GM righthand drive full surrender shock
JUST before Christmas, Holden announced plans to drop all conventional cars from its model line and focus instead on sport utility and light commercial sales.
Two obvious questions were raised in my mind back then: Firstly, how long after this occurred would Holden itself disappear as a brand? And secondly, what brand would General Motors (GM) fly its Australian and New Zealand flag under once Holden disappeared?
Both questions were answered at the start of the week when GM announced it would not only retire the Holden brand, but exit completely from any major vehicle sales or engineering presence in this part of the world. GM said the timing for implementation of both these decisions is ‘‘by 2021’’, which across the Tasman is widely understood to mean by the end of this year.
While the decision to retire the entire Holden brand comes as a mild surprise, the full exit of the automotive giant that is GM has left many in a state of shock.
There will be hundreds of direct job losses in Australia, with associated impacts for Holden New Zealand and, of course, the wellestablished dealer network in both countries.
GM is promising to look after existing customers, honouring all warranties, and providing parts and servicing for at least 10 years, and it looks at this stage as if current dealers will be given first option on taking up (or rather continuing) these roles.
Holden sales (especially across the Tasman) have plummeted since Australian production ceased a few years ago, but there is a wider General Motors context for this decision: over the past three years GM has exited from other righthand drive markets, including the United Kingdom, Japan, India and South Africa. Indeed, the company’s only remaining righth and-drive markets as of today are Thailand, Australia and New Zealand. Further, Thailand is the only one of those three countries where GM still builds cars.
Unsurprisingly, GM is also pulling the plug on its presence in Thailand. Its factory there is where Holden’s current bestselling vehicle in both Australia and New Zealand — the Colorado ute — is made. The factory is being sold to Chinese automotive firm Great Wall.
Rather that split its attention between righthand and lefthand drive markets, when the former accounts for just 25% of global vehicles sales, GM now wants to focus on building a viable future with lefthand drive cars only.
The sliver of hope for a GM future here is an ongoing role for the former HSV arm of Holden, in performing GMapproved righthand drive conversions of specialty models, such as the Camaro that featured in Drivesouth a few weeks back. But that’s tiny fry compared to Holden’s current place on the Australian and New Zealand automotive scene, let alone its even bigger presence in days gone by.
Monday’s news had me pondering a raft of treasured Holden memories, and the heritage of a brand that was founded as a saddlery in the 1850s, has been in the automotive business since 1908, and a GM subsidiary since 1931. I also found myself wondering idly which brand might now end up supplying vehicles to Holden’s most visible current user in this country, the New Zealand Police.
I have also been thinking of the folk at Holden NZ head office, our local dealers, and the uncertain future they now face. Without doubt, the thoughts of many are with those most directly affected, too.
Speed changes
In her editorial last week, Catherine Pattison mentioned that the public will be able to have their say on proposed changes to speed limits throughout the Queenstown Lakes District and, as of last Friday, they can.
Maps showing the proposed changes and a feedback form can be found online at letstalk. qldc.govt.nz. Submissions close at 5pm on Friday, February 28.