GM Holden watches Saab and Hummer situations unfold

THE General Motors Premium Brands division in Australia, which is the umbrella for Saab and Hummer, is continuing to operate as normal as GM considers relinquishing both brands from its stable.

“Our focus is making sure that we continue to support our customers and continue to sell cars, and show everybody that we’re confident and that we’re here,” GM Premium Brands director Parveen Batish told GoAuto at the Melbourne International Motor Show last week.

“We’re in touch with what’s happening in Europe (with Saab) and I think everyone’s feeling a lot more confident now with what’s happening in the future. GM is there, with support from the Swedish government … and hopefully what will come out of it is a stronger Saab.

“It’s also business as usual (with Hummer). We’ve got cars in stock, and cars coming, and we’ll just continue to do that. What happens in the future with a potential buyer etc, we’ll have to wait and see what the fallout of that is.

Left: Hummer H3 and GM Premium Brands director Parveen Batish.



“But, again, to emphasise that as far as customers here are concerned, we are GM Holden, we are selling cars under that umbrella, and every car that we sell is completely warrantied and guaranteed – just as it always has been.” GM Holden chairman and managing director Mark Reuss also told GoAuto last week that it was case of wait-and-see.

“Well, we all read the same things about where Saab is right now and we’ve said it is under strategic study and now you see the developments that are happening with the company,” he said.

“But Saab is still a great car that we sell here … so we’re going to keep selling it and the piece of this on a business basis, we’re not driving it or controlling it from here, so we’ll see how it unfolds.”

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