Sunday, March 19, 2017

HINDSIGHT AT HOLDEN

“So, what’ll we call it?”

“Commodore, of course.”

“You don’t think it may be better to call it the Holden Insignia? After all it’s nothing like the current Commodore.”

“Nah, it’s gotta be Commodore.”

So, it was decided in a glorious era of GM’s global reach, that the 2018 replacement for the Holden Commodore VF would be the 2017 Opel Insignia sedan. Makes perfect sense, right?
Commodore has been part of the Australian automotive lexicon since 1978, it’s a solidly-established brand name, and when you say Commodore to any Australian, they know exactly what you’re talking about.

Fast Forward, to March 6th; and General Motors announces it will sell Opel to PSA Groupe. That probably means the Holden that follows the Insignia-based car will come from the Peugeot stable. Such a car will look even less like the current VF Commodore – and cause even more PR headaches for the Holden PR team trying to rework Holden’s image around non-GM products.

Given the GM sell-off, it may have been smarter to call it the Holden Insignia. Ain’t hindsight a wonderful thing!

Now, while we’re messing with brand names, here’s another idea to mull over. According to the General Motors suits, GM is 100% committed to its Australian division. That could mean that the post-Insignia car for Down Under may come from one of the last remaining GM divisions – say Chevrolet.

There’s not a lot to differentiate next year’s Opel/Holden Insignia from the 2018 Malibu.

Therefore, in the long term it may even be smarter to ditch the Holden name altogether, if future GM cars in Australia will come from the Chevrolet stable, then simply why not brand them all as Chevrolets?

I know, I know. Aussies reading Driving & Life are saying: “Sacre bleu. Never! We’re not swapping the Lion for the Bowtie.”


However, it’s an idea which just might get up in a post-Holden future if GM does continue to maintain ownership of its Australian division, and wants to simplify its global branding.

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