Vicious circle, not unalloyed success

The wheels for Holden's sporty flagships have become a hot target for thieves -- because the maker won't sell them to the public.

Holden doesn't want just any car to wear the same wheels fitted to its sporting Commodore SS and Monaro. It will supply replacements only for the expensive alloys stolen from them.

NRMA Insurance reports that, since 1998, Holden Commodore wheels have been more than twice as likely to be stolen as those on a Ford Falcon. Ninety percent of the insurer's claims on Monaros have been for stolen wheels.

Holden is aware of the thefts but will not fit anti-theft locking nuts as standard. It says the process cannot be easily automated, and nuts would need to be fitted at dealerships.

A dealer told Drive that replacement wheels will be supplied only if a customer provides a police report to confirm that the SS or Monaro wheels have been stolen.

Even while the Monaro was under development, the project manager, Laura Thomas, had the wheels of her Commodore SS stolen. Other senior Holden managers have found their company cars -- some with locking nuts -- stripped of wheels.

NRMA Insurance has seen thefts of sports wheels rise as styles have become more appealing and the performance tyres fitted to them have become more expensive.

The replacement cost of the Holden items, according to a dealer and a tyre retailer Drive contacted this week, are astonishing. We were quoted $830 for a Monaro wheel, or $6340 for a set of five with the factory-fitted Bridgestone tyres. The wheel-and-tyre package for the VY SS Commodore is $4290 for a set of five.

NRMA Insurance said premiums for the affected models might increase unless Holden tackled anti-theft measures.

"We requested the Monaro to [have] locking nuts as standard equipment and Holden decided not to," said NRMA Insurance's industry research manager, Robert McDonald.