Holden’s bold plan to ‘de-bogan’ its image, appeal more to Chinese and Indian buyers

[P6LTD351]

Originally Posted by Windsor220

They are in a bit of a predicament really.

On one hand the Holden name has a lot of pull in Aus but its mainly with the bogan crowd that only drive Commodores and its predecessors. Commodore will stay on but be changing to a FWD everyday hauler similar to Aurion.

On the other they have all the migrants and new generation Aussies that dont know or care what a Holden is and with out Commodore it now has to compete directly with Toyota and co.

So do they keep the name and try and rebrand it or do they change it and alienate the people that have grown up with the brand?

If I was GM...I would rebrand. Chev has more street cred IMO. Even Holden bogans want their cars to be known as Chevs going on how many have another brand's badge on their car.

[Makovic]

Anybody mentioned SAIC-GM?

GM + Chinese SAIC.

Well designed, cheap, metal boxes with motors.

Few models are being sold in AustrAsia now.

Perfect Whitegoods Automobiles for the new face of AustrAsia.

We should expect that Cantonese will be taught as a mandatory second language in schools by the year 2025.

Like the French language gets taught in Quebec.

Now pronounce 'Bogan' in Cantonese.

[edchung2000]

Originally Posted by new2ford

"Holden Vindaloo" has a nice ring to it as a model name.

Originally Posted by Spurious

After effects are not good though!

Sounds like a bit of a hotrod!

[MethodX]

The Chevrolet brand used to have a lot of street cred, a lot of classics.

But GM wrecked the brand, besides Camaro and Corvette.

[P6LTD351]

Originally Posted by tempted

The only person living in dreamland is you.

The costs of rebranding would be absolutely enormous and for what benefit? Replacing a long established well known brand with a Yank brand that has very little relevance in this country?
Forget about the handful of bogans putting Chev badges on their Commodores, this has no significance whatsoever in the grand scheme of things and to suggest that this would be a factor in a decision to rebrand is simply laughable. Chevrolet has street cred in Australia? That's news to me. Maybe to a few toothless VT Commodore owners but definitely not to any new car buyer.
Ford retaining a common name throughout the world hasn't exactly helped their fortunes in Australia. If you sell poor quality vehicles and treat your customers like dirt then no amount of brand recognition is going to help you.

I wouldn't have expected anything different from Holden's number one fan on these forums. Time will tell but I say Holden is dead.

[Itsme]

Articles I read in the media at times I take with a grain of salt including some posts here.

[Sprintey]

I would be more excited if the news was that Holden was going through the ancient Vedic texts and will shortly be producing personal Vimanas...

(the instructions are all there, guys)

[Express]

Originally Posted by tempted

Just as I wouldn't have expected any different from the number 1 one eyed anti Holden cynic on this forum.

P6LTD351 is the number 1 one eyed anti Holden cynic on this forum.

That’s totally disrespecting the efforts of the couple of members that truly are.

[Blue Roo]

Originally Posted by tempted

Just as I wouldn't have expected any different from the number 1 one eyed anti Holden cynic on this forum.
Putting brand allegiances aside though, I cant see how it makes business sense to replace a brand with decades worth of heritage in this country with a Yank brand that has a small amount of relevance with a few bogans and classic enthusiasts.
Time will tell as you say. I will be happy to bring this post up in the future and laugh in your face when it doesn't happen.

tempted!
Why don't you go back to the Holden Forum and Troll there. With all your Bogan Mates.

Lets face it, Fords are better than Holden's.

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by Makovic

Anybody mentioned SAIC-GM?

GM + Chinese SAIC.

Well designed, cheap, metal boxes with motors.

Few models are being sold in AustrAsia now.

Perfect Whitegoods Automobiles for the new face of AustrAsia.

We should expect that Cantonese will be taught as a mandatory second language in schools by the year 2025.

Like the French language gets taught in Quebec.

Now pronounce 'Bogan' in Cantonese.

Seen a few of those SAIC Vans floating around. They look like a clone of a mid 2000s Ford Transit.

Pretty sure it's Mandarin, not Cantonese to be taught in schools? Cantonese is the pre-Communism dialect from southern China and Hong Kong and is quite different to Mandarin

[Sabantien]

I wonder how they go about targeting certain ethnicities.

I'm guessing the Chinese guy parked next to me in a modded XR6 Turbo won't be going in for whatever rebranding Holden is going to aim at him.

Essentially they'll have to focus on stereotypes and that won't end well.

Having said all that, now i'm going to stereotype.
When I was hunting for cars I did start taking more notice of different cars on the road and noticed the drivers. Almost every Honda Accord Euro looked like they were driven by people of a certain ethnicity. I did start wondering why.

[mick74GT]

Originally Posted by tempted

Just as I wouldn't have expected any different from the number 1 one eyed anti Holden cynic on this forum.
Putting brand allegiances aside though, I cant see how it makes business sense to replace a brand with decades worth of heritage in this country with a Yank brand that has a small amount of relevance with a few bogans and classic enthusiasts.
Time will tell as you say. I will be happy to bring this post up in the future and laugh in your face when it doesn't happen.

Lol I wouldn't say he's the number 1.

There is another

[turbodewd]

My wife has a friend whose husband is of Sri Lankan descent, he owns an FG XR8. I was picking up a pizza a few days ago and a youngish Chinese fella was driving a big newish orange SS.

Nevertheless the number 1 fave of Indians and Asians seems to be the camry. Fair enough.

[MethodX]

Originally Posted by Blue Roo

tempted!
Why don't you go back to the Holden Forum and Troll there. With all your Bogan Mates.

Lets face it, Fords are better than Holden's.

Both as good as each other... as are Chryslers.
Why argue?

[kypez]

Originally Posted by Bearman

Chinese buy Toyota (if they are slumming it) or luxo brands (which is most because they have lots of money). Indians buy whatever dirtbox they can afford.

Holden have got buckleys!!!

Originally Posted by tempted

Please no. Keep them in Toyota Camrys where they belong.

Well I'm of Indian descent. Only dirtbox I could afford was the GTF and soon XR6T Sprint... and the other Falcon's in my signature...

Keep your bigotry/racism out of this conversation...

OT, Indians and Chinese have the money here... Smart to target the fastest growing market.

[1TUFFUTE]

Originally Posted by kypez

Well I'm of Indian descent. Only dirtbox I could afford was the GTF and soon XR6T Sprint... and the other Falcon's in my signature...

Keep your bigotry/racism out of this conversation...

OT, Indians and Chinese have the money here... Smart to target the fastest growing market.

I was going to say something as my wife's best friend is Indian......and she drives a G6ET aswell! But I've learnt that arguing is no doubt a far bigger sin then Racist comments.....
Oh forgot too mention that Holden drivers were the most complained about drivers last year......hence the bogan tag!

[nstg8a]

I can see merit in Holden going the way of the dodo,,and bringing back chev.

Once commodore is nothing but a fully imported fwd Camry replica then the Aussie connection becomes very hard to sell. At the moment everything Holden is leveraged of the commodore name.

If by some fluke Gm-aus do manage to get camaro/corvettes and or Cadillac in rhd form trying to rebadge them as holdens won't work, no one would take it seriously.
So given the 'hero' models in the range would be wearing the bow tie then so does the rest of the range if they want to try and gain from it.

[Phildo]

I've got three taxis - two Falcon wagons and a Camry Hybrid sedan.

Just try and get an Indian taxi driver to drive a Falcon. Good luck with that.

[hackney]

Originally Posted by Phildo

I've got three taxis - two Falcon wagons and a Camry Hybrid sedan.

Just try and get an Indian taxi driver to drive a Falcon. Good luck with that.

Must admit we have quite a few Indian's & Pakistani's where I work the majority drive Japanese/Korean stuff(Camry's etc....) but a couple have actually got their head "screwed" on right,one own's a G6ET(fairly mature guy)& love's it. Another own's a FGMK1 XR6.Cheer's

[Cheech]

Originally Posted by Sabantien

I wonder how they go about targeting certain ethnicities.

I'm guessing the Chinese guy parked next to me in a modded XR6 Turbo won't be going in for whatever rebranding Holden is going to aim at him.

Essentially they'll have to focus on stereotypes and that won't end well.

Having said all that, now i'm going to stereotype.
When I was hunting for cars I did start taking more notice of different cars on the road and noticed the drivers. Almost every Honda Accord Euro looked like they were driven by people of a certain ethnicity. I did start wondering why.

Hey ... I'm that Chinese guy next to you in the modded XR6T..... at least I was until a few months ago.

I'll soon be that respectable looking middle aged Chinese guy next to you in a new Focus RS.

I must be a blue blooded Chinese person.

[mike_nofx]

The best way to get bogans out of Holdens is to stop selling the Commodore. So mission will soon be accomplished.
What remaining Holdens will appeal to bogans after Commodore? Cruze? Craptiva? Insignifiga?

Some ideas to appeal to Indian buyers could be beaded seat covers, and grab handles on the outside of the car.

[Qwerty321]

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

The best way to get bogans out of Holdens is to stop selling the Commodore. So mission will soon be accomplished.
What remaining Holdens will appeal to bogans after Commodore? Cruze? Craptiva? Insignifiga?

Some ideas to appeal to Indian buyers could be beaded seat covers, and grab handles on the outside of the car.

I'm Indian and the VE Commodore SSV Redline is my all time favourite modern Holden (Excluding the HSV series), so looks like the Holden marketing department has completely missed the point once more

[Blue Roo]

Originally Posted by MethodX

Both as good as each other... as are Chryslers.
Why argue?

Agreed! Why argue.

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by Qwerty321

I'm Indian and the VE Commodore SSV Redline is my all time favourite modern Holden (Excluding the HSV series), so looks like the Holden marketing department has completely missed the point once more

So you're not a bogan ?

[Falcman0o7]

PMSL! They asked for it!

[P6LTD351]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

I can see merit in Holden going the way of the dodo,,and bringing back chev.

Once commodore is nothing but a fully imported fwd Camry replica then the Aussie connection becomes very hard to sell. At the moment everything Holden is leveraged of the commodore name.

If by some fluke Gm-aus do manage to get camaro/corvettes and or Cadillac in rhd form trying to rebadge them as holdens won't work, no one would take it seriously.
So given the 'hero' models in the range would be wearing the bow tie then so does the rest of the range if they want to try and gain from it.

Exactly! Basically no Aussie connection at all once manufacturing closes.

Ford is a Ford everywhere...whereas the Holden name relies on Australian manufacturing for its existence to be credible.

That's like importing Panasonic TVs and calling them Dundees. Yeah you could, but why bother?

You are right...no way would they devalue a Camaro or a Vette by tying it to the Holden name.

[nstg8a]

Originally Posted by P6LTD351

Exactly! Basically no Aussie connection at all once manufacturing closes.

Ford is a Ford everywhere...whereas the Holden name relies on Australian manufacturing for its existence to be credible.

That's like importing Panasonic TVs and calling them Dundees. Yeah you could, but why bother?

You are right...no way would they devalue a Camaro or a Vette by tying it to the Holden name.

Or they would do it as they did with the volt, they simply dropped the chev name and left it as volt.

[mick74GT]

All this bogan talk is ridiculous

Ford is just as 'bogan' as Holden. The only difference is that there's alot more Commodores on the road so you just see more 'bogans'

I'm a big bogan I suppose I've got one of each lol

[DFB FGXR6]

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...257F5C001862A1

From the article -
"FORMER top-level Telstra manager Peter Jamieson has joined GM Holden as executive director of ‘customer experience’ in a move that sees the car-maker increase its focus on customer service as it transitions to a national sales company next year with the closure of its Australian manufacturing operations."




OMG
I would hardly think the Telstra 'customer experience' is something to benchmark!

[MethodX]

Originally Posted by P6LTD351

Exactly! Basically no Aussie connection at all once manufacturing closes.

Ford is a Ford everywhere...whereas the Holden name relies on Australian manufacturing for its existence to be credible.

That's like importing Panasonic TVs and calling them Dundees. Yeah you could, but why bother?

You are right...no way would they devalue a Camaro or a Vette by tying it to the Holden name.

Details.... in the end it comes down to product.
Ford need some exciting cars that sell besides Ranger...

Just call it GMH... as long as the product is good.