Holden suspends Astra imports
April 24, 2009 by David Twomey
GM Holden has taken the unprecedented step of suspending imports of its second best selling car the Opel-made Astra, sighting issues with currency fluctuations and commodity price issues.
The move means that no Holden-badged Astras will be imported in April or May and the decision could become permanent, depending on a company review of the situation.
Holden’s senior spokesman, Scott Whiffin, told CarAdvice, “The Astra range is currently under strategic review because of unfavourable exchange rate movements and commodity price increases.”
“Until the review process is complete we are not taking orders for the vehicle and we have cancelled our April and May allocation,” Mr Whiffin said.
He added that “it’s a great car but it’s got to make business sense for us.”
CarAdvice believes that Holden has put a stop on imports of the Astra while it conducts price negotiations with Opel, the European subsidiary of General Motors that manufactures the vehicles.
Because of the suspension of orders for the next two months no Astras will arrive in Australia in June or July and beyond that the decision could spell the end for the nameplate in Australia.
Dealer stocks are believed to already be restricted and Holden has said that the import suspension will mean that some colours and model variants are not available.
Holden is already struggling with declining sales and the decision would seem to be at odds with its plans to move more strongly into the small car market.
At the same time Holden will launch the Korean-built Cruze in the next two months and has committed to spend $450 million moving into production late next year of further models based on the same Delta platform as the Cruze is built on.
In Europe GM sells the Cruze under the Chevrolet brand and at the Astra as an Opel, with a more up-market positioning.
Print it: 
Another nail in Holdens coffin…….
Isnt the Viva discontinued now?
Alan Says:
April 25th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
For those saying negative things about Astra, I just want to add that sure it is not a very reliable car compared to the Japanese offerings, but would you really take a Daewoo over an Opel? I guess we’re better off avoiding either, but if I have to make such a choice, I would take an Opel over a Daewoo.
———————————————————————————————————————-
If I had to choose between the two it would be Opel without a doubt. However, do not underestimate Daewoo. They will keep improving over time, and the Cruze and Captiva which were designed under GM ownership are quite decent. If I wanted a “reliable” car and had to choose between the two brands, then the Daewoo products would be significantly ahead.
Do not put Korean cars into the same bucket as Chinese cars. South Korea is a much more advanced country than Australia is and they have to pay their workers first world wages. So they have a very high potential for improvement.
Richard, you can see a report on February’s VFACTS figures in the following link:
http://www.goauto.com.au/mello.....7100251014
A summary:
- The Fiesta is selling more and more each month, now that automatic versions are becoming available;
- The Focus is down on sales but still up there;
- The Mondeo is down with the industry average but clearly ahead of the considerably cheaper Epica.
Daewoo car are much more reliable than opel cars..It already has been proven…As I said before,. Viva have fewer issues than Astra..It is proven fact!!
Visit the below site..You will learn how bad Astra is..What a lemon…!!
http://www.motorsm.com/complai.....?page=40..
The Focus is and will continue to be a far better car than either the Astra or Cruise. If you cant bring yourself to buy a “Fix Or Repair Daily”, then do yourself a favour and buy a new Mazsa 3 or Golf gen VI.
Agree that the Holden range is poorer with the loss of Astra, but does Holden actually have a car in their range that is universally declared “better than the opposition”? I cant think of one….
Astra is a lemon !!! the worst of the worst…
http://www.motorsm.com/complai.....sp?cls=165
Opel NoThanks – you say that Daewoos are more reliable and Vivas have less issues than Astras
Well of course they would particularly when you take into account the number of Astras sold compared to thre number of Vivas.. the ratio of Astras to Vivas on our road would be at least 5:1
Therefore; given that there are less Vivas on our road the sample is much samller. Whereas because there are substantially more Astras out there you are more likely to find one that has a problem oof some sort
Then of course it depends on whether or not you consider it to be a major or a minor problem
However having said that – when you look at the number of Astras that Holden have sold the number of Astras with a problem would be relatively small.. It’s all relative mate
Either way the fact that there are still so many Astras still driving around kind of dispels your theory
It seems that talks to sell Opel may be progressing faster than we expected. To me this simply looks like a case of the ‘potential’ new owner say “stop selling them, you will no longer sell our cars”. Don’t be surprised if this new owner never brings this car back either..
I mean seriously, why would you?
Astra? A great car. Have had three of them. Great build quality, safety and reliability. Never a problem. And am about to update my car again…….but if Holden thinks I will even consider buying Korean rubbish, they have another thing coming.
as many people have allready mentioned,it’s really not the exchange rate,lack of demand,or build quality thats stopping it coming in…what utter b.s. that is.
must hard for holden in the small-med car range right now.no viva.no astra.barina’s at 20 grand,when kia’s are 13 drive away.cruze’s not here so 2 or so months.break out the cards gents…
This car is not meant for those people who want a sporting drive from say something like a focus or current golf. It is the bargain basement basement car that Holden is giving us. It has good interior quality as most of the switchgear is from the Insignia. At the moment the world is money concious and the majority of customer would rather have a well equipped car and a safe one rather than one that goes around a corner fast.
Vauxhall and Holden Need To Sort There Problems Out.
If they dont they wont survive.
Another big manufdactiurer under fire in hard times !
From April Holden is Daewoo, go and change your badge Holden… There are 3 korea brand in Australia now…..
Well said TSi…………Holden easily have the worst range of cars in Australia, every one is at the bottom of its class…….including VE which is not even close to FG or aurion\camry. why do people buy this shit? wake up Australia.
You can sit here and argue all you want about how good or crap the Astra is. But lets face it, what is Holden going to offer as a replacement in the same category? The alternatives are worse.
People will just start buying from a different manufacturer… that is… the people that care. The ones that don’t, won’t know better and still think they’re buying a Holden despite the fact that their car was made by a brand they probably think is rubbish.
These people will keep the brand alive. There are plenty of them.
Everyone else will move to other marquees. So be it. At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter to any of us. All that matters is that you make the right choice for yourself when you buy a car. Whether that means finding one with the badge depicting the actual manufacturer of the car, or the best fit, regardless of its origins. It’s really up to the consumer at the end of the day.
SteveC
I have said it many times before, i’ll say it again. ‘Holden, the largest Korean car company in Australia’. Sad, isn’t it……………………!
Never will a Lion badge be resting in my garage.
I think you will find Holden will tune the Cruze’s suspension for local conditions, which is always better than Europes set-up.
Holden did this with the Astra and Vectra.
Jeez these Ford fanzies on here are try hards, pity, Ford can’t even sell ice to the eskimos….hahahahaha
If I wanted a Ford, I’d buy a Mazda…hahahahaha.
Ford dealer service is shiit !!!!!!!!
Opel? Nothanks – Guess you like Korean cars then. Fool!
Vectra is a lemon too…
http://www.fastlane.com.au/New....._lemon.htm
“search resultsVectra dubbed a lemon – David takes on Goliath 27/1/00
Vectra dubbed a `lemon’ – David takes on Goliath. by Gary Warner … group from one Steve Keen, an obviously unhappy owner of a Holden Vectra “
“European and Australian cars consistently lag behind their Asian competitors in quality, according to confidential industry figures obtained by the Herald.
The figures confirm similar surveys overseas, which have shown that US- and European-built cars largely lag behind Korean and Japanese cars on quality.”
Extracted from Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.smh.com.au/news/new…..47562.html
Most of Australian have a misconception that European Brands are generally more reliable than Korean and Japanese brands…As I proved above, it is simply a myth..
As I mentioned several times, do not buy European made car, they are craps!! They are even worse than Daewoo in terms of quality..
http://westnet.drive.com.au/Ed.....leID=39115
That would be nice if everything Under Commodore,Statesman,Caprice and Ute was An Opel Again.
Me I plan to stick with Japanese Cars.You know what the worse part of buying a Volkswagen is?Having to take it to the same place to get it serviced as a Bentley or Jaguar
It would be sad if Holden Astra went. Its a really good looking car.I don’t see why Holden can’t just still sell it a a higer price. If a 25K Volkwagen Golf can make it into the top 20 best selling cars each month, why can’t Astra. I think just keep it in the range & see how buyers react. Or axe AH till all new-model arrives. Go HOLDEN!
Here’s the thing, where do you reckon the BMW 320D series and Mercedes C class (some W204) are made? South Africa, along with the Ford Focus and some VWs. European quality? Only the name is european.
So, forget your preconceived ideas and *look* at what you are buying. Get in the car, twiddle every knob and lever, poke every panel, mess around with everything that moves. Then take it for a long drive – btw when the salesman starts giving you instructions “turn left here, turn right here”, ask him who is test driving the car? Accelerate hard, brake hard, corner fast – and yes warn the salesman you’re going to do so :)
The Cruze will be made in Australia from the 3rd quarter next year. For local jobs sake I hope it’s a good car, but I can tell you this much, try to buy one today and it’s a 4 month wait for a CDX because demand is very high right now.