Afterall the cash they’ll receive from the expected sales of the new Lancer – particularly the EVO and Ralliart versions.. wil be more than enough for a facelift of the 380.. maybe even a complete overhaul to RWD [with V8 option] as Tom Phillips originally intended before getting the boot from Tokyo

I think the appointment of Greg Tyus as chief of Holden engineering is part of that strategy and I would guess that they hope the stint in Aus will impregnate him with a good dose of Holden Aussie Know How and then ship him back to the states pronto.

Not only after seeing our Aussie built cars but more cars from Europe Japan and dare I say Korea.

Took them a while

The other thing is that it cost Holden $1 Billion to design research develop and produce the VE. Now inorder for Holden to recover that cost – if they made a $1,000 profit on each car they would have to sell 1 million commodores.. which would take at least 7-10 years if they only sold it in Oz.
Therefore; inorder to reduce the time period the only option is to export the VE.. which is only now starting to take off with the Sedan plus the Ute and Wagon in 08.
PLUS given the reported/expected demand for these Cars in the US the period should be reduced to approx 4 years by which time Holden will be ready to start work on the next RWD model if they haven’t allready.

Holden means more to GM [and their plans] than you might think.

I guess that Americans would be expecting it to be manufactured their in the end which is what the story I read was probably implying.After all they don’t think our quality is as good as theres!

I think that after seeing the VE now though they are thinking other wise!

GM is building this car here because the new production line which took nearlty 1/2 of the billion dollar babys budget has improved the build quality fit and finish of the cars compared to previous models so much that its only something that the Americans could only dream of with their cars

And as part of GMs plans to streamline operations and get them out of the mess theyre in at the moment it’s expected that a couple of plants in the US will close

Because in the US there are a number of plants producing the same cars as another plant a couple of 1000 miles away and most plants are operating at less than 75% capacity

Whereas Holdens Elizabeth plant is at full capacity producing 620 cars a day which equates to one rolling off the line every 76 seconds [not bad when you consider VW are making one every 38 seconds]

Price isn’t the real issue its Quality.. Holden builds a Quality; some would say World Class car and if people can see the quality in something; see that it does what its supposed to or meets their requirements etc they will often be prepared to pay a little extra for it..

After all the reason the Daewoos in Holdens range aren’t selling as well as the Opels is due to the lack of quality
which is the main reason Holden should start to import the Opels ASAP.

If they do close then seeing that Holden is the R&D centre for RWD; GM may decide to expand the Factory at Elizabeth [there's enough room].. Otherwise there’s Canada where the next GTO/Monaro will be built.

we won’t know until after the meeting in January next year where the GM board will develop a plan to get then out of the trouble they’re in

I am happy for Holden and S/Australia.

The piss off is the USA punters will have a much better spec. vehicle [with DOD V8 i believe] and after taking freight and other charges into consideration they will buy it heaps cheaper than they sell a base SS to us….Groan….

Cheers

F-0

So anyway, I went to http://www.pontiac.com, looked at the range, chucked up my breakfast and then clicked G8 Early 2008 link. So can anyone explain why the yanks get a Holden VE V8 for 30K US (35K AUS), while we have to pay around 55K AUS for a similar product? Surely you’d think being made here would mean a lower price.

So where do I park the hack??? Plenty of spots out the front?

I guess your off to the relies for XMAS …….drop up to my place if you want after! Pick you up if you want? I cook a great XMAS LUNCH!!Crayfish,WA PRAWNS,HAM,TURKEY,PORK WITH CRACKLING……We always have a ball!