Next Barina better

HOLDEN’S new managing director and CEO – Mark Reuss – has promised better-driving, safer and higher-quality light and small cars from South Korea.

Speaking to the Australian media in Detroit last week, the 44-year-old American – who is currently GM’s executive director of global vehicle systems and integration until he begins his Holden tenure next month – admits the current TK Barina is not as good as he would like it to be.

“If you look at what I want to concentrate on, quality is one of the very top things that I want,” Mr Reuss revealed.

“What does that mean? Well, if we take a car from somewhere else, where we are leveraging off a global platform, we need to drive excellence and quality for sale in Australia. Period.” So, in his current position as GM’s global vehicle integration manager as well as a self-confessed driving enthusiast, has Mr Reuss had a chance to improve the next-generation light and small cars coming out of South Korea?

Left: Chevrolet Aveo (top) and Holden Viva (below).

“I already have, absolutely. And that comes from a regional customer desire from Australia,” he admitted.

Mr Reuss alluded to but would not elaborate on “spills” that have occurred at both Holden and GM in North America that he is emphatic about not repeating with the Barina and Viva replacements.

“We are not going to let that happen again,” Mr Reuss promised.

“It’s hard to go back on a legacy product (GM-speak for rehashing older technologies, which is what today’s Daewoo Kalos-based Barina is). So I am going to do whatever I can with a legacy product. “That does not mean that I am going to short-change a future product.

“You can get into steering, brakes, (the list) goes on and on. We sell the same thing (in the United States, as the Chevrolet Aveo), by the way.” While Mr Reuss would not reveal any details about the next all-new Holden Barina other than the fact that it is not too far away (“It’s going to be sooner than you think”), he did assure that the car would be of much higher quality than today’s vehicle.

“I have deep experience (with the new car),” he explained.

“I can’t give you any confidence on fit and finish because we are not in production with it yet, but I can tell you that on a vehicle dynamics, I can get into shift maps… gear ratios, I can talk about steering, brakes, noise and vibration – any of those, and safety in particular – it is bringing everything we have to bear on those cars. “They’re not competitive cars – they’re winning cars,” Mr Reuss added.

With Mr Reuss still some weeks away from the changeover in leadership, he admits that he still has plenty of work to do assessing the situation Holden is in right now.

“I want to get in there and understand the market... it’s my job to say what we need for Holden to be successful. That will be the strong voice that I have.

“I don’t have all the answers I got to be honest with you... so it’s a little bit interesting to me – let’s leave it at that.

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