Thread: Holden to close 30 outlets at the end of this year!

Originally Posted by johntins

I have called a Lexus a Camry in a dinner jacket, and an FJ Cruiser a Prado in clown make up, but I think you are being a little harsh on the RRS. The D4 is almost in a dinner suit as it is.

Yep, no matter how hard Toyota try a Lexus will always be a flash Camry and the FJ Cruiser will always be a Prado with its cap turned backwards.

Just purchased 2006 territory AWD ghia to replace my 2006 BF wagon.
just so different and for me that is a disappointment.

The wagon is a long range tourer the territory is a shopping center sprinter with more inside people space-just need a trailer to bring home the shopping.
fuel economy is the same.

Grown up with badge engineering. Some brands don't do it well. It a shame that international models aren't sold here in small numbers for niche buyers. I read a report of factory imported used cars soon lets hope.

Holden and Ford made the wrong segment vehicles for local manufacturing. Large cars are premium vehicles now. The volume is 1.5-2.0 litres in runabouts and SUVs in larger vehicles.
Look how well Mazda has done. Also Hyundai with a seven year warranty.

Originally Posted by Davehoos

Just purchased 2006 territory AWD ghia to replace my 2006 BF wagon.
just so different and for me that is a disappointment.

The wagon is a long range tourer the territory is a shopping center sprinter with more inside people space-just need a trailer to bring home the shopping.
fuel economy is the same.

Interesting comment, took delivery of my 3rd Territory late last year.
The petrol has a thirst problem, my wife took it over and got 18/100 on the school run. Not too bad on a long run but still thirsty.
The last two have been diesels, great long distance tourer but, if you use all 7 seats, there isn't much luggage space. So either people or luggage....you have to make up your mind but at least you have the choice.
Great tow car, have towed over its limit for long distances (getting Series Land Rovers home). Towed a Series I on a heavy trailer from NSW with the petrol Terri years ago and the servos were almost too far apart to make it home !

I still like the look of the Adventra, looks like much more ground clearance than the Terri. When it was launched there were comments about its fuel consumption and the 'harshness' of the engine ?? The MD of the company I worked for knocked back me getting one based on those comments.

The Australian public have voted with their dollars and are buying imported vehicles. RIP the Australian car manufacturing industry.


Colin

Originally Posted by gromit

The Australian public have voted with their dollars and are buying imported vehicles. RIP the Australian car manufacturing industry.


Colin

Like land rovers?😉

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Holden and Ford made the wrong segment vehicles for local manufacturing. Large cars are premium vehicles now. The volume is 1.5-2.0 litres in runabouts and SUVs in larger vehicles.
Look how well Mazda has done. Also Hyundai with a seven year warranty.

Yep, that explains the miserable selection of vehicles at rental car agencies. Just because they list a Rav4/Holden Trax/corolla/lancer as a full size car doesn't mean that they are, particularly if you have to drive the stinking things a few hundred k's on country roads.

Regards,
Tote

Originally Posted by Tote

Yep, that explains the miserable selection of vehicles at rental car agencies. Just because they list a Rav4/Holden Trax/corolla/lancer as a full size car doesn't mean that they are, particularly if you have to drive the stinking things a few hundred k's on country roads.

Regards,
Tote

Yeah, those you mention are certainly not full size.
If Holden had switched investment to improving the locally-made Cruze it could have done well I think, but they didn't get the quality up to standard to compete with the likes of Hondas and Mazdas. Our Mazda 2 runabout is certainly a quality class above our previous Yaris, and better than any of the smaller Holdens I have driven.
The other problem was the foreign-owned companies wouldn't commit to investing in building cars here to export, because it was cheaper to build them in Thailand or China. Nationalism means nothing to those companies, it's all about maximizing profits, and that's understandable from their point of view. Australian-built cars could have been exported to Europe and the USA, but that would have upset those who want to protect American and European jobs from foreign competition.

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

.......... it's all about maximizing profits, and that's understandable from their point of view. Australian-built cars could have been exported to Europe and the USA, but that would have upset those who want to protect American and European jobs from foreign competition.

A slight bit of bias about maximising profits - if you look at the car industry worldwide, almost all companies operate in the red most of the time. It is mostly not so much about maximising profits as getting out of the red. In the last few decades, probably the only company that has consistently operated profitably is Toyota. Most of the others that have reported profits have almost certainly needed some creative accounting to manage it, except for a few good years - and even then, the profits look insignificant compared to the losses in other years!

And the reason that the companies want to protect jobs from competition from their foreign subsidiaries is that not to do so would jeopardise the explicit or hidden subsidies that they all operate on in their home territories - things like tariff protection and bail outs, as well as government buying policies etc.