they did, they may actually reconsider the cost/benefit equation and re-think the $40/wk vs the comfort, space, safety and enjoyment of a proper car....
Yes, I know there are other costs like insurance, tyres etc, but let's not get too technical...