Holden’s end came out of the blue
Production lines still active
SENIOR Holden executives are believed to have been blindsided this week by Detroit’s decision to axe the brand and are now scrambling to devise a plan to shift thousands of cars.
A senior dealer said Holden had indicated it would be building cars for the rest of February and into March, adding to the large stockpile of 2019-build cars as sales slowed but production lines didn’t.
The fact supply lines are still running suggests the decision to pull the pin was a sudden one.
Holden had even sent out invitations for a national dealer meeting in March to outline its future product plans.
One dealer, who declined to be named, said: “It begs the question: When were local management informed? It seems as if they had pretty short notice about this.”
Industry sources suggest the company is looking to sell its last vehicle by the third quarter of this year, which will require major discounts on current cars.
The company said it would hold discussions with dealers about pricing in the next few weeks but buyers could expect “very attractive, sharp pricing”.
Heavy discounts are bad news for current owners, who will likely have thousands of dollars wiped off their resale value.
And thousands of dealer staff around the country are waiting to see whether their business agrees to continue servicing Holdens.
Holden has committed to supporting customers with parts and service for at least 10 years, but it is unclear how many of its 185 dealerships will sign up to keeping their service departments running once their showrooms close.
Arch rival Ford yesterday reaffirmed its commitment to the Australian market, with president Kay Hart saying it may even employ some former Holden staff.
“No doubt there’s a great depth of talent and experience at Holden,” Ms Hart said.
She said Ford planned to spend $500 million on research and development in the next year.
Her comments came amid growing anger over the more than $4 billion in subsidies provided to the car industry over the years.
Questions have been raised about $2.17 billion GM received, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying the company had let the Holden brand “wither away” despite taking billions of taxpayer dollars.
GM international operations director of communications George Svigos said the company was proud of the contribution it had made to Australia.
“For every dollar we received in assistance, $18 flowed into the Australian economy in the form of wages, taxes and spend with suppliers,” he said.
Holden executives will this week tell dealers of their plans to dispose of the thousands of vehicles in dealerships, on boats and coming off production lines in the coming days.
The future of current Holden boss, Kristian Aquilina, remains up in the air, with GM declining to say whether he will be offered a role elsewhere in the organisation.