Holden 10 New Models Coming !!

[csv8]

Holden product onslaught coming
Toby Hagon
October 19, 2010
Comments 4

The new Barina Spark.
Holden is gearing up to add new models to its range and update existing vehicles by the middle of 2012.

Holden is gearing up to plug holes in its product lineup with what it claims is an unprecedented new-vehicle onslaught that could see a range of four-wheel-drives and a long awaited major update to the locally made Commodore.

In true Australian style, Holden will also finally replace its ageing Colorado ute – formerly known as the Rodeo – and potentially bring a four-wheel-drive (SUV-style) wagon.

Speaking at the launch of the new Holden Barina Spark – the cheapest and most efficient new Holden on the market – Holden chairman and managing director Mike Devereux said the brand, whose parent General Motors was bankrupted in the United States last year, was getting ready to fight back with a range of new and updated models.

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“Over the next year and a half Australian customers will see a roll-out of new Holden product like they’ve never seen before,” said Devereux. “We will have new, world-class, market-leading Holden vehicles competing in almost every segment in this market.”

Devereux says it is all about “pretty much filling up the portfolio” with cars designed to grow market share and spread the Holden message wider.

“We’re now getting to the point where the true might of GM’s global product development factory is going to display itself in this country,” he said. “We’ve got a plan to put something we’re proud of and is world class in each [segment]."

“Every three months there’s going to be something fairly large going on.”

He said the 10 new models between now and mid-2012 would be a mix of replacement vehicles and new models.

“There are actually quite a few all-new vehicles and then there are some updates,” he said. “In some cases it’s something that doesn’t exist today, in some cases it may be a new nameplate.”

While the VE Commodore has existed since 2006 with only mild styling tweaks, a visually different new vehicle is expected within “a year or so” according to one insider.

It’s not known how much will change underneath the new Commodore – which is likely to be codenamed the VF model – especially as Holden has just introduced new E85-compatible engines as part of the VE Series 2 update that also introduced a freshened interior with a new touchscreen display.

As sales of utes continue to surge, Holden says it will finally replace the Colorado with an all-new model.

That new ute also looks set to spawn an SUV-style off-road wagon, effectively putting a unique body on the ute’s underpinnings.

While Holden wasn’t going into specifics, it appears the company could soon have a proper four-wheel-drive back in its lineup, competing with the likes of the Mitsubishi Challenger and other ute-based 4WD wagons such as mooted Ford and Mazda versions.

“There may be some variants off the utility … you can use your imagination,” is all Devereux would say.

One of the most important new Holdens, though, will be the updated Cruze that will be produced alongside the Commodore from March 2011.

Joining the updated Cruze sedan – which Holden says will get a styling freshen-up – is a hatch version.

Devereux wouldn’t elaborate on potential new body styles that could ultimately be built from the Cruze underpinnings, suggesting that would be part of broader decisions for a car that’s built in other GM plants.

However, he says there are other opportunities with local tweaks to the Cruze.

“There are options on accessorisation because we have engineering capability [locally],” says Devereux. “There’s things we can do [with the Cruze small car family] within the lifecycle.”

As for bigger decisions, such as the addition of a wagon, he said: “We wouldn’t make a small decision on utes, wagons, anything beyond a sedan or a hatch unless it was a global product decision.”

The Holden announcement on upcoming new models – no doubt done to gee up dealers and get would-be buyers considering the Holden brand - has already sparked a response from Ford, which says it is readying even more new vehicles over the next couple of years, including the long-awaited diesel version of its Territory (my comment..we need it NOW!!)and the more efficient four-cylinder version of the Falcon.

Ford recently released its crucial new Ranger ute, which was designed and engineered in Australia and will be sold in more than 180 countries. The Ranger goes on sale in Australia in the second half of 2011.

My comment : and whats Ford doing !!!! Diesel Territory ????, KUGA ??? FIESTA ST ???
Again Ford will be left behind by Holden..so sad......

[Road Games]

Meh , its a holden i sure as hell wont be buying ANY of them , but thanks for the post ...

[vztrt]

YUK!!

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...019-16s5p.html

Ladies, your new Barina Spark has arrived
Toby Hagon
October 19, 2010



Men are being asked to make way as Holden again takes aim at women for its most fuel efficient and affordable new car.

The “beep beep” Barina girl ad campaign is back – in spirit at least.

Having unceremoniously dropped the female-focused advertising of the Barina six years ago due to its potential to alienate half the population – men won’t buy a women’s car, said Holden at the time - Holden is again aiming its most affordable, most fuel efficient car specifically at women.

Back then, Holden reasoned the “Barina Girl” that ran from 1998 could eventually tend “to alienate young men” but now the brand is throwing itself head first back into the women-only fold with its new 1.2-litre hatchback.

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The new Barina Spark – a smaller hatchback that sits below the regular Barina, which will be replaced in 2011 – is being pitched squarely at Gen Y women, those aged 18 to 30, with women over 40 also in the target market.

“The light car segment is very heavily skewed towards women, particularly in the value end of the segment” says Emma Pinwill, Holden marketing manager for small, medium and light commercial vehicles. “We wanted to do a marketing campaign that was very targeted."

“We believe the males [who would consider the Barina Spark] … won’t be put off by our advertising.”

The Barina Spark is priced from $12,490, plus on-road costs, making it one of the cheapest cars on the market.

It arrives with an entry-level price of $14,490 drive-away, pitching it squarely at other tiddlers such as the Suzuki Alto, upcoming Nissan Micra and ageing (and soon to be discontinued) Hyundai Getz, which is the segment leader in sales.

However, while most small cars sold are fitted with an optional automatic transmission, Holden must initially make do with a five-speed manual.

The company says an auto is in the pipeline but it won’t be here soon, leaving the increasing number of new-car buyers who opt for an auto – including younger drivers with an automatic-only driver’s licence – to shop elsewhere or get used to changing gears.

The base Barina Spark CD model comes with front power windows, air-conditioning, trip computer, USB input for music player interaction, alloy wheels and a full complement of safety features that extends to six airbags (front, side and side-curtain) and electronic stability control that will be mandatory on all new passenger cars from next year.

A Barina Spark CDX costs another $1500 and brings a larger coloured rear wing, larger alloy wheels (15-inch in diameter), power rear windows and vinyl seats that Holden more elegantly markets as Sportec.

Bluetooth connectivity is optional, as are various stickers designed to change the exterior look. Holden has even designed a website (Barina Designer) that encourages people to design their own car and share it with friends on social networking sites such as Facebook.

The Holden Barina Spark is fitted with a modest 1.2-litre four-cylinder engine that makes just 59kW of power (about half that of many small cars) and 107Nm of torque.

[Ben73]

I used to love Holdens, they seam boring these days.

Walkinsures seam not bad though.
I don't even know what they are actually called.

[Road_Warrior]

Holden this, Holden that.

There are a lot of words like "maybe" and "could" in that article. No surprise considering the agency that published it...

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

Holden this, Holden that.

There are a lot of words like "maybe" and "could" in that article. No surprise considering the agency that published it...

So whats new with them. They are a 'gonna' company, gonna do this gonna do that.

[Polyal]

Lol

That Barina is an insult to all the other Barinas...thats how bad it is. If they move those things in big numbers then I give up with the average Australian buyer.

[Resurrection]

The headlight almost reaches the A-pillar. Damn ugly.

[Road Games]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

The headlight almost reaches the A-pillar. Damn ugly.

Hor much fuel yoo ronna put inna me sailor boy ?
5 dorra ??

[Iggypoppin']

I thought Holden where broke??

[Revolver]

Originally Posted by csv8

In true Australian style, Holden will also finally replace its ageing Colorado ute – formerly known as the Rodeo – and potentially bring a four-wheel-drive (SUV-style) wagon.

I Honestly thought that the Colorado was the Rodeo's replacement. New Chassis, new body etc. I thought that it was a complete new unit.

I actually find that really hard to believe that it is still the "old" Rodeo underneath it.....

[Revolver]

Originally Posted by Iggypoppin'

I thought Holden where broke??

Yep, about as broke as Alan bond.....

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by vztrt

So whats new with them. They are a 'gonna' company, gonna do this gonna do that.

I was actually referring to Drive, not Holden. But I saw one of these Holden Spark thingies in Melbourne this week, a wishy washy metallic green one. About as interesting as a sub-B car can get I guess

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by Toby Hagon

In true Australian style, Holden will also finally replace its ageing Colorado ute – formerly known as the Rodeo – and potentially bring a four-wheel-drive (SUV-style) wagon.

Yes, because true Australian style means replacing one foreign designed import with another.

[sxckevo]

does anyone believe they can still make money by building the cruze here? no doubt in my mind that this story will make reasonable size spread on a page in the papers tomorrow...some how always does




AND FORD HURRY UP WITH THE TERRY!!! INVENT A TIME MACHINE AND WORK LONGER HOURS PLEASE! I WANT IT HERE BY THE END OF THE WEEK

,good wishes Kevin

[388cube_edxr8]

In other news, Fisher and Paykel are probably launching a range of new washing machines soonish. The new products will be stamped out of the factory using the same underlying technology as before, but may have a new shell with some extra pointy bits and a racing stripe. Maybe.

No word yet on whether the issue of the control panels falling apart might be fixed on the new models.

[Windsor220]

Fords got plenty happening.

New FPVs just released
New Ranger
New engines for Falcon
New Territory and diesel option
New Focus
Other smaller stuff too. Mondeo getting upgrade etc

And on the Spark, they need to cut the headlight in half.

[bobthebilda]

Originally Posted by Iggypoppin'

I thought Holden where broke??

Well they were (probably still are). But they managed to con $180 million out of the federal and state governments to build the cruze (and Holden were tipping in another $250 million or so).

You can probably assume that since 70 percent of the cruze will still be imported as a CKD from Daewoo, that nothing like the original money was spent, and Holden have diverted some of the Feds and states money to keep operations going.

Didnt ford develop the current Falcon for under $500 million. Holden have apparantly spent over $400 million to introduce a model that was already on the market, and will still be 70% imported.

does anyone believe they can still make money by building the cruze here?

It would make sense that if Ford decided they couldnt make money from building the focus here, then there is no chance Holden can do with the Cruze. If the dollar keeps going up, they will be slaughtered by trying to compete with corolla, mazda3 and lancer imports. With commodores they were able to have a slight market differential, and try and build a premium into the sale price, they wont have that with the cruze.

[uranium_death]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Lol

That Barina is an insult to all the other Barinas...thats how bad it is. If they move those things in big numbers then I give up with the average Australian buyer.

They moved the 2-star safety rated Daewoo Kalos for years and I suspect many of the young buyers were clueless toward the car's true origin or its safety features, or lack of.

Kudos to Holden for being able to sell crap, and well done to all the young girls that wanted a Barina and blew a hard earned $XX,XXX on their dream car.

They could have paid more and get either a Mazda2 or Fiesta and had something safer, better built with a little more oomph.

Hail to the Australian Car Buyer.

[Corzza]

Originally Posted by Ben73

I used to love Holdens, they seam boring these days.

Walkinsures seam not bad though.
I don't even know what they are actually called.

Went to the Holden stand at the Motor show and they are just plain fugly!

All those LED's, bling and weird styling.

[xrfalcon]

Soon the whole guard will be a head light............

[smoo]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

The headlight almost reaches the A-pillar. Damn ugly.

How much do ya reckon one would cost!? Women driver + those head lights, hope they've got insurance.
I can just see it now, VF Commodore breaking Wheels' cover over speculation like the insignificant and aged VEII, while they rave on about the new Cruze, even though a 5 year old Mk V Golf or first gen Mazda 3 will still run rings around one.

[Wretched]

meh, i miss the old Opel Corsa SRi. They were run.
These new Barinas are worthless junk.

[flappist]

Great Wall.....10 new models coming
John Deere.....10 new models coming
Haines Hunter.....10 new models coming

Don't care about any of those either.....

[Gobes32]

Originally Posted by DAZZLER351

Hor much fuel yoo ronna put inna me sailor boy ?
5 dorra ??

sig worthy...... lol

[browser351]

I thought this was a "Ford Forum" - who gives a toss if Holden are releasing new models!!!!!!
IMHO

Graeme K

[irlewy86]

Originally Posted by flappist

Great Wall.....10 new models coming
John Deere.....10 new models coming
Haines Hunter.....10 new models coming

Don't care about any of those either.....

10 new models for John Deere is much more exciting than 10 new Daewoo's.

[drew`SEVNT5]

Originally Posted by browser351

I thought this was a "Ford Forum" - who gives a toss if Holden are releasing new models!!!!!!
IMHO

Graeme K

[Polyal]

L O freakin L

[Resurrection]

Originally Posted by smoo

I can just see it now, VF Commodore breaking Wheels' cover over speculation like the insignificant and aged VEII, while they rave on about the new Cruze, even though a 5 year old Mk V Golf or first gen Mazda 3 will still run rings around one.

Interesting to note that the latest Wheels magazine has a reprint of the edition from earlier this year which dedicated a lot of space (and dribble) to the VEII. So much publicity for such a ho-hum update.