Holden to shift 2018 sales focus
Holden has revealed it expects Commodore sales to fall next year with the switch from Australian production to an imported model.
However, the company is not prepared to lose further sales volume across its full range simply as a result of closing its manufacturing operations in October.
Holden executive director of sales Michael Filazzola said the company must shift focus off the Commodore nameplate next year, despite the introduction of the all-new German-built model.
“We want to have two or three products that are always constantly in the top 10, so that’s where the focus for Holden is,” he said.
“We want to keep growing the business every year. I mean, I don’t want us to go backwards.
“Our strategy has always been what do we need to do to actually ensure that we stay within the top range? And so the new products is where we want to accelerate that.”
Mr Filazzola said he accepted that buyers of the Australian-built Commodore, which is currently and has long been Holden’s most popular vehicle, will not necessarily switch to the new Opel Insignia-based version due to arrive early next year.
“You’re talking to a different customer now than what we are traditionally speaking to,” he said.
Holden director of communications Sean Poppitt said next year Commodore was not going to have the same volume as it had seen, but the company was ready for that.
“We’re trying to move away from being the Commodore car company and heavily relying on just one model,” he said.
“Because, if anything goes wrong, all of a sudden you are in trouble.
“That’s why we’re growing Colorado, making Astra hatch and sedan, as well as getting new SUVS. If we can have solid strength across four or five different car lines, they don’t all have to be number-one sellers.
“If we’ve got three or four sellers in the top 10, then that’s a much better, more diversified portfolio.”
Mr Filazzola said the small-car segment, which in 2018 will be filled by a complete range of the Astra hatchback and just-launched sedan as well as the forthcoming Sportwagon, and the pick-up segment in which the Colorado resides, would drive Holden’s growth.
The third driver for 2018 is expected to be in the area of SUVS.
From late this year, Holden will begin launching its Us-focused SUV line-up version starting with the fiveseat Chevrolet Equinox, followed by a seven-seat version of the GMC Acadia to replace the Captiva from late next year.
“Captiva and Trailblazer will be our seven-seat options until we get Acadia,” Mr Filazzola said.
“And then we’ll have Equinox, Acadia and Trailblazer, and Trax as our kind-of four-pronged SUV approach. So we’ll have good products that come from mature markets that will be able to compete with some of the Toyota and Mazda models, and so forth.
“And then we’ll have a whole new vehicle line-up as we move out of Commodore.
“We’ve got the new one that’s coming, so that will fill the sedan market for people who are still looking for a nice sedan to drive.”
Mr Filazzola said the high-riding Commodore Tourer – a rival to the ultra-popular Subaru Outback and spiritual successor to the Holden Adventra that sold in the early-to-mid 2000s – could be a potential dark horse.
“There are definitely lots of buyers with that,” he said.
“Again, it is trying to have a product to fit whatever customer type we have in the business, rather than relying on one car line to do the work for us.”
Holden has only committed to introducing a 3.6-litre petrol V6-engine version of the all-wheel-drive Commodore Tourer, despite being available overseas – in Opel Insignia Country Tourer specification – with a four-cylinder petrol and diesel that could tackle the tri-engine Outback range.