GM to dump Holden

[Gointocarlton]

I realise this is not of interest to many forums fans, but a few of us like muscle performance cars and car racing, not always modern ones of course!

Interesting to read GM is going ahead with GMSV(General Motors Speciality Vehicles) brand, but will delay the arrival of the RHD Corvette.

Personally, I'd much rather they concentrate on doing a proper RHD version of the Chevy Camero, which I believe at the various dealer levels is a much better formulated and built high performance car than the Mustang pound for pound. I appreciate at the very high end after market there are some impressive Mustang re-spins/upgrades, the cheaper base of the Mustang opens it up to far more after-market interest so the options are numerous.

I'd much rather a proper Camero in RHD than a dodgy conversion, or building a new Corvette as another poor mans Ferrrari.

Mind you, in my youth I was a big Corvette fan, and they'll be a 5th the price and a 10th the maintenance/running cost of Ferrari, Maserati or Astin.

I saw a doc on TV a while about the conversion of the Camaro from Left to RHD being done by HSV at the time. Very impressive, a large % of the dashboard is reusable. Very little by way of "hacking" the body work is required.

[LP]

Post COVID, we might see Aussie brand Holden return.

 Yep, heard the same, but I've heard it won't be GM Holden but a new standalone entity using the Holden name.

[cookie2]

Badge engineered Great Wall or similar??

[ElwoodBlues1]

Badge engineered Great Wall or similar??

About the same quality then as a normal Holden?

[Swan43]

JFC, car makers? Really? Yankee ones? They taught the Germans everything they should have ignored. As corrupt as oil firms, and there are few of them not up to their armpits in children's blood. Just like the US car firms. Remember, it took Volvo to give the world seat belts. Holden wasn't part of the real horror until GM took it over. Mt Panorma can't hide how revolting 'Detroit' has been.

[cookie2]

About the same quality then as a normal Holden?

Ouch! ?

[LP]

I've heard it might be Isuzu picking up the Holden badge, I think they use to build the bulk of the Rodeo anyway so they probably have all the tooling needed already!

There are also rumors of a new Crewman style ute in development.

Why is this important? Primarily because it gives existing owners a new avenue to buy spare parts and get servicing, the owners of those cars did nothing wrong yet many on the land in particular are effectively left in the lurch, as regional dealerships and supply chains evaporate after our government gave GM a $650M gift to pack up and leave!

We can sit here and discuss the sins of GM, Ford, Mercedes, Audi, Volkswagon endlessly, but there are millions of not so wealthy Australians who perhaps bought their first ever new car in the last few years and have been left in the lurch by corporate greed.

[Baggers]

I've heard it might be Isuzu picking up the Holden badge, I think they use to build the bulk of the Rodeo anyway so they probably have all the tooling needed already!

There are also rumors of a new Crewman style ute in development.

Why is this important? Primarily because it gives existing owners a new avenue to buy spare parts and get servicing, the owners of those cars did nothing wrong yet many on the land in particular are effectively left in the lurch, as regional dealerships and supply chains evaporate after our government gave GM a $650M gift to pack up and leave!

We can sit here and discuss the sins of GM, Ford, Mercedes, Audi, Volkswagon endlessly, but there are millions of not so wealthy Australian's who perhaps bought their first ever new car in the last few years and have been left in the lurch by corporate greed.

So true, Spotted One.

Personally I'd love to see an initiative to manufacture a 100% Aussie automotive product... but that's probably pie in the sky stuff and probably demonstrating my economic naivety. But I do reckon that given the choice a lot of Aussie's would support a local product, especially in light of what has happened in recent times (Covid etc).

[kruddler]

So true, Spotted One.

Personally I'd love to see an initiative to manufacture a 100% Aussie automotive product... but that's probably pie in the sky stuff and probably demonstrating my economic naivety. But I do reckon that given the choice a lot of Aussie's would support a local product, especially in light of what has happened in recent times (Covid etc).

Would you pay extra for a sub-standard product?

Not many people would, and thats why we don't have an automotive industry here.

[LP]

So true, Spotted One.

It's unconscionable behaviour Baggers.

Firstly, those corporate decisions like GM's departure take years to put into place and effect. They are usually the consequence of many things including foreign investment carrots from the country that they move into. Typically coming after an election cycle, not some overnight shock decision.

Those pricks took $650M off Australian tax payers having already decided to leave, our politicians are pissweak!

Secondly our politicians, at the moment they bitch and moan about spending $100B on keeping people from going COVID insane and having the joint fall into anarchy. Yet that GM decision shows you how little money really means to the politicians.

If they proactively had spent 1/5th of that $100B on local supply chains we'd still have home grown steel, aluminium, pharmaceutical, technologies, automotive, clean energy, water security, etc., etc.., and decent public transport like fast rail for example. We wouldn't just be digging up shizen only to have China add value and profit from it!

Instead they spent years telling us it's all too expensive, but the lie is exposed now!