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17 February 2020 #1
Dave T. Super Moderator
- Join Date
- 03 Aug 2010
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- near Seattle, Washington
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- 1,515
- Saab(s)
- 1999 9-3SE (2013-2015), 2005 9-3 (2005-2013), 1990 900 (1990-2003)
GM is discontinuing Holden (Australia)
GM looks to the big markets, not the small. I believe that's why they killed Saab. (One could say that Saab was dying before GM, though).
GM announced today (yesterday?) that they are discontinuing Holden, the Australian brand. They will no longer sell GM cars in Australia except for small numbers of Corvettes. They cite the exit and costs of developing right hand drive cars. If they can develop a RHD Corvette, why not other cars?
I think the nail in the coffin was GM's sale of Opel/Vauxhall to PSA Peugeot Citroen. That meant the end of GM in the UK and Ireland. GM also left South Africa. GM doesn't sell much in Japan. That leaves some right hand drive markets in East Africa, which is largely a used car market, not a new car market, as well as Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia.
The GM Thailand factory has been sold to Great Wall Automobiles of China. The Holden factory in the state of South Australia was closed in 2017 marking an end of an era. Mitsubishi, Toyota, Ford, Holden, and others used to make cars in Australia. Now there are no (zero) cars made in Australia. The Australian dollar has been strong for years making Australian exported cars either too expensive or priced normally and a money loser.
I once drove a rental Holden Commodore, which was nice. The 2 door version, the Holden Monaro, was imported into the US as the Pontiac GTO and was considered as a 2006 or so Saab Sonett.
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26 February 2020 #2
Frank Administrator
- Join Date
- 30 Jul 2010
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- USA - Netherlands
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- 7,901
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- previous: 2006 9-3, 2001-06 9-5, 2011 9-4X
It's weird to think GM doesn't have a presence in Europe anymore. There was great potential with mainstream brand Opel and the upmarket/potentially luxury brand Saab. While I am not very familiar with the Australian market, I think they had some competitive vehicles as well.
Ford had a large presence with pickup trucks in South Africa. GM cars were pretty much non-existent with the exception of a few small older Opels. I also saw a couple of Saabs.
An end of an era in Australia for sure. And when they are gone, it will make it pretty difficult for a come-back.
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