HSV could swap to Walkinshaw name in 2018

HSV is expected to be rebranded as Walkinshaw from 2018, with all new products modified by the company to wear Walkinshaw branding exclusively.

This week, confirmation from three dealers of the name change cemented word from another source earlier in the year.

The news comes not long after Premoso Pty Ltd (the company that operates HSV) announced a huge 25 per cent profit increase for the 2016 calendar year.

Financial documents lodged by the company suggest the costs incurred in 2015 to kick off the engineering program for HSV's 2017 model year vehicles (including the manic HSV GTSR W1) are beginning to reap profits for the company.

In the same documents, a line item dedicated to operating lease expenses over a five year period have increased by almost 300 per cent, indicating that the brand's move to importing and converting more left-hand-drive vehicles could be imminent.

The shift from a brand name with an explicit mention of Holden in its name could also suggest that Walkinshaw could be the driver for import and conversion of other nameplates, opening up the possibility of importing Chevrolet or Corvette branded vehicles.

We believe the first of the products to wear a Walkinshaw badge will be the Colorado, which will receive visual and ride and handling changes, slated for release in 2018.

At this stage, we are only reporting on rumours, but the increase in talk from credible and varying sources suggests an announcement could be just around the corner.

Would you be sad to see the HSV nameplate disappear in lieu of Walkinshaw? Is it the right move?

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Listen to the CarAdvice team discuss the name change below, and catch more like this at caradvice.com/podcast.