Holden realigns VE Ute

Holden has made life a little easier for Ford and created room for its own Rodeo range by declaring the all new VE Commodore-based Ute a 'lifestyle' choice rather than a 'commercial' vehicle.

The latest VE Ute, launched today but not on sale until October, will be available in just one non-sporting variant, the Ute Omega.

And according to John Lindsay, Holden's head of PR, around 75 per cent of buyers will not opt for the entry-level Omega, preferring to buy the SV6, SS or SS V variants instead.

That still leaves perhaps 250 to 300 units of Omega finding a home each month, so Holden is hedging bets by retaining a basic Ute in the range.

There'll be no cab chassis 'One-Tonner' models capable of taking an after-market tray, and no more Crewman models either.

That leaves the way open for Ford's Falcon to continue selling the cab chassis Falcon Ute and the XL/XLS grades that kind of split the difference -- both undercutting the Omega on price.

Omega isn't available with a V8 option. Alternatively, you can (for the time being at least), option the XL or XLS grades with a V8. If you want to go a little bit off-road but don't want a 4x4 to do it, Ford also offers the RTV.

Holden's latest Ute doesn't address any of these competitors in full. It has a higher ride height than the Commodore sedan and the Omega has "unique" approach and departure angles; the Ute even has more storage space behind the rear seats now, but at the end of the day, it's clear that the Ute is not going mano-a-mano with every variant of the Falcon.

So what's Holden doing and why?

Firstly, the sales lost are incremental at best and the vehicle variants remaining are the most profitable...for reasons of volume in the case of Omega, or per-unit pricing in the case of the sports models.

One of the principal issues to come out of the launch of the VE Ute is that it can now be built on the same production line as the VE and WM sedans (and the as-yet unofficial wagon).

That means manufacturing efficiencies -- cost cutting by a different name.  The revenue that Holden loses by not being able to offer all the niche variants of the VZ range can be offset by those production efficiencies and increased exports (G8 to the US and Lumina/Caprice to the Gulf countries) without having to employ a third shift at the Elizabeth plant. 

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