I was very suprised about Opel coming to Australia. I first noticed the Opel name in Australia whilst watching an interview on The Footy Show the other week.
The press blurb comes in the form as per below:
“Two weeks ago our club made a decision based on integrity, and although that left us without a major sponsor, two weeks later we are proud to say that we have two outstanding sponsors - Webjet and now Opel,” said Melbourne president Don McLardy. "It’s an outstanding result for our club, and we are rapt that Opel has jumped on board. Although they will officially launch in Australia later this year, they are a brand that is of similar heritage to the Melbourne Football Club - we have both been in operation for 150 years or more.”
Opel Australia managing director Bill Mott added, "Opel are proud to be launching in Australia with the Demons as our close partner, just as we are excited to be bringing quality German engineering and design to Australians at an accessible price".
It will be interesting to see how Opel fairs in Australia as there is such a loyal following for Holden. They may well get the OPC models which will then square off against Ford's XR range. I am confident it will not displace Holden as part of the GM Portfolio in Aussie, but I suspect that you could see a downturn in sales of the lower end Holden cars.
“Two weeks ago our club made a decision based on integrity, and although that left us without a major sponsor, two weeks later we are proud to say that we have two outstanding sponsors - Webjet and now Opel,” said Melbourne president Don McLardy. "It’s an outstanding result for our club, and we are rapt that Opel has jumped on board. Although they will officially launch in Australia later this year, they are a brand that is of similar heritage to the Melbourne Football Club - we have both been in operation for 150 years or more.”
Opel Australia managing director Bill Mott added, "Opel are proud to be launching in Australia with the Demons as our close partner, just as we are excited to be bringing quality German engineering and design to Australians at an accessible price".
Sponsorship aside, I do wonder where this leaves Holden.
They have the mainstay of the VE Commodore and Ute - still selling in Australia as well as the Caprice.
They have the mainstay of the VE Commodore and Ute - still selling in Australia as well as the Caprice.
But look at the rest of the line up - re-badged Chevy's that don't exactly set the world on fire. In fact, you could even go as so far to say that these are just posh Daewoo's. I have always associated Chevrolet with models like the Taheo, Surburban, Impala and Malibu. And let us not forget the legends that are the Corvette and Camaro.
It seems that GM Australia are dumbing down the Holden brand a little - offering cars that were once Holden's - like the Corsa (which was badged as the Barina) as upmarket Euro spec models. I would rather drive a Holden badged Astra than Chevy based Cruze.
Would be see a COTF based on the Insignia bodyshell running as part of the V8 SuperCars? A very long shot and I doubt it - but you never know.
I think Holden will always remain - to remove the brand from Australia completely will be the biggest mistake ever from GM and it is extremely unlikely that this will happen. But will savvy consumers start looking at models like the Astra and Insignia and think that they are a better bet than the Holden equivalents? Again this is possible, and that might impact sales.
What does it also mean for the V6?
As a traditionalist I would plonk for a VE - no questions asked. it is a lovely car to drive and to me it is an Aussie icon as the Falcon is to Ford. But both the Insignia and Commordore will be running V6's so it could be said that both would be in direct competition rather than complement each other from the GM stable.
It seems that GM Australia are dumbing down the Holden brand a little - offering cars that were once Holden's - like the Corsa (which was badged as the Barina) as upmarket Euro spec models. I would rather drive a Holden badged Astra than Chevy based Cruze.
Would be see a COTF based on the Insignia bodyshell running as part of the V8 SuperCars? A very long shot and I doubt it - but you never know.
I think Holden will always remain - to remove the brand from Australia completely will be the biggest mistake ever from GM and it is extremely unlikely that this will happen. But will savvy consumers start looking at models like the Astra and Insignia and think that they are a better bet than the Holden equivalents? Again this is possible, and that might impact sales.
What does it also mean for the V6?
As a traditionalist I would plonk for a VE - no questions asked. it is a lovely car to drive and to me it is an Aussie icon as the Falcon is to Ford. But both the Insignia and Commordore will be running V6's so it could be said that both would be in direct competition rather than complement each other from the GM stable.
It will be interesting to see how Opel fairs in Australia as there is such a loyal following for Holden. They may well get the OPC models which will then square off against Ford's XR range. I am confident it will not displace Holden as part of the GM Portfolio in Aussie, but I suspect that you could see a downturn in sales of the lower end Holden cars.
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