Holden continues surge in the Middle East
August 8, 2007 by Alborz Fallah
While the coalition of the willing continue to fight a losing battle in the middle-east, GM Holden has long ago won the war. The oil rich region has a unquenchable hunger for Australian made cars.
Having started exports in 1998, last year Holden sold over 31,000 locally produced vehicles to our friends in the Middle East (46,100 vehicles in total to all continents except Antarctica).
So it comes at no surprise that GM Holden today reaffirmed its support for this week’s free trade agreement negotiations between the Australian Federal Government and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
“The GCC currently has a 5 per cent tariff on passenger motor vehicles. An eventual free trade agreement would ensure Australian manufacturers maintain their competitiveness in the Middle East market as the GCC actively seeks agreements with other major car producing economies,” GM Holden Chairman and Managing Director, Denny Mooney said.
Using the Chevrolet brand, GM Holden currently sell the Commodore (Middle-Eastern name – Lumina) and Caprice (still Caprice) in the region.
So why is Holden in the green while Ford is struggling? It may be due to our not-so-favourite man of the year, Denny Mooney, who spearheaded Holden’s middle east invasion.
“Thanks to this strong export strategy, 50% of all the vehicles GM Holden manufactures in Australia next year will be driven on foreign roads – many of these in the Middle East.” he said.
While we all had a laugh at Wheels Magazine’s car of the year award, Chevrolet branded Holdens are also enjoying success in the middle east with the Caprice recently crowned Best Executive Sedan by Middle East Car magazine. In late 2006, it was announced as Luxury Car of the Year by Middle East Autocar magazine.
It seems more and more likely that Ford Australia will follow Holden’s footsteps overseas with the introduction of the new Ford Falcon.
Print it: 
That would be right and we in Australia get stuck with a million toyota’s while the Middle East get real cars !
whoopy bloody do… i’ll enlighten some more facts – Toyota’s export regime to the Middle East is considerably greater then that of Holdens having exported more cars there then Holden ever has.
Feel free to explain to the rest of us bloggers how any Daewoo is a real car. And explain how you consider a rattly, squeeky, clunky, poor quality and somewhat troublesome vehicles can also be rated as a real car.
I guess Holden also eNgineers REAL off-road vehicles aswell. And if you want a REAL LUXURY car then get a Lexus not nothing more then just a wonna be… i’m still waiting for Holden to compare it’s very best (as they claim to be able to challenge) to the 2007 WORLD CAR OF THE YEAR… the Lexus LS460 !! That is a REAL LUXURY CAR.
I’d hate to break it to you 280ZX, but you have no idea how many cars you see in the Middle East are Australian Toyota Camrys.
Dingo…
Toyota has admitted in an article on goauto today that they would prefer to have there exports/local sales at a more even level. It’s tilted towards selling more exports they make locally rather than having more local sales.
I agree with rebadged daewoos being rebadged as Holdens, but you can’t include the VE commo in that statement of lack of quality and reliability.
And for the last statement…talk about vague…
what you pay for a vehicle is part of the equation when it comes to a better car or not…
The stateman/caprice are not as well rounded as any luxury car costing $120,000 +!! they cost considerably less…
And i hate to burst your bubble, but Lexus isn’t the best luxury brand…when they can chuck in handling dynamics on their RWd platform to match the excellent build qaulity you might have a winner, but not every luxury car buyer wants refinement but a lack of handling finesse and fun though! ever wonder why Lexus and BMW still dominate, let alone Audi…and the rest.
Opps i meant to say ‘ever wonder why Merc and BMW dominate’!
dingo there is price brackets for judging cars aswell and for $190,000 (the LS460) you would want to hope it was a good car. so for what you get in a caprice for 1/3 of the price then yes the caprice is prob pretty good value, and since they dont test the cars at a few years old they cant consider that they may become rattly and clunky.
hey im not a holden fan but i have to be fair,
where does daewoos come into it? 280ZX commented on the cars going over there which are actually holdens not daewoos. daewoos are the rebadged rubbish they bring here not send there
Yeah thanks Andrew i didnt mention Daewoo and i dont see them loading Daewoo’s on that ship and as for Lexus WTF ? Who mentioned them? Oh thats right Mr Dingbat…
Daewoos come into it because 280zx in all his wisdom intially referred to good cars being sent overseas while their are no real cars left in Aus and that we are being stuck with Toyotas. As if this is a bad thing… somehow Id prefer Jap engineering over Korean
Paul,
stop splitting hairs. he did not mention daewoos!!!!
therefore he couldnot have said daewoos are good cars.
what he said suggests, more so says he thinks daewoos are shit.
meaning we export the good cars and import only rubbish. so if he said no good cars are left here (like you said) it would mean that the daewoos are left here and in the bracket of crap cars aswell.
get over it paul and stop sticking your keyboard in just to start arguments.
either way you interpret it he has never said daewoos nor said they are good.
Andrew.M your getting dumber by the second, your having a go at me for trying to start an argument… when your budy 280zx has done exactly that with his first post. Its quite obvious what his intentions were…’Oh we get stuck with Toyotas’.
yawn
I second that yawn.
When I was their age, I was chasing women, not typing crap that doesn’t make sense.
Paul,
yeah feel free to defend your toyotas. what i am getting at is this Quote……….
“Feel free to explain to the rest of us bloggers how any Daewoo is a real car.”
no explaining needed cause he never said it.
P.S dont insult my intelligence because i could prob rack up a CV to leave yours for dead
Lol the P.S part. Fact remains though 280zx is a shit stirrer… congrats to Holden for increasing exports but at the end of the day the Toyota comment wasnt needed.
Adam – Holden has advertised that the VE Stateman, Caprice and HSV Grange is capable of challenging the world’s very best and did not mention anything about price or within price brackets. If that’s the way they want to advertse thier cars then that’s exactly how i will pass judgement – directly according thier advertisements. If that is the case then i am still waiting (and have been for a long time) on a comparison between their so called BEST against the new LS460… wouldn’t you consider that to be a fair call considering how Holden has advertised it’s new Luxury fleet.
Lexus HAS ALREADY EVOLVED of being one of the very best and have certainly made marques like BMW, Mercedez Benz and Audi to sit up and take note. And the fact is Adam that Lexus do have cars with driving appeal like the IS250 or better still IS350(not sold here) which have been widely recognised for thier dynamics and the GS range of potent V6’s, V8’s and hybrid drivetrains most certainly hold themselves with respect aswell.
I also reserve little doubt that the IS-F and LF-A range of Lexus Performance Vehicles will be cars to open the weiry eyes.
Yeah baby – take that!!!!
Hey dingo, Hyundai advertised a Santa Fe being driven by a baby who picks up a chick and goes surfing.
That must be a fact as well, because it was an advertisement…..
You’re a dope. And nobody appointed you to pass judgement, sorry about that.
Paul – the Toyota comment is called for… you know why ?? Because companies like Holden and Ford (with thier supporters) arrogantly stirred the Japanese brands for many long generations but now it is the Japanese stirring the American counterparts and they hate it with a passion.
Holden and Ford people really have proven themselves to be bad sports and that is sour on thier own behalf.
Put it this way – it Holden or Ford enjoyed Toyota’s current day fortunes, do you think they will be humble about it… no bloody way so while the GLORY DAYS live people like myself with liVe with it.
GET USED TO IT BECAUSE IT WON’T BE OVER ANYTIME SOON.
Reckless – Dry your little wet puffy eyes princess…
Like i said – bring it on. I’m still waiting for that comparo or has Holden relised how stupid they are and gone quiet on the matter.
If that’s the way they advertsie then that’s exactly how the market has and will pass judgement… and rightfully so.
You appear to be a bit like Holden – all bark and no bite – never grew any decent teeth.
Dope.
You should stop smoking, really.
Why can’t any of you bastards spell properly?
dingo,
in this case the caprice got an award to recognise it. the comments are based on the award it achieved not what holden advertises, cause we all know holden likes to talk itself up and are all about the image right?
I am trying to take an unbiased approach with this as i do with all my views (well i can only try).
like holden or not i still think my comment was fair (on the price range thing) as we, (well i wasnt anyway) werent referring to the ads rather to the article. so unless stated otherwise all comments are related to articles.
also if you toyota guys accuse ford and holden loyalists of being stupid and one eyed you are hypocrites! not having a go, but the toyota sucks directed at you guys is just as bad as the ford/holden sucks you are dishing aswell
Stop being so negitive, the whole Aussie car industry benifits.
As Australians we should step back from our bias and look at the big picture.
Argueing about holden rules or toyota rules or ford should be left in the playground kiddies.
In regards to Holden importing Daewoos; there are rumours that the new CEO at Holden is favouring dropping the Daewoo range and going back to Opels.
Under Denny Mooney; Holden decided to import the Daewoos instead of Opels purely based on cost due to the exchange rate. It cost less to import from Korea than Europe.. even though there wasn’t much difference.
However; the Daewoos aren’t selling as well as the Opels did. Therefore; inorder to shift stock dealers are having to slash prices which is reducing their initial savings.
It might cost a little more to import Opels but they would sell twice as fast/many as the Daewoos because of their specifications and better build quality.
Thereby reducing the cost per unit to a figure similar to that of the Daewoos.
I hope the rumours are true as it would not only restore Holdens image but we could possibly get the Opel GT
Dingo – you say you pass judgement on a car based upon the advertisements. So going by your way of thinking :
If you want a car to drive on the roof of a 20 storey building you should buy a Focus, Fiesta or Captiva!
If you want a car that will automatically form around you like a “transformer” you would buy a an Astra!
If you wanted a car do drive around a scalextric set youd buy and Falcon XR8!
If you wanted a car that can also ice skate you should buy a Citroen!
If you want a car that will gradually morph to change its appearance you should buy a BMW 5 series!
Is that Correct?
Wheelnut – NOT FROM MY POINT OF VIEW.
Every example you listed advertises the car without passing comment against it’s competitors (if my memory serves me correct.
However, Holden’s blunt advertising of the Statesman/Caprice/Grange passes DIRECT COMMENT stating that thier new luxury range is capable of challenging the world’s very best and like i said… no value or price bracket mentioned. Once again – if that’s how Holden so arrogantly wants to promote it’s new vehicles then that’s exactly how they will be judged… i am still waiting for comparisons up against the most expensive and honourable marques money can buy because they will be the World’s very best – LS460 or LS600hl first would be preferable.
With referance to your Opel/Daewoo comment above… it really does go to show how indecisive and unstable Holden really is struggling to find any real form outside of the ‘Large Car Market’. Holden has played ’swapsies’ for many generations and have never really been able to stabilise its fleet. Besides, no OPEL ever did sell half aswell as any eqivalent Toyota.
You mention the Opel GT – whoppy bloody do… i would like to see Toyota introduce the new 3.5 V6 Blade but admittedly i am probably in La La land with that hopeful.
Ha, I think it’s funny that Holden were trying to “pick” an argument with BMW over the whole Calais V is so much better then BMW 550i… oh, and it’s a whole $100,000 cheaper .
I find it funny that Holden haven’t advertised themselves going up against a company of that size since.
Didn’t wheels recentlry say they’d take a Calais V over a 550i irrespective of price? The Merc won in the end but it’s still a great car and no mean feat considering the task of doing a car from top to bottom.
Everyone talked the talk about buying the quality opel originates when they were in the market (old barina, astra) but in the end they voted with their money, saved themselves $500 and bought other, inferior cars. holden’s daewoo strategy – which to be honest I think will get the arse soon.
The corolla consistently does poorer then other cars in it’s segment but last I checked focus, astra, mazda 3, golf and so were all better cars. Toyota’s ust done a real job of forming a loyal buyer group that Holden used to have. Particularly the efficiency/quality/resale issue.
I do like the commodore. I own one and it’s a good car. But they should’ve stayed on the quality angle – it would have worked after a while
That sounded a bit illiterate, I was in a bit of a hurry. Moral of the story, holden tried the quality angle but it didn’t sit with buyers but the daewoo option won’t last either. Agreed wheelnut, they need to find something and stick with it.
The VE is a good car. In all the foreign reviews I’ve read, they’ve unanimously voted it as a good car. Sure they had to cut corners to get a good base car (no air-con in 2007? That’s just plain dumb) but having been in a few, it’s stacks ahead of it’s predecessor. Which isn’t to say toyota make bad cars. I just think that on the whole, their good value but while corolla’s are good and are selling up a storm, they’re consistently outperformed in reviews and yet the sales slaughter continues. I don’t think they deserve it.
However, with respect to the VE, it’s quality is reflected with the awards it’s winning in the middle east (it competed there irrespective of price and beat the GS 300 and the AWD V8 volvo) and the general concensus in most of the media, english and american included. You can’t claim bias there.
Dingo, are you really going to appreciate every engineering nuance incorporated into the lexus? Is it really going to matter on a day to day? How many degrees better does a car HAVE to be? Does holden invest as much or charge as much as lexus? Does it deserved to be respected as a good car irrespective? Is there always going to be hyperbole in any sectors marketing bullshit, I mea a corolla setting a town on fire or picking up chicks in hyundais??? And on the other hand have you taken a Senator, Caprice or Calais for a drive at all? Or would that sort of suck the wind out of your baseless attacks? For that matter, lexus or nothing? are you retarded? Audi RS8? Mercedes E55? Lecus may be good but to rate it as unequivocally better then any german is pretty brave.
The sooner people appreciate a decent car for what it is (by the way I also regard the FPV force 6 and F6 as another 2 of Australia’s great cars) the better. Especially when it’s designed and built here on the budget lexus appropriates to a glovebox. On the topic of the thread good on you holden/hsv. And as long as toyota keeps pumping out unispired fridges or overpriced, cynical V6 camries (it’s nothing more! get over it!) then I won’t respect it. Those TRD aurions are just that. Quick, quiet and comfortable but don’t pretend they could ever be anything more. Particularly (as more people are) if you’re into modifying cars.