Rebadge Holden as Chevrolet, says VW boss

Rebadging Holden and its models as Chevrolet would be “the best possible outcome” for General Motors' beleaguered Australian operation following the axing of the Commodore last week.

That’s the opinion of Volkswagen Australia boss, Michael Bartsch.

In a wide-ranging interview with carsales this week, the former North American vice-president for both Infiniti and Porsche said Holden’s US parent company was faced with a difficult task in salvaging what was left of Holden’s brand equity in Australia.

“I started with General Motors in 1984. I think at best Holden will end up a Chevrolet brand. I just can’t see that they’ll sustain what they’re doing,” Bartsch said.

“The Americans didn’t hold onto Opel in Australia. Why would they want to hold on to Holden… for what? My opinion is they’ll become Chevrolet at best.”

Having been based back in Australia as Volkswagen’s managing director since 2015, Bartsch has watched with great interest and what he says is an element of sadness as Holden wound down its Australian manufacturing operations in 2017 and then transitioned to an import-only company.

The industry veteran also witnessed the once-dominant brand slip behind his own brand in the sales race this year, with Volkswagen now consistently attracting more market share than Holden.

The Commodore has always been critical to Holden’s Australian fortunes. During its heyday, it enjoyed a 15-year run as Australia’s favourite car, and even as the death knell sounded last week, it bows out as Holden’s second-best selling vehicle behind the Colorado.

Bartsch believes General Motors’ next move will dictate the fate of the Holden name.

“Ultimately it will depend on where their [Holden’s] cars are coming from. If they have to continue to rely on Korean-sourced cars, it will be just as easy to shove a Holden badge on it as it would a Chevrolet badge,” Bartsch said.

“If they actually do bring cars from America – let’s assume they move more towards the truck market and bring the Corvette in and things like that – then they may as well call it a Chevrolet and be done with it.”

Asked whether the Holden name carried the same cache now as its manufacturing days in Australia, Bartsch didn’t mince his words.

“I don’t think there’s terribly much equity left in Holden. The equity is done and in three years’ time it will be less. The only equity they really had was in the Commodore brand, so what’s left?” he pondered.

“The answer will lie in where their supply is in the future. That’s got to be incredibly vague for them. It’s a real shame.”

Bartsch expected rival marques to reap some upside to Holden’s downward sales, as with other ailing brands in Australia.

“This sounds terrible, but I think there will be a positive flow-on effect from General Motors retreating,” he said.

“There’s already a fairly positive effect with some of the cleansing: Chrysler’s nowhere, Jeep is nowhere – you’re starting to see some of these weak brands disappear or at least retract quite dramatically,” Bartsch noted.

A Holden spokesman reiterated to carsales the marque was not going anywhere and that GM had no plans to introduce Chevrolet to Australia.

Last week, Holden’s interim chairman and managing director, Kristian Aquilina, said Holden’s future plans would centre on the SUV and ute segments.

“Holden is taking this decisive action to ensure a sharp focus on the largest and most buoyant market segments,” Aquilina said.

“So far this year SUVs and Utes have increased to 76 per cent of Holden sales, a trend we only see continuing.

“The SUV segment is approaching half a million units, and LCVs over 200,000 units. That’s where the action is and that’s where we are going to play,” Aquilina said in a statement.