Holden boss soft-pedals market leadership goal

Mark Bernhard, Holden's new managing director, has been gently immersed in the thrust and parry of the Australian market.

And over the weekend, in his first formal address to the local media – two and a half months after his official start in the job – the committed supporter of the Richmond Football Club in the AFL has carefully skirted any tiger traps.

Yet Bernhard was courageous enough to admit that Holden continues to harbour the ambition of being the nation's most popular brand, as it has been in the past. He just didn't offer any timeframe for that to happen...

"Being the first Australian MD [of Holden] in 25 years is clearly a rare honour," he acknowledged.

"It's also a great responsibility as we go through... a pivotal time, a challenging time for us, as we close down our manufacturing operations....

"I do have two roles; the transition is one of them. The other one is setting up our brand for a winning future. It's a winning future that we're pretty excited about.

"Before we get to the winning future... before anyone asks I might as well raise this myself: I'm certainly here to win; Holden is here to win; every employee comes to work every day to win. Just like football teams are in it to win premierships, so will we.

"But I'm not going to put a timeline on it. We don't need that target on our back. Our goal is to be the best automotive company in Australia, but we're playing a long game."

Bernhard's carefully-worded address to the local motoring media was completely at odds with his predecessor's first words with Aussie journalists.

In fact, whereas former Holden MD Gerry Dorizas said that car prices in Australia were too low, that Holden dealers weren't very good at retaining business, and that Holden could outsell Toyota by 2020, Bernhard's address was very measured, and made no statements that could be considered outrageous.

The new boss stayed on pretty safe ground, reiterating the company's plans to introduce 24 new models between now and 2020 – some of which have already arrived – and the retention of powertrain engineers and advanced vehicle design staff after closure of the Elizabeth plant in 2017. Staying upbeat but sensible, Bernhard announced a dealer network upgrade worth $200 million. And as for workers facing job losses after the end of local manufacturing, Bernhard stated that Holden had contributed $15 million into a growth fund to support those workers.

The contrast between Bernhard and Dorizas is obvious. Dorizas, first exposed to the media pack just six weeks into the job, was not a GM insider with an intimate understanding of the workplace culture. Nor was he an Aussie, with a native's understanding of the local market and Holden's place within that market.

Bernhard's appointment appears to address those issues comprehensively.

But if Bernhard is very different from Dorizas – in both personality and experience – he's also different from the likes of former 'car guy' MDs with an engineering background like Peter Hanenberger or Mark Reuss. Bernhard has been "in finance" – from the very start of his career with GM in 1986. He has spent time in Zurich (Switzerland) and, most recently, 8½ years in Shanghai, China.

Arguably, with Holden's marketing and product plan already mapped out for it at least three years after the plant closure in Elizabeth, the company needs a 'bean counter' in its transition from manufacturer to NSC (National Sales Company). Hopefully for Holden, Bernhard is that man.