Comments on: Pontiac pumps big ad dollars into G8

By: Wheelnut

Wheelnut — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 07:04:49 +0000

I’m not sure how much of a reduction in price GM-Holden are selling the G8s for

However in relation to Pontiac; there are a number of yanks on http://www.autoblog.com who are ashamed of Pontiac and believe that it is now a shell of its former self as it was once the performance car division of the US based GM companies

but are now have a number of rather boring cars.. so much so that they want GM to change Pontiac to Holden mainly because they are so impressed with the looks and performance of the G8

By: Tachyon

Tachyon — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 05:15:41 +0000

Why is it that when the american’s get hold of a good looking car, they instantly think, I know well give it an ugly nose, and dodgy interior visuals?

By: GhisGT

GhisGT — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:13:17 +0000

Going by his use of past-tense, I’d say it’s more towards the canine end of the scale, and in which case I would have to agree, which is why I own both. Commodore family, Ford fun weekender.

By: golfschwein

golfschwein — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 23:32:02 +0000

Dan, I didn’t understand your post. Do you mean your GT has been exemplary or a dog?

By: Daniel Dacey

Daniel Dacey — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:07:04 +0000

I trust the boy going by “FORD MONDEO WINS AUSTRALIA’S BEST CARS” doesn’t want us to believe Ford are any better when it comes to build quality and reliability?

As someone who owned a BA Mark 2 GT I certainly beg to differ.

Dan

By: Andrew M

Andrew M — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 10:55:35 +0000

Golf,
mate when ever i talk bunnings im not talking seriously either ha ha ha ha

in the wrap up though i was just continually clarifying i was NOT whinging because we shold be getting sub $30K SS commodores.

wheelnut,
how far below cost are they selling them for?
im sure they cant throw 20K on them to bring them up to aus prices though. perhaps phase 5 grand on them over time.
i also thought pontiac was established enough not to require such marketing tactics????

but either way it is common practice for companies wanting to break into a market or even gobble the competition.
the off topic mention of bunnings is a great example of that. also the mention of coles and i suppose woolworths/safeway is the same.
well here in QLD supermarkets cant hold liquor licenses so coles and woolies/safeway went out and bought just about every single liquor store and dropped prices to wipe out the independants.
and then guess what now that they have the monopoly……….
yep expect to pay another 5 buck for your carton overnight

By: golfschwein

golfschwein — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 09:37:27 +0000

Andrew M, I hope you didn’t take me toooooo seriously. I’m the first to admit I can’t fashion anything out of wood or steel, but I can paint and garden.

All I was trying to do was bring about a stop to the incessant bleating about the Pontiac G8 selling for 32 large in the USA. I piled the piss-take on so thick and creamy I think I’ve put a stop to it!

All we need now is for TP to come on strong without giving any indication that he’s read anyone’s previous posts!

By: XR2_Capri

XR2_Capri — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 09:14:28 +0000

Oz,
I dont care which f250 or any motor ford care to choose just give the ford supporters something to go “WOW!!!!! look at that thing a GTHO with balls”. May be a F6 with 350KW or as I said earlier GT40 motor.
I am a ford supporter but you have to give it to GM and Holden they are making the Aussie commodore platform an important part of there world car making business be it vauxhal or pontiac.
From what I procieve Ford US in which ford Australia answer to thinks that the F series will see them through and not acting upon the quality ford australia does in big cars.

By: Wheelnut

Wheelnut — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 08:17:58 +0000

That’s it… sell at a loss now inorder to help establish your product in the market.. then as your reputation for quality and performance etc improves so too will demand then you will be able to gradually increase the price to a point where you could break even

And yes I realise there are those Euro lovers out there who would laught at the fact I used Holden and Quality in the same sentence.. but compared to most of the cars built in the USA.. the Commodore is a quality product and the Americans are starting to notice this.
Hence the demand for the once popular US built PicK-Ups SUVs etc declining in favour of the imports from Europe Japan and Australia

By: Frosty

Frosty — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 07:59:12 +0000

Just off subject for one moment. Westfarmers own Bunnings and are Australian owned and run. They are not anything to do with Home Depot in the U.S.A. Westfarmers also now have control of all old Coles businesses etc Officeworks.

As has been mentioned in previous posts Holden are doing what they can to ensure survival in Australia. They cannot survive on Australia’s small market. If it meas competing on price with U,S built products so be it. It still means more production coming out of Elizabeth and therefore more employment for Australians.

By: Andrew M

Andrew M — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 07:24:58 +0000

golf,
also it seems my prediction of how the exports compare financially seem to be on the right track as Wheelnut has confirmed they do actually make a small loss on them.

im not one of those saying we need $29K SS commodores.
i was originally saying gee they must be cutting their throats on their exports then.

By: Andrew M

Andrew M — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 07:22:08 +0000

Golf,
mate anyone who is silly enough to go to bunnings to buy their materials for a bridge, wouldnt have any idea of how to build one.
the staff would tell you timber is in isle 15 when it is really in isle 3.
then they would tell you that MDF would be the go for such out door projects.
then they would try to sell you a “swaheilie” branded drill expecting you to believe it is the best brand you can get even though its a $10 drill.
then when you are trying to pay for it the cashier would have to flip through 3 or 4 binders to try and find a product code and thats after the cashier figures out it is a piece of timber!!!

By: Wheelnut

Wheelnut — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 07:05:01 +0000

Apparently WestFarmers; the company that owns Bunnings also Owns Coles.. which could mean in a couple of years you can go to Coles and pick up Milk, Bread, Cereal; some pieces of 4×2 and a Nail Gun [or vice versa].

By: Wheelnut

Wheelnut — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 07:01:05 +0000

In rear-guards as to how much it costs Holden to Build a Commodore.. When I did a tour of rhe Holden Factory sduring the VT-VX era; I seem to recall that the tour guide mentioned that it costs them approximately $16-20K to build a car depending upon the specifications… that is Ute Sedan or Wagon….V6 or V8 etc.

By: Oz.

Oz. — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:34:10 +0000

That makes sense. Thanks Wheelnut for finally bringing this back on topic again.

By: Wheelnut

Wheelnut — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:52:42 +0000

From what I can gather GM-Holden are selling the G8s in America at a slight-loss inorder be competitive and seen as aviable alternative to the other cars already in the market over there as well as gain a share of the market.

It’s also got alot to do with economics.. because they would rather sell a greater number at a slightly reduced price thereby increse demand rather than sell a few units at the normal or higher price.. as that will help keep the Factory at Elizabeth turning over and keep the money coming in.

Because that way they will be able to recover the costs of Research and Development spent on the VE and introduce new models or new technology sooner than wht they would if the VE was an Oz only Option.

Hope this helps explain it a little bit for you

By: Oz.

Oz. — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:30:44 +0000

Hey Bunnings are in QLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: golfschwein

golfschwein — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 04:32:41 +0000

Hi Frugal, you’ll see how Bunnings came to be mentioned in my ealier posts. Yes, they were about the Pontiac. :)

By: Frugal One

Frugal One — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:09:14 +0000

BUNNINGS?

Nothing more that a total rip-off of HomeDepot in USA.

Bunnings copied the staff uniform, motto and box-store style.

Total scammers!

“LOW PRICES ARE JUST THE BEGINNING OF THE LIES”

Cheers,

F-0

PS Whats it got to do with a Pontiac G8

PSS Oh, and the largest Bunnings store in AUS is located in Melb.

By: golfschwein

golfschwein — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:26:54 +0000

Thanks GhisGT. Probably a huge multi-national, for all I know hehe.