The End of Holden

[Hawk Dork]

Didn't you worry it could end up a bit Making a Murderer for you?

I havent watched it
Is it good ?
I just read the Wiki it looks interesting

 

[Gough]

I havent watched it
Is it good ?
I just read the Wiki it looks interesting

Do. It's thought provoking at the very least.

 

[Scotland]

Crazy to think how much they would all be worth now (depending on how genuine/model).

Crazy to think that people used to buy old cars worth nothing, spend thousands doing them up and end up with cars worth slightly more than nothing.

Had I known that the housing and old car markets were going to switch places I would've saved all my pennies when I got my license and bought a GTHO Falcon and an A9X Torana.

 

[Hawk Dork]

Crazy to think that people used to buy old cars worth nothing, spend thousands doing them up and end up with cars worth slightly more than nothing.

Had I known that the housing and old car markets were going to switch places I would've saved all my pennies when I got my license and bought a GTHO Falcon and an A9X Torana.

BiL has a GTHO XW (replica) it would worth heaps he did it himself with genuine parts

 

[Scotland]

BiL has a GTHO XW (replica) it would worth heaps he did it himself with genuine parts

Replica anythings seem to top out in 5 figures, which is still nuts compared to 10, 20 years ago. There's a Phase III on Carsales listed for $700k. Lordy.

 

[Hawk Dork]

Replica anythings seem to top out in 5 figures, which is still nuts compared to 10, 20 years ago. There's a Phase III on Carsales listed for $700k. Lordy.

Wouldnt have cost him more than 10 or 15 to make years ago

 

[Scotland]

Wouldnt have cost him more than 10 or 15 to make years ago

My cousin had an EK which I think he sold for a couple of grand. Would be worth $20-30k now having just sat in a shed unregistered for a decade.

 

[Syd]

So what changed between 2005/6?
I actually bought a 2005 SV6 December that year as Holden had recorded record low sales months for 3 consecutive months and stock was cheap as.
I paid $35000 at the time all up, road registered, stamp duty the lot. PLUS had a tow pack, reverse sensors and other cosmetic bits thrown in for nix

No Marque is going to survive with those numbers, bearing in mind that roughly 1million new cars are purchased in Australia each year

For all the bleating, only around 40,000 will apparently miss Holden.

 

[Syd]

Mag doesnt exist anymore ...dont want to mention the name as a back issue will have someone look up my name under the cars mentioned
It was a good little gig 4 cars a month if I was lucky
It was Australia wide so I used to do Victoria and scout cars to try and get the max of 4 per issue.
Everyone who had a car had a few mates with cars so it was pretty easy to find them

Late 90's demise of mag or mid 000's?

 

[Scotland]

For all the bleating, only around 40,000 will apparently miss Holden.

Since the (real) Commodore died a coupe of years ago Holden was dead in the water. Of those 40,000 I doubt any will really miss Holden going forward. Colorado (17k), Astra (10k), Trax (5k) and Commodore (6k) make up most of the 43k total. None of those cars are unique or special, and none are really that good either. Isuzu D-Max is the same as a Colorado, Hyundai i30 is better than an Astra, Trax is trash and no one wants Commodore.

When manufacturing shut up shop there was a bit of a run on for people to get the last of the real Holdens. With this announcement it feels different. I'd expect their sales to grind to a halt and the 2021 date to come early.

 

[Hawk Dork]

Late 90's demise of mag or mid 000's?

Could have been early 90s??
I photographed something like this and thats 89 and it would have been a few years old

this isnt my photo
my one had shark gills and was a darker blue I know the guy who had it

 

[craigos]

You just don't get innovation like this these days. Made for an Aussie summer.

 

[Syd]

Since the (real) Commodore died a coupe of years ago Holden was dead in the water. Of those 40,000 I doubt any will really miss Holden going forward. Colorado (17k), Astra (10k), Trax (5k) and Commodore (6k) make up most of the 43k total. None of those cars are unique or special, and none are really that good either. Isuzu D-Max is the same as a Colorado, Hyundai i30 is better than an Astra, Trax is trash and no one wants Commodore.

When manufacturing shut up shop there was a bit of a run on for people to get the last of the real Holdens. With this announcement it feels different. I'd expect their sales to grind to a halt and the 2021 date to come early.

Production ceased in November 2017 and while the drop off in 2018 and 2019 shows a distinct 'lack of love' for the imported Commodore, Holden and the Commodore were well and truly 'dead in the water' long before that.

You can argue the decline of the Commodore started in 2003/04 and leading up to then Holden had an unhealthy reliance on this one model for its total sales.

 

[Hawk Dork]

You just don't get innovation like this these days. Made for an Aussie summer.

Is that a home made G Pack ?
I think thats what Toranna come up with ???

Lol its real
They made them for panel vans too

 

[The Speaker]

You can argue the decline of the Commodore started in 2003/04 and leading up to then Holden had an unhealthy reliance on this one model for its total sales.

Which is why it's interesting that between 2002 and 2005 sales peaked and stayed steadily at the 170k mark, even as Commodore sales dropped every year.

 

[Scotland]

Production ceased in November 2017 and while the drop off in 2018 and 2019 shows a distinct 'lack of love' for the imported Commodore, Holden and the Commodore were well and truly 'dead in the water' long before that.

You can argue the decline of the Commodore started in 2003/04 and leading up to then Holden had an unhealthy reliance on this one model for its total sales.

I agree, but Commodore sales dying in the arse coincided with large sedan sales dying in the arse. For private sales I would guess that brand/model loyalists made up a good chunk of Commodore sales over the last 5-10 years when the category fell apart. Once the Aussie built, RWD sedan/wagon disappeared the only people buying Commodores were the few who still wanted a medium to large sedan and though it was the best option of those. Your flag waving Bathurst spectator isn't buying a ZB Commodore.

As an aside, does anyone know what HSV sales have been like over the same period?

 

[Syd]

Which is why it's interesting that between 2002 and 2005 sales peaked and stayed steadily at the 170k mark, even as Commodore sales dropped every year.

From memory, Holden started bring in the Rodeo around that time as a competitor to the HiLux
Used to be a lot more of them before the Ranger, and even the Navarra

Clearly they added something desirable into the sales mix but couldn't maintain momentum

 

[The Speaker]

From memory, Holden started bring in the Rodeo around that time as a competitor to the HiLux
Used to be a lot more of them before the Ranger, and even the Navarra

Clearly they added something desirable into the sales mix but couldn't maintain momentum

The Rodeo (which has always just been the Isuzu D-Max, and which they later renamed the Colorado) was around long before then, although the third generation started in 2003. My suspicion is that as people started looking away from sedans, the good will Holden had generated meant they look to Holden first for their other cars. Over time, though, people realised that the imports with a Holden badge weren't quite up to the same standard as their homegrown cars, and there were better competitors.

 

[edgie]

With a bit of inventiveness I think Holden (and Ford Australia) would've been fine, because our classic cars actually fit the American market well, and they should've been creating other models more suited to the Australian market. But post-GFC GM and Ford both became more territorial and less interested in what their Australian outposts had to offer - especially in the case of GM - and that was that.

Not sure about Holden but the way Ford people talk about the Barra, it would have been superior to whatever yanky motor was being used over there.

Our cars were good enough.

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[Syd]

The Rodeo (which has always just been the Isuzu D-Max, and which they later renamed the Colorado) was around long before then, although the third generation started in 2003. My suspicion is that as people started looking away from sedans, the good will Holden had generated meant they look to Holden first for their other cars. Over time, though, people realised that the imports with a Holden badge weren't quite up to the same standard as their homegrown cars, and there were better competitors.

The Colorado was more than just a rebadge though, it was a newer chassis and drive train than the earlier Rodeo
Also a larger vehicle as well.

The original Rodeo more akin to the Mazda B2600 or Ford Courier utes at the time.

Interesting that overall sales grew peaking around that 2005-2007 era and then a relentless decline overall since.

Tried to find a top 20-30 list by years to show which vehicles grew and which ones shurunk as this will explain the types and brands far better

 

[The Speaker]

The Colorado was more than just a rebadge though, it was a newer chassis and drive train than the earlier Rodeo
Also a larger vehicle as well.

The original Rodeo more akin to the Mazda B2600 or Ford Courier utes at the time.

Nope, the 2003-2008 Rodeo and 2009-2012 Colorado are the same generation of D-Max, with some cosmetic changes at the front.

Interesting that overall sales grew peaking around that 2005-2007 era and then a relentless decline overall since.

Tried to find a top 20-30 list by years to show which vehicles grew and which ones shurunk as this will explain the types and brands far better

GFC explains the timing of the decline, but yes, I too would like to see some more detailed stats - my guess is that we'd have to pay for them.

 

[Procrastinator35]

Is that a home made G Pack ?
I think thats what Toranna come up with ???

Lol its real
They made them for panel vans too

Tail tent eh?....Got to get me one of those, including the accommodating sticker....'If this tents A rockin, then don't bother knockin' …..

 

[edgie]

The technology in the Skylines and Ford Sierras and M3s was streets ahead of the local equivalents. Turbochargers, all wheel drive... it was the 2010s when V8 Supercars moved away from live axles and Holden/Ford still use pushrod V8 engines.

Peter Brock, Allan Moffat etc. used to drive around in modified road cars. If that continued Holden and Ford would've struggled to compete.

Brock claimed his regular road car was faster than the track car.

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[Scotland]

Brock claimed his regular road car was faster than the track car.

Back in the day it was (modified) production car racing. Holden and Ford didn't release a few hundred of the rare top spec models just to create exclusivity, they built them for homologation.

The 202 (black) motor topped out at 106 kW before they went to the Nissan RB30 and then the Buick design V6. I think the 308/304 (not the 5.6L VL special version) got up to just shy of 200 kW with fuel injection in the 90s before the bigger Gen III came along. More than enough power to move a small to medium sized car around but those motors are capable of so much more. I still get a giggle watching footage of big Falcons and Monaros driving around Bathurst with (probably) 2-300 kW of power and skinny little 14 inch wheels.

 

[edgie]

Back in the day it was (modified) production car racing. Holden and Ford didn't release a few hundred of the rare top spec models just to create exclusivity, they built them for homologation.

The 202 (black) motor topped out at 106 kW before they went to the Nissan RB30 and then the Buick design V6. I think the 308/304 (not the 5.6L VL special version) got up to just shy of 200 kW with fuel injection in the 90s before the bigger Gen III came along. More than enough power to move a small to medium sized car around but those motors are capable of so much more. I still get a giggle watching footage of big Falcons and Monaros driving around Bathurst with (probably) 2-300 kW of power and skinny little 14 inch wheels.

The same motors were putting out those numbers in the 70s, before emission standards came in and they really botched the motors up for over a decade with a completely inability to efficiently adapt. Almost embarrassing really. I do wonder why my pre-pollution 253 is doing now after an exhaust, manifold, and carby upgrade.

The ecotec that came after the Buick engine is underrated I reckon.