The first 2015 Holden Insignia VXR which will arrive Down Under later this year has rolled out of the factory in Germany, but will buyers warm to Holden’s European invasion?
HOLDEN HAS TAKEN its first step to becoming an importer only with the first of its European sourced vehicles rolling off the production line at Rüsselsheim, Germany. The Holden Insignia VXR, mooted to eventually replace the Commodore is one of four Opel vehicles to join the Holden range in quarter two of 2015 along with the Astra VXR, Astra GTC and Cascada convertible.
Bill Mott, Executive Director of Marketing, said Holden was one of the strongest brands in Australia and shared very similar core values to Opel, which made this an obvious and strong partnership.
“Astra, Cascada and Insignia are renowned in Europe for their performance credentials and premium execution, making them the perfect addition to Holden’s range as we continue to offer more choice for our customers,” Mr Mott said.
“These stunning niche vehicles are sure to have a fantastic halo effect and attract new customers to the brand.
“We are determined to offer Australians the best possible products that we can source from GM’s global operations and Opel’s commitment to performance and quality aligns perfectly with our own heritage and brand.”
Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann, Opel Group CEO, said Opel looked forward to working closely with Holden for many years to come.
“This is further proof of our engineers’ development expertise and the attractiveness of our products. We are delighted that our successful flagship will be available in Australia.”
Hot on the heels of appointing Australian Mark Bernhard as Holden’s new Chairman and Managing Director, they also announced that 24 new models and 36 new powertrain combinations will be introduced over the next five years as well as confirming that one-third of their future models will be sourced from Europe.
“Astra, Cascada and Insignia are renowned in Europe for their
performance credentials and premium execution, making them the perfect
addition to Holden’s range as we continue to offer more choice for our
customers,”
What? compared to our current SS models this statement is a joke.
It sure is an interesting quote, Mark. Given Opel product failed to fire the last time it was here … I’ve got a feeling Holden might be heading into a really confused time in Australia as it tries to find whether there’s any brand loyalty now that it’s killed the Commodore.
I think brand loyalty will die the second the last VF leaves the showroom and we have imports doing laps of the mountain in Holden guise. To me its heartbreaking, i have been a Holden man my whole life but how do i support a company that will sack so many fellow Australians and kill off my favorite car ? The simple answer is i cant.
You might be right, Mark.
Sorry to reply to an old comment but i had an interesting thought before i went to sleep last night that i thought was worth adding here. GM have basically taken the line that anything negative in regards to the whole imported commodore argument comes from trolls or a small percentage (their PR words not mine) of disgruntled customers. What GM have failed to realise is that the “disgruntled customers” represent their “brand loyalty” customer base, how GM have missed this in corporate meetings is beyond me.
Hi Mark, I reckon you’re spot on. It’s unfair of Holden to criticise negative comments about its decision to import a ‘Commodore’. It’s made a big deal of ‘being Australian’ for a long time and should act a little more sensitively around this issue. After all, this sort of brand/model loyalty is what car companies generally lust after and spend millions and millions of dollars trying to create.
Sadly mate spot on or not manufacturing our own warships, subs, cars etc etc etc is a dying art. Im seriously worried if Australia will be able to even make a razor to shave itself in 100 years, At some point buying or wanting anything Australian became bogan, unfashionable and then the name/badge snobs took over. Mark my words on that one day we will regret what we lost and look back wondering why we ever let it die.