Return of the Corsa?
30 Jan, 2008
56 Comments 
Holden’s much loathed Barina (aka Daewoo Kalos) could face the axe if newly appointed Managing Director Mark Reuss has his way.
The current TK Series has suffered dwindling sales due primarily to its poor safety record, outdated design and boxy looks.
The good news is that the Opel Corsa (sold here as the last SB & XC series) may yet return, albeit adorned with Barina badges, as the MY09 model. The decision will be made within the next few weeks and is still likely to go either way.
We hope Holden will make the right move and bring back the little Opel, with the likes of Fiesta, Mazda2 and Colt doing so well, they’d be mad not to. In the interim, a face-lifted TK Series II will be available by mid-year.
Let us know your thoughts, would you prefer an Opel Corsa or a Daewoo Kalos as the next Barina?
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January 30th, 2008 at 10:19 am
The Kalos is only one step up from those Kevorkian sponsored Chinese debacles.If you buy a Kalos it could well mean your loss.Go with the Opel for sure.
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January 30th, 2008 at 10:23 am
There’s no comparison. I would have bought a Corsa a few months ago. Since Holden sell the Kalos I bought a Swift instead.
The problem is, by 2009 the Corsa won’t be as cutting edge as it was in 2007 when it woiuld have been huge here. Still, it’ll be a quantum leap over the TK whenever it gets here.
Everyone who wants one should e-msil Holden pleading with them to import the Corsa. I have.
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January 30th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Opel all the way. And if the price point shifts north by a couple of thou, who cares? It would simply go up against mazda 2, Fiesta, 207 etc instead of battling the Getz market.
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January 30th, 2008 at 10:37 am
No brainer - the current Kalos rebadge has such appalling safety for a new car it should never have been taken up by Holden - it totally lowers the standard of the brand.
How they can then aim for a 5 star commodore when they sell a barely 2 star compact boggles me…
At least the european cars (ie Opel) have good safety features.
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January 30th, 2008 at 10:43 am
They should have a bet each way, bring the Corsa in as a “Corsa” then fix the Barina up and sell that as a cheapy.
There is no point selling the Corsa as a Barina now, since it’s name has been tarnished.
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January 30th, 2008 at 10:49 am
My thoughts exactly Bill, the Barina nameplate has housed Japanese, Europian and Korean cars. Holden needs to start fresh.
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January 30th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Holdens decision to stop selling the Corsa in the first place had more to do with its decision to close Daewoo Autralia.
GM’s take over of Daewoo meant that Holden was in charge here in OZ. They needed a replacement for the Jackaroo and a Sub 20K corolla competitor…
The decision to close daewoo gave them these cars (captiva & Viva) plus the Kalos/Barina and horrible epica.
Sadly a 16-17K Opel didn’t make sense to the beancounters when compared to a 13-14k korean. Shame but thats an economic decision, not one based on the merits of each car.
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January 30th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Holden has become a cheap n nasty company and have one of the worst range of cars in Australia. Beats me why people still talk about the ‘em. I moved on from Holden long ago.
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January 30th, 2008 at 11:32 am
I know what you mean Rodriga. I too was a Holden man until my last new Holden (almost a decade ago) and the subsequent bad taste left in my mouth from their “service” department made my mind up to never buy one again.
Shame we can’t have a local car to love and be proud of anymore.
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January 30th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
more chance of HSV doing a barina variant if holden bring the corsa over
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January 30th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Bring back the Corsa and get the VXR over here!
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January 30th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Ditto to all of the Above…
I was beside myself when Holden decided to try and sell Daewoo here in Australia. Even the marketing is second rate compared to The Commodore…Cheap advertising for Cheap and nasty cars…
And before Meat Pies and Fried Dog can butt in….Hyundai have a far superior product to Even the GM Owned Daewoo. Proven.
Product development has improved some what in the Captiva but is at no where near the same Level as say Hyundai and in addition to that, The Ford Territory with its Bosch stability/AWD program…hence the low level swipes from Holden when comparing a Turbo Diesel Cappy to a Petrol Territory. They’ve got nothin.
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January 30th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
just think inside the next decade there will be no Aussie territory or Falcon. I think GM-H have made much better business decisions than Ford Oz. Even thouhgh I prefer the Opel products I believe there will be Corsa/Barina, Astra/Nova and Torana/Epica. A premium and cheap alternative to counter all people and all budgets. Astra and Nova are already making a case of it even though not such through high individual sales but in the combined sales area which means more of the Holden Brand name on the road with the distiquishable Holden Lion badge. With newer GM influenced Daewoos being built they will get better just like hyundai so dont bad them until you see the 2nd generation of those cars. I can see a market for both cars when the 2nd generations arrive (Chr)iss off
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January 30th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
FMK&HC, To begin with Holden don’t sell rebadged Corollas (Novas) anymore. Dont be fooled by Holden when they say they “engineered” an imported korean car. All that means is they put a different set of tyres on it or maybe changed spring rates. Holden has little influence into Daewoo car development. GM has had a controlling interest in Daewoo for at least 10 years & there is bugger all improvement in quality.
Its blind loyalty like yours that encourage car companies to continue bringing inferior products into their model range. “Oh it must be good because its got a Holden badge on it” Im a Ford man but the Cougar, Taurus & Capri were crap cars. And they were Ford built, Im not blinded just because they have blue ovals on them.
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January 30th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Bringing the Corsa back to OZ will be the best thing Holden can do in the competitive and lucrative small car market. It has the looks and has the guts to compete with the latest offerings that make the small car market so appealing.
Its a no brainer… Get rid of the Daewoo imposter now!
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January 30th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Did you read any of my post. You cannot seriously think that the 2nd generation of a fully owned Daewoo will not be better. Are you a fortune teller or something. To believe what you say is total lunacy.
Again I can see a 2 tiered model range. It makes business sense to cover all markets as Holden has done to keep a business case alive for the Commodore by having a ever increasing export market. This has been Fords undoing in Oz. Are you saying that people who can not affod $19,000 cars have to stick with potentially even more dangerous 2nd hand cars. There is no way you will find the latest generation of Japanese cars or Euro designed cars. Have any of you ever been around long enough to remember the cheap and nasty Japanese cars like the Datsun 120Y. Do you really think these cars were better than the Korean cars of today. The 120Y is only a obvious example. I could name many like the original RWD Mazda 323, The early Corollas, The Datsun Sunny, Stanza etc. Holden are doing a good thing by allowing cheaper cars on to the market. Even though some cars may have only a 2 star rating they are still better than 2nd hand Japanese cars which maybe 10 years older and have even lesser safety standards. I do believe that Holdens new C.E.O will allow the Corsa etc to Join the Holden range in unison with the cheaper Korean brand. This is not blind loyalty its looking at a ever increasing range of different types of vehicles suitable for different people.
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January 30th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Actually, this story first broke on goauto, and they say that the next gen Corsa/Barina will both be developed in South Korea by GM Daewoo but with differently styled bodies to suit the different markets, like the current Captiva and Captiva Maxx, so really we’d be getting a korean car anyway…
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January 30th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Well, dont forget you have the Civic, Accord, City and other Honda’s built in Thailand as will the new Fiesta, you have cars built in South Africa, India and China. If you want to blame anyone you must blame the Government of the Past Howard Fiberal party responsible for the free trade agreements. Personally I think developing countries need this help and as they get more experienced their products will improve. None of you really appear to be looking at the business cases for the decisions made.
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January 30th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
I take offence when any company attempts to sell me a sow’s ear as a silk purse trying to capitalise on a good name or brand. All this does is devalue the name.
When they dropped the brilliant Barina SRi and replaced it with that Korean rubbish and continued to use the Barina name, they lost all respect from me.
They obviously targeted the new car at women (if you remember the ads). It might even have been a financially rewarding move in the short term.
They’ve ruined the value of the Barina name and should simply go with the Corsa from Europe.
Stop trying to foist cheap, crap cars on us Holden.
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January 30th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
I’m sure we can understand the business case.
The fact is, Holden should have not started importing cars from GM-DAT until they were building cars to a standard suitable for Holden’s range.
Yes, dealers liked the new Barina/Kalos because they not only sold it for less, they made more money off each one too. But that is such a short range strategy. Now there are thousands of sub standard cars on Australian roads wearing Holden badges that will continue to erode the worth of the Holden brand long after the last Holden badged Daewoo has ceased to be sold. That’s not sound business to me.
Btw - The Captiva is acceptable IMO, although clearly not a class leader it is reasonably competitive and an indicator of the improvements that might be achieved in the future. But there’s no excuse for selling sub standard and unsafe cars today, because in the future they might get better.
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January 30th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
I bought a 1994 Holden Barina (Opel Corsa SB) as my first car after I got my P’s and it was a great little car. Felt reasonably well built and with 190000kms on the clock it was still going strong. Was very happy with it. My aunty has a 2000 model and she has had no problems either. Once upon a time the Barina was a good car.
The latest Corsa is a hot looking thing, would go up against the new Mazda 2 very nicely. I’d say Holden will have to sell it at a loss though to remain competitive. That’s why they went to the Korean crap in the first place, because they were selling Barina’s at a loss. Switching was a huge mistake. The Barina was a good car until the Kalos came along…
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January 30th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Meat Pie (for brains),
Excuse me? You have the Audacity to forecast 10 Years into the Future and Make assumptions like that? How stupid. With Ford going into an RWD Global Platform and a the Cyclone engine…It’s no different to Holden. In anycase, the Falcon is currently the most Australian Car in the massed produced market. A crying shame to your name.
GMH are ahead of Ford AU in that respect. They’re already dumping HFV6’s in everything from Alfa’s and SAABs through to the Commodore. Dare I say there will be no Commodore (on a Zeta Global Platform) in 7 Years time then?? Oh no…Blasphemy…
Holden’s strategy Is called flooding the Market…too many models= lack of concentration of sales in any particular model Enter Barina and Viva ….Frankly, they are a waste of space and the Sales show.The Captiva is in a slightly better position but lacks the R&D that the Territory has endured.
You really think People would settle for a second rate car in your so called two-tier set up when they could buy a European built car for a small premium that can easily be negotiated down a few notches and iced in a nice finance deal? Last time I checked, people buy a car that they are smitten with. Jump in a Current Model Astra and then into a Viva and the difference in instantly noticeable. You do\’t have to be discerning Car nut to see the quality short falls in Daewoo. Sure- maybe the Second Gen models will be a step forward but they will still be behind Hyundai and Opel/Vauxhal. This trend will continue with the Next Astra Vs Viva…sure, both are a step ahead but at the end of the day, one is admittedly better than the other. Goodluck to the Sales people trying to sell them. They’ll need it.
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January 30th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
“would you prefer an Opel Corsa or a Daewoo Kalos as the next Barina?”Umm yeah its like comparing chocolate to poo, they look the same just one tastes and smells better.
The arguement saying the daewoos are cheaper, i dont think so. How much was a Opel Corsa when that was new? i think the price came down to hundreds of dollars and yet the older Corsa got 4 star crash ratings. FMK&HC the only reason Holden sells Daewoo’s is because Daewoo pulled out of Australia and they hoped the Holden Badge would help them flog more vehicles. Did you know the Daewoo Engineering & Construction president commit suicide in 2004? Obviously because he thought their work was soo shyte his work was a disgrace to his family and was right, to do so for allowing a vehicle like the Barina on the road.
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January 30th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
HOLDEN should defintley bring the corsa to australia and they miles well bring the VXR sold in europe
This is what HOLDEN should do….
Replace…..
the TK series Barina for the Corsa
the epica for the Insignia
the vectra with………what?
and the Captiva………with what?(Dont really have to replace the Captiva cause it aint a really bad car, least worst out of all four korean cars)
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January 30th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Duck….Vectra and Insignia are essentially one in the Same. Both are Mid Sized…Mondeo and Vectra compete in Europe as will Insignia and Vectra.
Epica should just go and never come back. It looks Terrible and for a 6 Pot engine, is depressingly gutless.
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January 30th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Correction: Insignia and Mondeo will compete. Correct my if wrong but Insignia will replace Vectra or be renamed as Vectra for the UK market…
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January 30th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Yeah! Cause i was going to something and say you were WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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January 30th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^On my first post i meant viva not vectra!
Sorry!
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January 30th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
What could holden replace the viva with?
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January 30th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Nothing, the Viva is just a cheaper version of the Astra.
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January 30th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
HOLDEN IS CRAP
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January 30th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
^^^^^^^^^Why do you say that STEVE??????????
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January 30th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
1. why not sell both [please dont lead to that though]
2. this may pave the way for the insignia and get rid of that korean crap for good [mius captiva
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January 30th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
The industry is and will be more so gobal in years to come take your head out of the blender wipe the foam from your mouth.
Cars will become more vanilla Toyota understand this better and have implemented their products and marketing to get the most out of this.
There will be boutque marques and local tune, bodied models in twenty years time as more makers are taken over and platforms are shared.
We may get to build some but labour is cheap else where and we made get to design some but thats about it sadly.
British/European design made in India or Korea get used to it.
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January 30th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
The Torana will have to fit in there somewhere.. as the Pontiac G6 is almost certain to get the go ahead..
Therefore; it could go Commodore-Torana-Vectra-Corsa..
Then there’s the possibility of the Opel GT [I Hope].
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January 30th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
The GT is LHD only unfortunity, therefore there isn’t even a Vauxhall version.
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January 30th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Steve, to make a blunt statement like Holden is crap is politicaly correct, look how boring and outdated Daewoo sourced list of products are. ewwww yuk
Question; Let us know your thoughts, would you prefer an Opel Corsa or a Daewoo Kalos as the next Barina? ZERO, NONE, ZILCH, NADA, have a good close at the Opel Corsa (boring), it shows a little resemblance from our stupid make called Daewoo, the body shape, lights and grill etc, Holdenwoo you make me sick, build some decent engineered vehicles so our mirrors are not filled with junk..GM couldn’t afford to have european makes in Australia cause they are too tight and or tied up with Daewoo crappy business, cheap to build, cheap minded thoughts, cheap innovation, cheap way to earn a buck from unsuspecting customers not knowing the difference between a rebadged Daewoo or a real Holden… UP YOURS Daewoo…..
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January 30th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Have u seen the posts above GREG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alot of people prefer the Corsa!!!!!!!!!!!
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January 30th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
I am the happy owner of an XC Barina manual and consider it to be an enjoyable and somewhat sporty drive. The Daewoo replacement is crap and I would not recommend it to my kids.
One benefit for me, and other XC owners is that Holden’s decision to replace the Euro Barina with the crappy Daewoo has been make the XC more desirable and sought after on the used car market. Thank you Holden.
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January 30th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
The styling of the current Corsa is great, and would be very competitive in its class. I reckon that they should get rid of the Kalos and Viva; re-introduce the Corsa as the MY09 Barina, complete with a marketing campain to reinforce the return of the European Barina; and if priced competitively with the other euro-based mini hatches, I still think that they will outsell the combined total of Kalos/Viva. The Epica will probably be scrapped for whatever becomes the next Torana.
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January 30th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Did you know the TK barina was originally priced at $12,990. But with high demands of people willing to buy it HOLDEN upped the price to $13,490!
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January 30th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Hi folks - Yep Holden have got it all wrong for you bods down under, What Holden should do is what we have here in Pommieland and sell the two lines separately. Daewoo of old is marketed here as Chevrolet using the cheaper Korean based cars, and the pricier Euro cars Agila, Corsa, Astra, Zafira, Vectra, Signum, Captiva sell separately. That way GM get a stab at the slightly better off market and the cheapo crap sector market. Makes good sense but personally I don’t think even our market is that big.
The Corsa by the way starts here at about $17K for a 1.0ltr rising to about $35 for a flashy one. Not really related to this but we have a Corsa VXR 888 limited edition 0-100 in 6secs, what a ripper.
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January 30th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
hahaha holden!
i cant believe all you people who bought holdenwoos out there…hope holden can subsidise your funeral or health plans…
hey that should be holdens next marketing plan…sell private health or funeral arrangements when you buy their korean crap cars!
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January 30th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
That a bit harsh John. You pays your money and takes your choice. Do you think about your funeral plans every time you put your foot down to overtake. Come on be sensible.
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January 30th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Holden would have loved to sell a Corsa based Barina for a Kalos based Barina price. This was / is the conundrum faced by Holden. We know which way they went; it was a gamble which has not paid off in the long term. Corsa / Barina sales were slipping due to the price of the Barina and competiotion from Getz and Yaris (even though higher priced) and profits weren’t there. Same can now be said as sales of the Kalos / Barina have slipped further, so while profits may be made on individual cars, the sales are not there.
But to answer the question, it’s a no brainer; Corsa based Barina until a cheaper sourced equivalent car can be made e.g. Honda Jazz as made in Thailand
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January 30th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
I’ve just had another look at the detestable thing with tiny wheels at the top of this page. Sheesh, I mean, this is real lowest common denominator stuff. Like the 120Y and the the Echo sedan, it’s the nadir of sedan styling.
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January 31st, 2008 at 7:32 am
hey no name…if i were to think about funeral plans everytime i overtake, maybe you should be thinking about the speed you’re travelling when you do.
and yes i was being sensible…cars with 2 stars NCAP ratings should either be sold with funeral or health insurance plans or not sold at all. take it or leave it…holden did the DUMB thing trying to pass off 3rd world cars to us and finally its biting them back where it counts…in profits and in credibility.
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January 31st, 2008 at 9:09 am
Unfortunately, I can see (from a business case) why Holden did what they did. Having previously owned a Barina SRi.. and looking forward to the next Corsa, i was incredibly shocked when they announced it wasn’t coming. What an incredible oversight of where the market was heading, the increase in fuel prices (leading to a greater demand for smaller cars), and the general further degradation of the Barina name, if not Holden itself. To start afresh would be good thing. The Corsa should be imported if possible as the Corsa, along with the Corsa VXR (Hello HSV…). Instead of marketing it only towards females, market it to a younger generation… widen the appeal. Spend some money on products other than the Commodore, advertise and market it properly… and it will find it’s place eventually. People know a good product when they see one. So many reviews of the car overseas have been supportive
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January 31st, 2008 at 10:11 am
GM-DAT has already secured a vital role in the GM world. Sales in Korea are way up and it’s supplying the Gentra/Gentra X (renamed, facelifted Kalos), Lacetti, Winstorm and Epica all over the world variously as Chevrolet, Holden, Pontiac, Saturn, Vauxhall, Opel and even Suzuki. GM-DAT product is here to stay. Holden will continue with the Captiva/Captiva Maxx and Epica (which I think still outsells the new Mondeo…even if both are selling very poorly). The all-new Viva will arrive sometime later this year/early 2009 on the new GM Epsilon platform. The facelifted Gentra X will become the facelifted Barina with a new, more powerful 1.6 and a much higher safety rating, possibly four stars along with that currently achieved by Viva, Astra, Epica, Captiva, Commodore and Statesman. Who knows what room this leaves for a rebadged Corsa and Insignia - Ford’s sales of Fiesta and Mondeo are steady but not strong and the Focus is neck and neck with the Astra. Holden’s new man Reuss will have a hard numbers case in front of him. GM-DAT will bring us ever improving, highly competitive bread & butter models. Maybe his strategy will be to add to the GM badge network here in Australia. We already have Saab and Hummer with Cadillac coming as well. Perhaps the new US made Kappa (?) platformed RWD, 3-series rival won’t be our Torana but a new Caddy and the Corsa/Insignia may come in as something else altogether. Whatever they may be and whatever pans out, the decision must make the ledger ink black, not red. That’s why we have lost the Zafira, Vectra, XC Barina and Tigra, and why we never saw the Meriva.
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January 31st, 2008 at 11:00 am
I have an XC ‘Beep Beep’ Love it, great little car, and driven the current Corsa in the UK, still a great car…Although the one upside of the new Barina/Kalos being a total piece of crap is that my XC is holding its value really well, Ive had 3 people offer to buy it off me… Long Live the Euro ‘Beep Beep’
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February 1st, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Along with the majority I want Holden to bring back the Corsa. When I heard the news a couple of years ago re the re-badged Kalos i was so annoyed as i was waiting for the Corsa. I then went out and bought a Fiesta and could not be happier. The Fiesta is such a great little car. Holden have lost my business unfortunately and i was very loyal over the years. If they bring it back I will buy one. It’s a no-brainer decision Holden.
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March 11th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
lol we actually brought a tk barina and got rid of it a month later lol it was absolutly horriblre the seats are flat and low the proportions are all wrong the interior is fowl and worst of all it is outdated bring the corsa back
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March 11th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
^^^^^^^Agrees O!^^^^^^^^^^^^
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July 2nd, 2008 at 11:46 pm
They should bring back the Corsa as a Barina.I would buy one as a work car price it right competitive against Fiesta and Polo and the Japanese.1.4 to 1.6 litre engine good safety and equipment levels and styling.It’s looks like a smaller Astra.So what if Holden loses money on selling them better that than having to sell coffins and funeral plans with the cars.
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July 10th, 2008 at 7:22 am
The Holden Barina (TK) known as the Chevy aveo earned 5 stars in crashed test. Why did it perform so badly in Australia?
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November 14th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
I’m not happy with the holden barina tk i got. I can’t see my dash board and nor do i have a goood back view of my car when reversiing or changing lanes in free ways. this is too dangerous! Barina\’s really going down this time. I’ll save up for a FORD next time.
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