Changing of the HSV guard... Again

HSV's star Chief Executive Officer, Scott Grant has left the building. The announcement that the ex-Lexus exec was moving on after just 14 months to "pursue other career opportunities" came late last week. HSV confirmed on Monday that Grant was returning to Sydney.

Grant's replacement, also announced last Friday, is Phil Harding, who takes over immediately. Harding was Grant's predecessor following an interim caretaker period under HSV's founding managing director, John Crennan.

Grant's appointment (and the time it took to appoint him) reflected a critical transition period for HSV. The longtime 'Toyota Inc' staffer was the first HSV chief to be recruited outside the hot Holden company's partners, Holden and TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing).

Following John Crennan's recruitment from his sales and marketing post within Holden to become the first HSV managing director late in 1987, former Rolls-Royce engineering chief Phil Harding was moved into the top seat at HSV from his previous role as HSV's engineering head. This period at HSV followed his recruitment by TWR in the UK after BMW took over Rolls-Royce.

After the engineering for the current VE Commodore-based E-series range was completed during the Harding period, it was Grant's role, with his retail and marketing background, to revive Crennan's marketing focus at HSV, this time with a distinct Lexus flavour. 

As HSV continued to break all sales records under Grant's watch, HSV's relentless shift upmarket brought its share of problems at the dealer and service level as a new breed of buyers demanded more than the usual Holden retail experience.  After Grant had been surprisingly candid about some of these issues and his motivation to address them as recently as May's LS3 launch, his move comes as a surprise.

HSV has confirmed that HSV management were told only one hour before the news was released to the media and the dealer network.

It has also been confirmed that Phil Harding returned to Australia only last week.

Harding had resettled in the UK just prior to Grant's appointment for family reasons in what was presented as a longterm move. He took up the new post of HSV's Director of Export Programs. Based at TWR's UK operations, Harding was playing an active role until last week in establishing global export markets for both the HSV and Elfin ranges as well as hot-up parts for both vehicle ranges.

This export role is still in its early stages, but HSV has confirmed that Harding will continue to hold the Director of Export title, as well as his permanent appointment as CEO.

HSV has been careful to distance the timing of Grant's exit which came within a fortnight of the W427 launch with claims "there is no connection". Yet it was apparent at the May LS3 launch that Grant was not entirely comfortable with the ongoing speculation about the pricing and volumes of the W427 and the process of establishing those parameters.

Although Grant has left HSV in better shape than ever after confronting several major marketing issues and overseeing HSV's comprehensive 20th anniversary celebrations during his 14-month stay, HSV now faces greater engineering challenges than ever in a greener, more fuel-conscious world.

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