Thread: Holden axed in Aussie.

Originally Posted by 3toes

I do see so many similarities here between what GM is doing today and Chrysler in the eighties when they closed all non US operation to concentrate on the core home market as this was where the profit was. Let’s hope this one goes better than we saw with Chrysler

GM today does not have to deal with John Button, so of course there are few similarities, here in Oz. Globally Chrysler was in a far superior financial position then than GM is now ( of course things changed... ). GM has been bankrupt for years, and it's only a matter of time. GM is far more widely spread than Chrysler was. GM's best case wold be if a Korean or Chinese entity bought them out. Irony much? Chrysler would have loved a buy out from Korea.

The world has changed, as it does. 20 years ago Japan ruled the roost. How many cars do they build now, globally? Sure, the brands are still huge, but the cars are built, apart from a select few, anywhere but Japan. The cycle will turn again.

Originally Posted by 3toes

In the run up to the Commodore ending production there was a lot of speculation in the trade press both in Europe and the USA about the future of the Holden name. Most thought it would be retired as without the local car it did not make sense might even have negative connections with buyers.

This was one of the biggest mistakes they made, IMV. The Commodore name meant something, FWIWW, and Holden bastardised it by applying it to an Opel! Funny, the first Commodore WAS an Opel, without the good bits. Ford was smart enough to retire the Falcon name, and didn't pretend.

Regardless, it's a sad day. Australia once built cars. Towards the end they were good cars. Maybe we were punching above our weight, but we had some good times. RIP Falcon and Commodore.

Let's see if this works.. if it does, apologies to the great Mark Knight. If it doesn't, apologies to you all.

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The car market is changing and moving to electric for now battery then hydrogen powered. The government needs to accept this new reality and help local factories to enter the market while it is in a state of flux and new players can win.

In Germany the post office stopped ordering vans from VW as they realised all the parts to make vehicles were now produced by second and third level players with the manufacturers buying in what they wanted for a particular car. They set up an assembly line for their own design electric vans. Savings were significant. If they can do it there is at the moment plenty of room for imaginative players to build volume at the expense of the established legacy manufacturers.

This window will close and the opportunity lost if support is not provided to encourage entry. Support should go to local companies not the local branch of a foreign company and so build an industrial base which and this is the key is export focused not just looking at the local market.

Originally Posted by 3toes

The car market is changing and moving to electric for now battery then hydrogen powered. The government needs to accept this new reality and help local factories to enter the market while it is in a state of flux and new players can win.

In Germany the post office stopped ordering vans from VW as they realised all the parts to make vehicles were now produced by second and third level players with the manufacturers buying in what they wanted for a particular car. They set up an assembly line for their own design electric vans. Savings were significant. If they can do it there is at the moment plenty of room for imaginative players to build volume at the expense of the established legacy manufacturers.

This window will close and the opportunity lost if support is not provided to encourage entry. Support should go to local companies not the local branch of a foreign company and so build an industrial base which and this is the key is export focused not just looking at the local market.

Wasn't the government keeping holden afloat anyway??

If all manufactures follow GM's lead we will all be driving L/H drive cars in the future .

And they'll do it on a tank and a half of juice

Originally Posted by johntins

Let's see if this works.. if it does, apologies to the great Mark Knight. If it doesn't, apologies to you all.

527247-mark-knight-cartoon.jpeg