GM pulls plug on Holden operations in Australia and New Zealand

[Uniqez]

Announced today that GM will shut down its operations in Australia and New Zealand at the end of 2020. This means no more GM cars or trucks at all. Apparently they can't be bothered with RHD vehicles. I wonder what this means for the UK with their vauxhall insignia? GM say that they will provide support for the 3 or so years on the warranty but I see parts getting hard to get. Especially when all GM products are no longer being sold in these markets.

They have operation in Germany, Rüsselsheim. Even though they are under PSA group now, they are producing vehicles and parts. Insignia just got a 2020 face lift, so it will be in production for another few years for sure.
GM on the other hand - I think it is on the way down.

 

[mike69440]

They have operation in Germany, Rüsselsheim. Even though they are under PSA group now, they are producing vehicles and parts. Insignia just got a 2020 face lift, so it will be in production for another few years for sure.
GM on the other hand - I think it is on the way down.

If the current basic Insignia platform is to exist past 2021, then engines and transmissions will have to change, as why would FCA/PSA keep the current power plant / drive train suppliers?
Always hope they just put a HEMI in it, but it will end up some small 3 or 4 cylinder.

 

[Uniqez]

If the current basic Insignia platform is to exist past 2021, then engines and transmissions will have to change, as why would FCA/PSA keep the current power plant / drive train suppliers?
Always hope they just put a HEMI in it, but it will end up some small 3 or 4 cylinder.

Well first generation Insignias lasted for 9 years, without any major power train changes. So, my hopes for this power train for another 6 years)).
HEMIs are too big for modern vehicles (especially in Europe). 4 cylinders turbos(twin-turbos) are the future, besides electric motors.

 

[BennoB66]

I wonder if Insignia will now relaunch in Australia as they were in Australia years ago but got priced out of the market by Holden. If Holden was not owned by GM they would have continued to obtain their cars from the factory and just use the vauxhall insignia as the car they sold. The thing is it is also the Arcadia which is being discontinued for sale and that is quite a good seller. Not to mention all the GM trucks and utilities. I hope that some other company buys the Holden name and continues with the rebadged insignia in Australia. The pricing by GM was just ridiculous. The VXR was almost 60K and that was the same price as a 3 series BMW or c class Mercedes.

 

[BennoB66]

Which is amazing. A buddy of mine and I drove all of the midsize sedans when he was in the marketplace last year, and the Camry was at the bottom of the list right next to the current generation Hyundai Sonata. The Camry has a terrible interior made with cheap plastics and questionable ergonomics, one of the worst infotainment systems in the business, isn't particularly quiet on the road and has nothing special going for it in the driving department.

How they are the #1 sedan in sales, boggles the mind.

It's becauss they sell a hybrid that is very efficient
It's quiet and it's not expensive. Then backlog of orders in the UK is up to a year and almost as long in Australia. The popularity of the Toyota. RAV 4 hybrid just released in Australia has taken the market too. People mostly want very economnal cars but don't want a small engine. The camry hybrid has a combined torque of over 400 Mm and power of 210 Kw so it's got grunt.

 

[PrincipalDan]

I wonder if Insignia will now relaunch in Australia as they were in Australia years ago but got priced out of the market by Holden. If Holden was not owned by GM they would have continued to obtain their cars from the factory and just use the vauxhall insignia as the car they sold. The thing is it is also the Arcadia which is being discontinued for sale and that is quite a good seller. Not to mention all the GM trucks and utilities. I hope that some other company buys the Holden name and continues with the rebadged insignia in Australia. The pricing by GM was just ridiculous. The VXR was almost 60K and that was the same price as a 3 series BMW or c class Mercedes.

Don't hold your breath on the brand name being resurrected, GM is notorious for holding onto intellectual property even when they don't plan to use it ever again - like the names Oldsmobile, Saturn, Pontiac...

 

[Stray_Kiwi]

The pricing by GM was just ridiculous. The VXR was almost 60K and that was the same price as a 3 series BMW or c class Mercedes.

I don't know anyone who paid full retail for their VXR. I certainly didn't. In fact, value for money was one of the major reasons I pulled the trigger on the sale.

But I would argue the car in some respects is just as good as a 3 Series or C Class Merc. In others not so much which is why it was never going to be worth that kind of money.

 

[mooooo]

Bottom line is that the auto biz is a long term proposition, and no amount of management brilliance can effect a huge turnaround overnight. Even the 3700 jobs would only translate to about $400M in savings, and that's before accounting charges, so there has to be more to the story than just "GM are morons".

Automakers have substantial fixed costs. How they choose to allocate them across operations will make a big difference in which operations show profit and loss.

There’s other ways that they can shift costs, too. If Buick sells me a tourx, they book a gross profit of what the dealer paid (net of holdbacks and other dealer payments etc) and what they paid opel for the car. When you own both sides of that deal, you can make opel look good or bad, by paying more or less for the car.

I wouldn’t read too much into either gms or psa’s numbers unless you look at the whole picture.

 

[BennoB66]

Don't hold your breath on the brand name being resurrected, GM is notorious for holding onto intellectual property even when they don't plan to use it ever again - like the names Oldsmobile, Saturn, Pontiac...

Yes OK we'll maybe opel may see this as an opportunity to rekindle their presence in Australia. They have the existing Holden customer base to sell to.

 

[1500cc]

Yes OK we'll maybe opel may see this as an opportunity to rekindle their presence in Australia. They have the existing Holden customer base to sell to.

There are likely non-compete provisions in the GM-PSA deal, that doesn't allow PSA to sell Opels in specific markets. I'm sure Australia would be one of them, and the winding down of Holden wouldn't necessarily change that.

 

[2007LucerneCXL]

To our folks in New Zealand and Australia a import company by the name of Inchcape plc may be the group that will handle the Opel vehicles back in to the areas of course under the Opel model names. Hypothetical of course as nothing is for sure in the automotive world other than broken promises lol.

 

[D2R]

Well first generation Insignias lasted for 9 years, without any major power train changes. So, my hopes for this power train for another 6 years)).
HEMIs are too big for modern vehicles (especially in Europe). 4 cylinders turbos(twin-turbos) are the future, besides electric motors.

Didn't they add the LTG in 2013?

 

[2007LucerneCXL]

This is from 2018 regarding the PSA engine transition to a new single engine to be used across the entire product line which according to the information is 2022. Where GM will be with it, how many years did GM keep the Buick 3.8L going LOL.

Redirect Notice

 

[Uniqez]

Didn't they add the LTG in 2013?

They did mate, but it was one of the options available for Insignia. This engine was widely represented in the US market GM vehicles.

 

[Stray_Kiwi]

To our folks in New Zealand and Australia a import company by the name of Inchcape plc may be the group that will handle the Opel vehicles back in to the areas of course under the Opel model names. Hypothetical of course as nothing is for sure in the automotive world other than broken promises lol.

Should this occur I think very few people will buy them. Probably not worth the effort money.