Holden: Firing on all fours

HOLDEN is confident its upcoming new four-cylinder models will help the companymaintain its record sales run this year.

For the first half of 2005, Holden recorded its best-ever half-yearly salesresult, moving 90,228 units – almost 2000 more than its previous best.

The JF Viva arrives in September via the South Korean-built J200 Daewoo Lacetti to replace the ageing but still strong Polish-built TS Astra Classic in the sub-$20,000 small-car segment.

At the same time, the Spanish-built XC Barina light car will give way to a TK version based on another Daewoo car, the T200 Kalos.

Holden executive director of sales and marketing, Ross McKenzie, confirmed this week the new Barina and Viva would not kick off above $13,990 and $18,990 respectively.

"We expect to be in a more competitive position," he said. "It’s no secret we’ve struggled a bit with Barina in particular over a few years being sourced out of Europe when there’s been a very strong European currency (against theAustralian dollar).

"And we think having product sourced from Daewoo who are proving to be an outstanding low-cost producer – they’re already exporting to 150 countries – (means) it’s going to be a terrific alliance with GM Daewoo."The alliance means that if the small-car threshold drops below $18,990, Holden will be in a better position to be more competitive.

However, Mr McKenzie said he did not anticipate any price reductions in theforeseeable future.

"If anything, everybody will hold that price and sometimes add a littlemore equipment to add value," he said.

This strategy will also be used with Holden’s VZ Commodore run-out priorto the all-new VE series due around August next year.

"We will do whatever we need to do to maintain Commodore’s leadership, andthat typically involves putting product out there with added-value," he said. "That’s what we’ll continue to do."After lacklustre light commercial vehicle sales year-to-date, Mr McKenzie is anticipating better results for the second half.

"We were very slow out of the blocks with Crewman and One Tonner this year justfrom an availability point of view and we’ve only just started to get somereasonable production numbers," he said.

"So I’m expecting to see very strong light commercial numbers through the balance of the year."In the four-wheel drive wagon department, Holden has no other choice but to remain optimistic about its Australian-built Adventra until two Daewoo-sourced vehicles surface next year.

To date this year, Holden has notched up just 903 Adventra sales. Last year’s total, achieved without the cheaper V6 variant, was 1277.

"At the moment we’re just getting going with the six-cylinder Adventra," Mr McKenzie said. "We’ve only just started the advertising campaign for that car and we’re expecting to see some better volume."With Mr McKenzie admitting that Vectra was no longer a priority, Holden will instead throw the remainder of its small-medium marketing resources to premium contenders such as the Belgian-built AH Astra and new derivatives such as the "coupe", wagon and Tigra cabriolet.

The wagon version (pictured above) in particular is a belated alternative to the JS II Vectra wagon discontinued with the previous-generation model’s demise in early 2003.

It is also the first small Holden load-carrier since the demise of the TG Gemini in December 1984.