DECISIONS, DECISIONS?

In Australia, Holden has become an entirely different company since it ceased local manufacturing, and been thrown into the storm-tossed maelstrom of the imported car market.

Suddenly, it has lost its status as the local top-dog, and is just one of the pooches mooching around a violently-competitive and volatile market with 60+ brands fighting for oxygen – and sales.

As its products now come from far-away factories, decisions have to be made a long way ahead about model lineups, product spec, powertrain options and trim levels. Once committed to those decisions Holden is like every other importer, locked into the ramifications of those planning decisions, and hoping the suits made the right choices.

With its star product, the locally-built Commodore range, now consigned to the trashcan of history, Holden faces real competition on many more fronts – the compact car market; the baby and compact SUV sector, and the truck business.

Two cases in point – the compact Astra range, and the 4x4 crew cab truck market. First the compact Astra sedan and hatch.

For some reason unbeknown to a dufus like me, Holden chose to import the Astra hatch range from Opel in Germany – and the Astra sedan range from GM’s assembly plant in Thailand.

To drive them both is to drive two different cars, and you’d hardly believe they’re from the same catalogue.

They are specced differently, have different powertrain options, different trim and are as different as chalk and cheese. The hatch is a top quality build job, with tight margins, pin-sharp handling, excellent performance and stylish – inside and out.

The Astra sedan is dowdy, noisy, trimmed like a car from Malaya’s low-cost Proton stable, and despite its sharp exterior, the inside looks like a rental car.

This is undoubtedly a financial decision, the kind GM’s bean counters are famous for.

If you’re in the market for a Holden Astra, go choose one of the German-built hatches – you’ll be so pleased you did.


Also keep in mind, that since Groupe PSA took over Opel, this German-sourced Astra probably only has a couple of years, at most, before the next generation comes along, built on a Peugeot-Citroen platform.

This Astra hatch could be a collectible!

Now to the truck conundrum and the Colorado. A few months ago I was behind the wheel of the previous model. What a shocker!

If Holden thought that truck could compete against Ford’s Ranger, the Toyota Hi-Lux, the Mitsubishi Triton, Isuzu D-Max, the Mazda BT50 and the Nissan Navara, the boys in the decision departments had another think coming.

It was an atrocious, rough-riding, noisy, harsh and ill-equipped excuse.

However, the suits had a secret weapon up their sleeves, all the dealers had to do was move the rubbish before the real player arrived. The latest Colorado is a breath of fresh air. Its turbo-diesel engine is a gem. Quiet, powerful and willing, it feels as good as its competitors.

The styling is not really much different, a few creases here and there, but the suspension is world’s apart from its predecessor. Excellent ride, both unloaded and loaded, and the interior looks like it came from a totally-different interior design studio.

The trim fit and finish is excellent, and the equipment levels right up with the competition.

With this truck, I definitely think Holden can succeed in this tough segment. The Colorado, in my opinion, does not quite reach the standards set by the king of this sector, the VW Amarok, but it's an excellent effort.

Trucks in this 2x4, 4x4 crew cab sector are now the hot sellers in Australia, so competitive spec and performance, and keen pricing is the start and end of the game.

Holden, I think you have a winner.

DRIVEN PERSONALITIES - WAYNE WEBSTER

Wayne Webster was formerly the auto editor for Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper. Now retired, he still maintains a razor-sharp wit, an unsentimental view of the world of cars and the car business, and has insights honed over years of listening to PR BS being directed at him by car companies.

During my time with Jaguar Australia Wayne joined me on a number of trips to Europe, including a one-day, roundtrip dash in a motor coach from Frankfurt to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium to watch the Silk Cut Jaguars in action.

He has a reputation for ‘spirited driving’ including this now-famous shot of him at the wheel of a Jaguar XJ6 somewhere in the wilds of the Scottish Highlands, trying to set a record for the fastest completion of the road test course.

Wayne was not alone in the hijinks department. Witness this shot of him and two of his comrades-in-arms (David ‘Haggis’ Robertson riding the shoulders of Will Hagon) in the main street of Woodstock, in the Cotswolds, following a lunch lubricated with some of France’s best reds.

Perhaps his greatest achievement, in addition to entertaining his fellow travellers with his pithy and pungent comments on life in general, was an outstanding and definitive book he authored on Australia’s legendary touring car driver, Peter Brock.

Wayne was, and is a great writer, and I’m proud of the fact our friendship has survived my life in PR, dealing with his candid and irreverent treatment of my best efforts.

WILL FERRARI DISAPPEAR FROM FORMULA ONE?

According to mutterings heard in the hallowed motorhomes of F1, there’s a possibility Ferrari could quit the Formula One World Championship!

Is that right? Well, you won’t be surprised to know that the threat of that possibility has been led by the global auto industry’s ‘Cowboy-in-Chief’ Sergio Marchionne, head of FIAT CHRYSLER AUTOMOBILES, and thus, head of Ferrari.

Here’s the context. When the annual revenue from Formula One competition is carved up by the owners, Ferrari gets a first cut of the pie, one-off ‘heritage payment’ every year totaling around USD$70 million. That’s in addition to the separate revenue split between all of the teams, including Ferrari.

The ‘heritage payment’ was agreed by Bernie Ecclestone a long time ago, and although the four major teams (McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, Williams) also receive a ‘heritage payment’ it’s far less than Ferrari’s ‘golden share’, which it gets – just for turning up, and regardless of performance. The team hasn’t won a world championship in a decade.

Marchionne, a dedicated gambler (notice I didn’t say ‘successful’), who does not give a toss for the odds, has threatened Ferrari will leave the Championship at the end of 2020 when the current contracts expire – unless the new owners of F1, Liberty Media, cough up even more money!

F1 without Ferrari would be a travesty, but Marchionne is nothing else but pure cunning.

He is betting that he could bring several other teams into his tent, which would force Liberty Media’s hand.

One of those teams would be HAAS, which currently uses Ferrari engines. Although the word is those Ferrari engines will become 'Maserati engines' next year.

Liberty Media’s owner, billionaire American John Malone, has entrusted the running of F1 to former News Ltd exec, Chase Carey, and his number one money-man, Duncan Llowarch. 

It was Llowarch who raised the fact that the “heritage payments greatly impinge on Liberty Media’s returns on its investment, and maybe there’s a case for stopping them”.

That’s when Marchionne threw teddy out of the pram. Marchionne could gather together the Ferrari ‘customer teams’ and, according to one of my good mates, Wayne Webster, may even be able to strengthen his bloc, by taking advantage if Red Bull’s owner, Dieter Mateschitz, pulled his sponsorship at the end of 2020.

Mateschitz has long made it clear that he is only interested in F1 when Red Bull is winning, or at least, in the top three. My mate Webster suggests that if Mateschitz lost interest because the Renault engines continue to struggle against Mercedes and Ferrari, he might just move on to some other sport.

Sauber (now renamed Alfa Romeo F1, using Ferrari engines) and Force India are very vocal about their lack of inclusion in the heritage payment system, and might also be willing to join Marchionne.

That would mean that potentially F1 could lose eight cars from the grid in 2021, and such a depletion of starters would really alter the appeal of F1 to TV networks, sponsors and fans.

All this pre-supposes that Marchionne could find a better place to spend Ferrari’s marketing money. Keep in mind Ferrari does NOT buy advertising for its road car business anywhere in the world. Its advertising spend depends solely on advertising by Ferrari dealers; the status of the F1 team; and its lucrative deal with cigarette maker Philip Morris, which currently bankrolls the Ferrari F1 team, by owning and selling all Ferrari’s sponsorship packages.

So when the grown ups get around the negotiating table it would be very interesting to be a fly on the wall, when the tough talk takes place. I’m betting we will see the end of ‘heritage payments’, despite Marchionne’s loud voice and empty threats.

The fact is, everything Ferrari is today has been built off the back of its F1 involvement, so as Wayne Webster says; “If Ferrari thinks it can hold F1 hostage, it is indeed a prisoner of F1. Anyone for mutual destruction?”

I think not.

Even former F1 boss Ecclestone has said F1 could consider moving to a new funding model based on the English Premier League soccer model.

Formula One is an expensive sport in which to participate, but the revenues are humungous and the revenue split is a vital cog in the wheels that keep it turning over the dollars.

MERCEDES-BENZ AMG GT-S

It’s a series of fast, undulating switchbacks, and the Michelin Pilot Speed Sport tyres are ripping and tearing at the bitumen as the overweight German sports coupe fights for grip – just before the software takes over, to try and avert the idiot driver sliding sideways, at ‘silly’ speed, into the scenery.

 

Later at slightly lower speed, but no less insane, the AMG GT-S follows the driver’s guiding hands expertly, turning in precisely, and rumbling and grumbling on the exits, endorsing the fact that this car is beautifully designed-for-purpose. Except for that bloody AMG steering wheel - I detest this design.

But, let’s face it, at near AUD$300,000, the AMG GT-S coupe is a car designed by German engineers, intended for German autobahnen, at German speeds – nothing less.

For the rest of the world, this car will be acquired not because of its incredibly precise handling, and gargantuan performance, but because owning it endows the buyer with some sort of invisible halo of respect – for how much money they have, nothing more.

Bought for its intended purpose the AMG GT-S is perfect, and believe it or not, value-for-money (sort of). Acquired for its pose value, I’m sure it will also fit the bill nicely.

 

For me though, an aficionado of British marques, my first choices would be either a new Aston Martin V8 Vantage; or a Jaguar F-type coupe with its sublimely-sophisticated supercharged V6.

Those cars would also lessen the drain on my wallet – that is, right after my lottery win.

In particular the new AM V8, using a version of this AMG-fettled V8.

As someone who has enjoyed the exquisite good fortune to drive some of the fastest, most exotic and exciting cars available in my lifetime, I remain much more satisfied living inside the tastefully-crafted British coupes. It’s just a matter of personal aesthetic appeal.

The AMG GT-S certainly impressed my neighbours as it dozed on my drive, between bouts of anger, and I’m sure every time a supercar is parked under the palm trees, my ego stocks go up a tad.

That’s enough. It was great while it lasted, but I was happy to give it back.