Holden offers fuel at 99 cents per litre
2 Sep, 2008
81 Comments 
The economics might not make all that much sense on the surface, but given the amount of money and research that goes into developing more fuel efficient cars, perhaps it’s more practical to simply offer cheap fuel instead of making fuel efficient cars? Plus it makes more marketing sense! Right?
No doubt that idea was brought up at one of GM Holden’s marketing seminars. In a revolutionary move to offset the rising cost of fuel, Holden will be capping the price of fuel at 99 cents per litre for all new Holden customers! Yes, that’s not a typo.
The offer only applies to private buyers but includes Holden’s entire range of cars. The only catch? Well there really isn’t one, simply take delivery of any new Holden before the 31st of October and the old General will make sure you only pay 99 cents per litre for 91 RON petrol or diesel for up to 20,000 kilometres or two years, whichever comes first.
“We will provide this cap across all segments to ensure the benefits are as widely available as possible, given that fuel prices impact all drivers regardless of the size of their car, whether you’re buying a Commodore for the family, a Barina as your first car, or a Colorado as tool of trade, we know everyone will appreciate our helping hand.
GM Holden is committed to providing affordable and economical cars to our customers, and this campaign is another way that can be achieved.” Alan Batey, Executive Director of Sales, Marketing and Aftersales said
How does it work? Holden will give all new Holden customers a Holden 99c Fuel Cap debit card to purchase fuel for up to 20,000 kilometres or two years.
The system might sound complicated, but it’s rather simple and clever. Holden will base the litres of fuel purchased and compare it to the vehicle’s ADR081/01 combined fuel consumption figure. So if you purchase 50L of fuel and your ADR fuel rating is 10L/100km, Holden will record 500km.
In most cases within 48 hours after the fuel has been purchased, Holden will debit from the customers nominated bank account to the value of 99 cents per litre purchased.
The benefits of the system are not simply limited cheaper fuel, or that Holden will pay upfront and then take the money later, but also because all accounts can be monitored by a monthly email statement or checked any time online or by phone.
This will allow consumers to see how many litres have been purchased during that month. A sort of online trip computer. Granted it won’t be a very accurate one, but it will allow for a better overall picture of one’s fuel costs. Interested? We are too.
The cars that will benefit the most are the thirstier V8s, Holden has put together a table of all its cars and how many litres each car is entitled to over the two year period. You can find out more about that and the offer in general here.
Given the V8s desire for slightly better than average fuel, we are a little concerned that Holden will somewhat force new V8 owners into using 91 RON fuel to benefit from the scheme.
Will the new offer entice you to go with a Holden? Or perhaps to go with a bigger thirstier engine? Or is it just a clever marketing ploy? And if so, will it work?
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September 2nd, 2008 at 2:54 pm
I suppose you could just make more fuel efficent cars…
No just throw some marketing mumbo jumbo at the customer. short tem fixes are we are about… Chrysler are currently doing this in North America and it backfired big time. Customers rightly veiwed this as smoke and mirrors.
It’s very sad. Whats next? Cashback? Employee prices for everyone? (oh hang on, the ACCC sued us over that,damn)
Shame Holden, Shame.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 3:06 pm
“we know everyone will appreciate our helping hand”
Awwww Thanks holden for your generosity. Nothing like sincerity in a corporate press release to make me barf.
Sorry to post twice on this But Holdens are well engineered, Good value products (in the main) and this deseration P&$#ses me off!
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September 2nd, 2008 at 3:08 pm
91 RON is useless for the SS and all V8 models unless you want your new 6.0L to be pinging it’s t#ts off (detonation).
I wouldn’t be using anything less than 95 RON in these new V8’s. Most SS drivers use 98 RON anyway. Sad thing is we pay extra for higher octane fuel even though the cost of production is exactly the same as the lower grade stuff. Again another oil company myth that 98 RON costs more to produce, BS!
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September 2nd, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Working out the maths:
Assuming average fuel consumption is 10 litres/100km.
Then over 20,000km, it uses 2000 litres.
ULP is currently around $1.45.
$1.45-$0.99 = $0.46
So, you save 2000×0.46 = $920 over this period.
Not very much in savings really. You can probably haggle more out of them without this scheme.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 3:12 pm
DanMan ofcourse its just marketing, but its very good marketing and if someone was offering you 99c a litre for 20,000km i bet you would take it in a heart beat. Whats the problem with it mate? Yes ofcourse its not a long term solution, but long term solutions take time to happen. Thats why you have short medium and long term solutions don’t you? This is holdens short term one, and we already know that they are working on medium term ones including diesel commodores, DI, DOD and even a 4cyl commodore, and the longer term solution is the chevy volt that has been all but confirmed to be coming to australia, just not till around 2012 at the earliest
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September 2nd, 2008 at 3:14 pm
“The offer only applies to private buyers” then says later “or a Colorado as tool of trade”. That would make it a business buy then yes?
Which is it Holden?
Nice try and you will undoubtedly attract a host of new car buyers. But should you be doing this with such a huge debt looming?
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September 2nd, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Philip - exactly mate, it is pure marketing and very clever marketing too! but really, you don’t save all that much more then that downgrading from a commodore sized car to a corolla sized car, but people still do it.
John - in the actual press release i’m pretty sure it says 95RON is covered too, but even if it doesn’t the big V8 won’t ping on 91RON thanks to its dual knock sensors, but it certainly will be down a bit on power.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 3:21 pm
So, you save 2000×0.46 = $920 over this period.
Well played sir.
Look up ACCC EMPLOYEE PRICING to see what happens when you sail close to the wind with this kind of marketing. This is unfocused and dilutes your brand values. Hyundai and Kia usally own this type of stuff.
My god imagine the idea’s they reject if this seemed like a good idea.
Reminds me of 4 cents off woolworths dockets.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Volt? Soon be seen in transformers 2?
With the new Honda “prius fighter” on sale before then. version 2.0 prius and Camry hybrid on sale before 2012 Volt doesn’t stand a chance. And thats as long as GM isn’t bankrupt (chapter 11)
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September 2nd, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I pinched this off another site - they reckon the savings are more like this:
“The owner of a Commodore Omega V6 auto sedan, for example, can purchase up to 2160 litres of fuel at the 99 cents rate, based on the large car’s 10.8L/100km fuel consumption.
With the average price of petrol costing about $1.50, the Omega owner would save more than $1100 ($2138 v $3250) using the 99c Fuel Cap card.”
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September 2nd, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Wow DanMan you certainly have a bee in your bonnet. Why did you even bring up employee pricing, its just not relevant here. BTW, its more like a 46c a litre fuel voucher, one that doesn’t expire in 16 days. I think what we are all forgetting here is that diesel is generally floating higher than ULP! For Holden to not only bring down the cost of diesel to at least ULP but to cap it at 99c also is going to make diesel buyers rather happy. If only they had a diesel commodore…. DanMan, lets focus our anger at the Gov’t, with their stupid artificial inflation of diesel!! We are going to use less of the fuel and hence create less emissions, don’t charge us more for it you f*cksticks! This is a direct contradiction to that stupid Penny Wong’s rubbish emissions target and speaks volumes about a government that up clearly has wasted millions holding all these summits and committees to discover that they are all smug arseholes and will do whatever they want anyway. Double dissolution gets my vote.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:01 pm
realcars or dingo? not sure…
realcars is usually more objective then that, so probably dingo. Therefore not worthy of a response.
DanMan - calm down mate, also do your research on the chevy volt, its a far different car then a prius, infact its an entirely different format of hybrid power. Unlike the prius which uses both petrol and electric engines to power it, the volt only ever uses electric engines to power it, and the petrol engine is more or less just a “power plant” to produce electricity to charge the batteries when they get low. Also, its only due in 2012 in australia, its due in the US by 2010 but demand in the US will mean the rest of the world will have to wait.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Government has nothing to do with price of diesel. My understanding is that Aus sources its diesel from different reserves to say Europe. The reserves we get our oil from is ‘cleaner’ as such and produces less diesel, as diesel is heavier than petrol. I still think diesel in Aus is not the way to go, LPG is.
Are you sure 98 doesn’t cost more to produce? In should be cleaner and I would’ve thought it would take slightly more refining to get the higher octane.
It’s not really a great move. These quoted fuel consumption figures are a joke. If you own say a SS, you won’t be pulling 10L/100km, which is what Holden says you will because they’re basing their numbers on the combined cycle. Even for say a Barina or something, the real figures will be higher than Holden’s, especially if you don’t hit the highway much (a fair chunk of people don’t).
As has been pointed out, it’s a false economy. Plus, if it encourages people to go and buy a SS now, in 2 years when the fuel ‘voucher’ runs out, than what do you do? Fuel will probably be even more expensive in 2 years time and you used a short term marketing ploy to justify buying a car more expensive to run than you expected. Good luck with the resale.
Making cheaper fuel is a dumb idea compared to developing more efficient engines. Even with V6’s, Holden’s aren’t as efficient as other companies. GM needs to lift its game with regards to engine technology before throwing out stupid marketing schemes. Forget hybrids and diesel, just make your petrol engines more efficient (it’s quite possible). Embrace things like factory-built EGR systems or water injection or put more money into variable cylinder compression and cylinder deactivation technologies.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Haha, what the? A coherent article from Dingo!?
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Holden deserve a big fat slap in the face for this one. I hope that customers treat this with the contempt it deserves like US consumers did with Chrysler.
Sure it is a marketing ploy, but it encourages the purchase of the thirstier cars, e.g. the Caprice is entitled to 2800 litres of fuel, but a Barina is only entitled to 1400 litres.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
also the next prius will be the third version of the car, not the second, and hopefully it won’t be an awful car to drive like the current one as well as largely irrelevant to anyone who actually takes their money seriously. I mean lets look at it, a prius costs $16,000 more then a corolla even though it is roughly the same sized car. The prius uses 4.4l per 100km which really isn’t that impressive when you look at things like Hyundai i30 diesel’s, but lets not go their just yet. The corolla uses 7.3ltr per 100km. At a fuel cost of $1.50 per litre which is realistic, you would have to travel over 350,000km’s to recoup the $16,000 extra you have spent on fuel savings alone. Then take into account you will have had to replace the batteries in the prius probably twice by the time you have hit 350,000km’s and the economic realities of the prius aren’t all that pretty. And neither are its so called green credentials, with batteries that don’t brake down for a thousand years and the extra waste products created in its manufacture, its only marginally greener over its entire lifetime then a camry. But no lets just have a go at holden for marketing spin, even though they have never created an entire car that is 100% spin (and offcourse, massively profitable).
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:20 pm
GTRmon - all of those technologies will be present in the 2009 VF commodore update, so yes, holden are putting some substance behind their economy push as well as just a marketing campagn. Also lets be realistic, someone in the market for a V6 isn’t suddenly going to go and buy a V8 because holden is giving them fuel for 99cents. People aren’t as dumb as some of the comments that go up on here sometimes. I mean really, who actually thinks that people are going to suddenly run out and buy V8’s because of this? I mean to suggest such a thing would be assuming people are as dumb as your comments
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Dingo! Mate! A well constructed, thoughtful and non-biased comment! Keep this up mate and people will start treating you with a bit of respect! Good work mate.
Your argument is sound, and it will be very interesting to see what the Volt is like. On the plus side for GM is that despite their economic situation, they are actually on a bit of a roll with their products, the quality of their cars, particularly in the US, has been improving massively in recent times with no finer example then the cadillac CTS which some are saying is the best car ever to be built in america
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Haha. my spam word was HSV. Irony
I mentioned ACCC because Holden has Indulged in deceptive practise’s before. The accounting alone on this offer is a nightmare. Prepare to be audited…
Fair point on the Govt, but this is a car website, so…
Look up “volt birth watch” on google and prepare to be… dissapointed. They will sell for around 40k in North America. so how much in Aussie?
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:26 pm
It might encourage someone to upgrade from an Epica to base model Commo. |4 to V6 change. People do prefer the power and size of a V6 Commo to a 4 cylinder Epica.
How many of those technologies are going into the VF? EGR? I doubt variable cylinder compression. Cylinder deactivation maybe, but unlikely for the others.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Haha. my spam word was HSV. Irony
I mentioned ACCC because Holden has Indulged in deceptive practise\’s before. The accounting alone on this offer is a nightmare. Prepare to be audited…
Fair point on the Govt, but this is a car website, so…
Look up \”volt birth watch\” on google and prepare to be… dissapointed. They will sell for around 40k in North America. so how much in Aussie?
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:28 pm
i meant that sincerely by the way dingo, good job
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:30 pm
danman - i don’t know what your talking about it being deceptive, holden has made no comment that it will save you thousands, just that it will be a help, which it will be.
GTRmon - direct injection and cylinder deactivation will be on the VF as well as more efficient gearbox’s. They are also looking at a turbo 4cyl version aswell. So they are doing something to back up the marketing.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Never have I read so much unadulterated B/S from a bunch of absolute morons.
So Holden is offering a discount to its customers to the tune of $1000 average. And the idiots scream their stupid sentiments louder and louder.
My God, I hope they aren’t old enough to vote.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Dingo and realcars response within a minute just after being queried. Easy to do when you have 2 pages up at same time and write on both before hitting the reply button. As was said before realcars is more balanced so I too are leaning towards Dingo using realcars name.
Good on you Holden for trying to help potential new car buyers. And as it involves all classes of cars not just VE/WM models it will make fuel cheaper for all not just the priviledged few who buy the more expensive to buy cars.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Car Advice is concerned about V8 customers using 91 RON?
PULL THE OTHER ONE!
This from the same guys who last month ran a story about driving a V8 Commodore to see what fuel economy they could get whilst clearly stating they rang it on…..
91 RON!!
Which is it Car Advice? You can’t have it both ways!
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Fair enough, but there’s still engine technologies not being used enough, like EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) and water injection, both of which are quite feasible to setup in the home garage let alone a factory.
Reckless1, the point is that Holden is offering $1000 discount, but it’s a lure into cheaper short term running expenses. It would be better to offer satnav or alloys or a sunroof or something as a $1000 discount rather than fuel.
Besides, why would I listen to a preachy Golf owner? And yes I am old enough to vote; are you old enough to be in a nursing home?
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:47 pm
look its a marketing scheme to attract some customers through some savings at the fuel bowser. No one said anyhing when nissan offered $1,000 worth of free fuel now did they! Where people concerned then that people would go and buy a patrol instead of an xtrail because of the sceheme? Ofcourse not, this is just yet more holden bashing. Alot of people on here need to get a bit of balance i feel!
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Dingo – no doubt GM faces significant challenges, but getting the cars right is definetly 1 of those challenges, and so far they are starting to tick boxes. As for this adding to overheads, well I dunno but I just don’t see how this is going to cost them more then a special edition with $3,000 worth of extra kit for free, like pretty much every manufacturer does from time to time. If its only going to cost them an extra grand like people are suggesting, then that’s not really an issue, and quite often with these things it will be coming out of the dealers margin anyway, not the manufacturers.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 5:09 pm
dont know if this has been mentioned before - but i assume these figures are based on the standard 10.8l/ 100km. Is the limiting factor 20,000km or is there a maximum fuel credited also? Otherwise there would be no restriction on hoons using more in the order of 30l per hundred if they so desire.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Harmful81, the fuel consumption is based on Holden’s calculated combined cycle; so the more you hoon, the more money it costs you. A flaw in the system.
In fact, at least with a $1000 fuel card, you get free money. In Holden’s system, you’re only getting what Holden think you should get, which is probably less than realistic.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Ian: HA! 5 star “safty” my arse, I don’t think the “genral” speaks incoherent BS. As for the Falcon getting 5 star over Holden, I’ve read both ANCAP results and ignoring the side pole test (interesting considering how GM touted the Holden as having better side impact protection than ever before, which I can vouch for after seeing side impact wrecks at Pickles lots) the results are near identical with VE winning in areas and FG winning in areas, however the big thing was the LL Index, a figure they give no explanation in calculating in which the FG had a large margin, the only section FG had a large margin. Other than that the cars were virtually on par aside from one of the doors in the VE opening which was a big deduction for them. So really, if you are in an impact that was going to kill you in a VE, you’d be dead in the FG too. I can’t imagine anyone would want to buy your soul anyhoo.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Eddy, that’s a good point, I did use 91 RON fuel for the SS fuel economy, however, that’s not to say I would do that on a regular basis on my own V8 (if i had one).
The higher octane fuels actually tend to return better fuel economy anyway. And burn better as well.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 5:28 pm
anti-span word ‘holden’
Wouldn’t it be better to just offer $1000 in free fuel like other manufacturers. Will the customer have free choice where they get their fuel or will they have to go out of their way and go to a certain petrol chain. If you happen to live in the bush this may be a real problem.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 5:32 pm
the fuel is a gimmick,take the discount instead,and put the coin in the bank at 8%.realcars.holden isn’t going anywhere(ford/mits??).i know a d.p.(do you know what that is?).holden WILL have a new barina,viva,locally made astra,and insignia.holden is going the toyota/honda(seen to be green)route.hybrids are great for the earth but bad for your wallet(resale,batteries)etc.their future given all the new technology is cloudy at best.better having a all electric car than 50/50.or hydrogen,solar,whatever…
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September 2nd, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Good idea from a marketing point of view.
As the calculations attest fuel is still the cheapest part of car ownership.
Wish Dingo would stop using my label although it is kind of flattering.LOL.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Any unholy remarks about Holden or Ford are not me.LOL
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September 2nd, 2008 at 6:12 pm
They can fake it all they like, I’d rather get a full size spare and haggle the bucks off the deal.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 6:13 pm
As a VE SS Auto driver, I can confirm that they do return better economy, & ofcourse better performance when using 98RON fuel. I find my average consumption, (according to the trip computer in the car), is around 14.8-15 litres/100 km on 91 RON, & 13.5litres/100 km.
Roughly 10% difference.
So, if 98 RON fuel is less than 10% dearer than 91 RON, it’s worth buying the premium fuel.
This is often the case where I live, (Brisbane), so I almost always buy Premium 98 RON.
I’ve also found that economy & performance really suffers if I buy E10 Ethanol fuel.
These are real world figures, including gridlock peakhour traffic, minimal highway cruising, & regular fuel throttle blasts, anywhere there’s a gap; on ramps, traffic lights, ….
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September 2nd, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Impressive economy for a 6.0 litre v8, Jason!
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September 2nd, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Heh Jason, glad I don’t own your car. My little Golf diesel returns 4.5l /100, but its all about choices eh. Good luck.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Stevo the Devo,
they provide the offer via a Visa card.
you would be able to use that at any servo.
its not a typical fleet fuel card.
Greenroom,
damn right its all about choies, and my choice always will land with the vehicle i would much rather drive.
if it were between an SS and Golf, its no contest…SS Wins
if you are seriously worried about your hip pocket, then head to LPG. after all LPG is the only real answer we have to fuel savings.
i forget who said it,
maybe the fuel savings will sway some to keep the existing fuel budget and upsize their engine.
i know that the SS for the SV6 price that holden offered me on Saturday would have easily swayed me to the SS if i decided to go red.
but oh well, i signed on a FG XR6 instead
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September 2nd, 2008 at 6:35 pm
oh,
i meant to say………
the concept of this is really no different to toyota offering capped servicing costs is it??
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September 2nd, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Or me having no service costs for 3 years…
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September 2nd, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Oh, and speaking of marketing, cover your eyes here, Andrew M…
The Golf needs 4 new tyres and I spotted the Ford 3-1/2 tyre sale (get the 4th tyre at half price) on this very page. You might too.
So I rang the local dealer and the woman I spoke with in service didn’t even know about the promotion whose links I followed on the www. So I read out the important bits to her, such as Goodyear, Dunlop, Fulda, Falken etc and she trotted off for 3 or 4 minutes before declaring a total price of $497 for “Goodyears”
Including fitting and balancing? Hold on. Another 2 or 3 minutes. No. That’s $60 plus $55 for alignment for a total of $612. Thank you, I’ll be in touch.
Bob jane’s fitting 4 Michelin XM1s tomorrow for $629.50. Thank you, I’ll take those.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Last month..
Holden offered the packed deals on all the range. This brought the retail price down of their product range in somes cases up to 5,000 dollars. Not bad value at all I would say…
Example
last month (aug).. If you purchased say a ss 6.0 ute you paid $36.990 this included auto. Today (this month) this price has sky rocket back up to $41,990. for the same car.
You now pay this month $5,000 dollars extra for the same car !!!.
Lets see,
This month you take this showroom fuel card gimmick and you will save at best, may-be around $1,000 over this 2 year period in fuel.
Remember you have now paid 5,000 dollars extra in list price this month for this car.
Subtract this fuel card, you have still paid 4,000 extra for the car than you would have if you bought last month. There is no saving here AT ALL…
Again we see the 70′/80’s type car salesmen mentality and tricks coming out of the industry. Someone in this blog mentioned ’smoke and mirrors’
This is bullshit Holden and its cheating your customers!!! this is the sort of crap that makes people walk out of your dealerships. Customers need to do the math on this..
Do all companies now have to act like that woolworths and scam Australians…
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September 2nd, 2008 at 7:29 pm
I can’t see it as BS or a scam or any other such nonsense.
Maybe there were better deals on last month. That’s what happens when they have promotions. They end and it may be replaced by another one.
This one is worth about a $1000 on a Commodore, so anyone purchasing can take that into consideration when doing their sums.
You’d have to be pretty dumb to consider that “smoke and mirrors” or the least bit tricky.
If this isn’t the best deal you’ve seen, they’ll be plenty more coming, so just wait for the next one.
In short, all the whining numbnuts on here should get over it. If a sale offer upsets you so much maybe you shouldn’t be reading car news websites.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Klaus, I reckon your best assurance of a good deal is checking the advertised price and then give all those components that comprise the smoke and mirrors, such as the trade-in, finance, insurance and window tint to someone else.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Ok whats with the tacky add CA above the live comments section,Unique cars tried this and their readers complained profusely that it cheapened the mag,It cheapens the site guys!
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September 2nd, 2008 at 7:40 pm
I quite like that picture BM!
(Although I agree with you.)
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September 2nd, 2008 at 7:44 pm
I might give it a whirl Bavarian Missile and I’ll let you know how accurate it is!
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September 2nd, 2008 at 7:48 pm
no matter what the manufacturer, the best deals always come at the end of the month.
thats why the best holden deals were on until saturday.
if they meet certain sales targets by the end of the month, then they get a bonus from the manufacturer.
if they havent sold as many and it is nearing the end of the month, then they will sacrifice more dollars because they know they will get a kick back to cover it.
some people need to understand a bit about life
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September 2nd, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Nothing wrong with the picture just its intentions! Although equal rights would be good Golfy for the females on the site,shall I count the regulars? ME!
I agree AndrewM I mean look what my bros mate got as a deal when he bought a UTE on Friday? 8 cartons thrown in!
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September 2nd, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Haha, irony. Nothing like alcohol and cars.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 8:10 pm
I think this promotion just shows how Holden got their projections wrong. To be fair, they weren’t the only ones to have problems in forecasting future trends. It also highlights how car companies can be so locked into their plans that they are incapable of dynamically changing directions (no pun intended). This leaves them with stop gap strategies to allow them time to catch up with current trends ie. more efficient cars.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Cant be so obvious with pleasing us females visually though,perhaps some in”dick”ation would be nice,perhaps a belly button shot! You know what Im talking about Wheelnut!
My brother got into the 9s Jason on a long run in his VE SS-V Ute when he came down a few weeks ago,bloody brilliant I think although ultimate is close to $2 a litre in the Goldfields.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 8:25 pm
We have requested the ad to be removed earlier today, still waiting for the update to go through! We don’t like it either.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Cool……….thanks babe!
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September 2nd, 2008 at 9:32 pm
yep big deals central at end of month.
i got 41K worth of kit for 32K!!!!
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September 2nd, 2008 at 9:54 pm
golfschwein,
what\’s going on here. My point is this. Put aside the add on\’s you mention.
In one month you can get a car for 5,000 cheaper. Now thats a good deal would you think!! Next month they are offering 1,000 savings on fuel at you but making you pay 4,000 more on the same product.
It just a promo GiftED would say, get over it. Yeh right Will hand over an extra 4 grand to be in on this promo this month.
There are no savings to the buyer for this promotion compared to last month, none at all.. So, what\’s is the point. Is this what a promo is suppose to be all about is\’nt it.
Giving the customer a good deal AND SAVING MONEY!! There is no good deal here, only a price rise back to July prices.
GiftEd,
honestly why would you buy this month?. Why would you pay 5,000 more this month over last to get 1,000 worth of fuel off a holden product.
More better deals coming you say. Friggin good.
Newsflash ..
Everybody hold off.. Based on GiftEd advice suggest all buyers give Holden a miss this month. There are better rip-offs coming like this, next month, where you may save even less. Maybe even pay more for the cars. Thanks mate, will wait till Oct deal comes round.
They cannot have it both ways, either these cars are worth 5,000 more or less, it is they who have set the benchmark on there own pricing here. These prices last month were directly aimed at the FG, nothing less. Not for customers at all. If you bought then you got a good price if they slowed the FG sales down they acheived a thier goal. Now they are asking their customers to fork out another 5 grand again this month over last for the same car. This fuel deal is not worth anything based on this month price of the cars.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Hey golfschwein, I’ve seen those ads on here heaps lately. Who was the Ford Dealer?
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September 3rd, 2008 at 12:47 am
Centre Ford, Perth.
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September 3rd, 2008 at 2:22 am
I assume that if you wanted to put 98RON in your SS you’d still get the 99cents deal and just pay the difference.
A good marketing tool, would work for some and not others. Once you buy the vehicle then they have you for the services over the next year or two.
Buy new pre-registered cars and save 25% off the bottom line.
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September 3rd, 2008 at 6:48 am
SO if i have LPG they will not only be paying for my LPG in full, but paying me around $0.40 credit [brings the total to $0.99]
Wheres the bench-seat/cab-chassis Holden? :-)
Cheers,
F-0
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September 3rd, 2008 at 7:00 am
Klaus,
Do you not get the idea of promotions / sales? They are special offers run for a limited time. I can understand if people missed a really good deal, but they do tell people in advance when they are ending.
(BTW - Do you think there won’t be end of year promotions this year to make sure Commodore retains the number one selling spot?)
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September 3rd, 2008 at 7:03 am
Oh and btw Klaus, I agree the heavy extras packaging were designed to nobble the impact of the FG. Ford have now responded in kind. It’s called competition.
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September 3rd, 2008 at 9:32 am
Again Holden is chasing everyday Joe who knowns little about how much Holden was charging for the same car last month….for many 99c fuel offer will be a good one not realizing that your car will run like crap on 91ron or being charged more for the car itself….I have idea for holden…take the fuel money and invest in some more fuel economical cars.
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September 3rd, 2008 at 9:58 am
Greenroom, I take your point about the economy of your Diesel Golf, but surely they are different cars for different markets? Is a buyer really shopping an SS against your car?
Don’t get me wrong, I love the Golf, & have tested a current R32.
2 things about the R32; it hangs on like an Ex-wife, but is disappointingly slower than my SS in a straight line.
Alborz, I’ve also seen 9.5-9.7Litres/100 km on purely highway driving.
That’s nearly 30 mpg from a 6.0 litre V8.
Overall, it’s a good compromise on fuel for me; one I’m prepared to live with.
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September 3rd, 2008 at 10:10 am
luv your thinking frugal,don’t know how holden are going to manage that one.maybe a PROPER fuel card,and not this rebate crap system that they have dreamed up.take the discount instead….burt,let me lower myself down a bit for a minute…WHEN A CAMRY HAS A REAR DIFF,AND YOU CAN SIT A 6FT PERSON BEHIND A 6FT DRIVER IN A CAMRY,THEN YOU HAVE A LARGE CAR.CAMRY IS A GOOD CAR,SELL WELL,BUT MOST BLOKES ARE SICK OF THIS B#LLSH#T DRIBBLE FROM THE CARDIGAN BRIDGADE.GO BACK TO THE TOYOTA SITES….
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September 3rd, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Andrew M - “the concept of this is really no different to toyota offering capped servicing costs is it?? “… if so then its like any other throw in deal any manufacturer puts in e.g. 1000 dollars worth of fuel, free car washes for a whole year, its all to entice the majority, who are not car lovers but usually are money saving orientated.
Burt (& Ernie), you make even an Aurion owner embarrased with your comments, please stick to the topic about discounting.
Anyways would love to see the effects of this as an experiment, especially against the other large cars in its market segment.
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September 3rd, 2008 at 1:39 pm
What I find amazing about this is why is this suddenly a newsworthy item, not just on CA, but it was also reported on mainstream media.
Nowhere, on any news bulletin did i here about $2000 free fuel with territory, or capped servicing for toyota.
Very nice of the media to give holden such a free advertising plug, for their little advertising gimmick.
Interesting points:
- It is limited to 91 RON and diesel.
-Diesel will probably benefit the most due to high CPL cost.
- Most drivers will be limited by the calculated ADR consumption allowance and won’t get to 20,000 km. If your Omega gets 15 l/100 average because you do all city driving, and Holden recons it should average 10.8 then you’ll only get about 15,000 km out of them.
- And therein lies the biggest scam part of this, it’s actually a calculated maximun number of litres of fuel NOT a set distance travelled.
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September 3rd, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Err, its a scam depending how you look at it, If I were a Holden fanatic and looking at only buy a v6 commodore regardless, isnt this a better deal than having no discount whatsoever, its not like Holden are cutting costs, selling at a higher price, or something orather to recoup the discount?
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September 3rd, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Realcars, it’s not like you to be bitter and twisted. What’s going on?
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September 3rd, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Golfie, it’s not Realcars. Someone has been masquerading as him.
The impersonator has been banned.
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September 3rd, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Yep well that about the 3 rd time they have done that,will they ever learn?
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September 3rd, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Geepers some people wreck are great website. When will they stand up straight instead of being hunched over like the neanderthal they are?
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September 3rd, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Jobber,
dead right,
it is no different to offering free servicing/capped servicing, free fuel/capped fuel, free car washes or what ever……..
whats your point??
sorry, but the way you responded made it seem like you felt i said something to the contrary……….
some people just dont understand “business principles 101″,
and by the uneducated comments i never expect them too either.
are these the same people on here that call it a scam when the super market has ice cream “save $2″ one week, then put the price back up once the promo has ended???
when the promo has ended, holden is entitled to put their price back up.
for all we know holden may have been 3/4 of the way to doing their A*se with last moths deals.
i use to manage a supermarket, and when we had Coke on special for a ripper price, we were actually losing 1c per bottle.
the 2 basic things to remember in retail is…..
High turnover means lower margin
Low turnver means higher margin.
holden was probably able to reduce the prices of their vehicles more last month because they knew they had plenty of stock sitting around to be able to have a higher turnover and hence they could afford a smaller margin
some people need a few points on life
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September 3rd, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Andrew M
Exactly right, it’s business and marketing principles 101.
Toyota are plastering all over the TV at the moment that their fixed price servicing is the cheapest by any manufacturer.
Wow, sounds great doesn’t it? I wonder how many people have been influenced by this claim and made a purchasing decision because of it?
I also wonder how many people are aware that Toyota advised all their dealers that before each model was included in “fixed price servicing” that the base price of that model was raised by at least $1000.
So every person that purchases a Toyota with “fixed price servicing” has allready pre-paid part of their servicing in the purchase price.
So what does this cost Toyota, exactly the same as it was before. How much do you save with “fixed price servicing”? Nothing - but gee it makes for a great TV ad.
What has this got to do with Holden?
You can rest assured the cost of this scheme is factored into the vehicle pricing ie a rise in the base price - guaranteed.
Business 101; there is no such thing as a free lunch.
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September 3rd, 2008 at 10:58 pm
It wasn’t me I swear!
Although I must admit I can get a bit bitter and twisted at times Golfie.LOL.
I agree with the no free lunch comment.
I suppose Holden has to get in on the act if they want to hook these customers.
I have always wondered how New Car dealers can justify the servicing charges on modern cars anyway. I mean all that is needed in most cases is an oil change with filter and an inspection to check that nothing is coming off.LOL.
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September 3rd, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Sorry Andrew, with all the scam tirade before your post it felt that you were taking a stab at so called ’scams’ from other manufacturers.
We can go all the way with this marketing lesson, from this to loyalty programs its all under the marketing bucket, its how businesses do businesses, thats why I kinda feel pity for people being a fanboy or advocating a brand (corporation)
Realcars, no doubt Holden will attract a number of buyers with this deal, question is whether its going to get the numbers they need…
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September 4th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Jobber,
no probs mate.
and in answer to your question will holden get the numbers they need……
they will asses this mid month, and if sales are poor they will run a better promo to pick the months sales up towards the end.
never go into the month with your best deal first.
the idea is to sell as many cars as they can for as much as they can, in the same way the consumers focus is to get as much as they can for as little as they can
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