HSV boss hits out: W427 was a success

The boss of Holden Special Vehicles has hit out at critics and sections of the media who claim the $155,000 W427 sports sedan was a sales flop. The company built 137 all told, after saying it would build "no more than 427". However, some media took that to mean that HSV was aiming for 427 sales.

Speaking at the launch of the new E2 range of HSV cars this week, HSV chief Phil Harding took a polite swipe at his invited guests.

"I've read in the press that maybe [the W427] program wasn't successful because we didn't make 427 of them," he said. "The program's over and done with and in hindsight I'd like to see if we can close this once and for all.

"Although I was on overseas assignment for 12 months in the middle of its development, I followed this program from beginning to end, so I feel I know it and understand it.

"When we started on this program we had three business cases to look at: 100 cars total, 150 cars total and 200 cars total. The business case was evaluated on those three numbers, not 427 and not any number above that."

He said HSV made enough profit from selling the most expensive Commodore of all time that it was "sufficient for me to say I'll do it again".

"This program was a success to us," he said. "We more than got our investment back and at a time when we were just going into a recession."

He said the target of 427 was misinterpreted by the media at the initial launch of the car.

"Whatever happened during that press launch and that press debrief I think we got on a hook we struggled to get off," he said.

"This is very delicate because I'm talking about my boss [Tom Walkinshaw]. I don't think we helped ourselves on that day. I think Tom was genuinely saying he's not going to do more than 427 but from that statement everyone thought we were going to do 427."

HSV has not put a timeline on when the next super sedan will go on sale -- or what engine would power it.

"I don't think we'll do it again for a few years," Harding said.

"Who knows? In four or five years' time, when we go through the General Motors toybox, which I feel we've got in terms of engines, and choose another one, I think we'll end up doing another program.

"I don't know when there's another program. But we would like to do another hero car. You can't do those very often -- otherwise it's not a hero."

HSV says it wants to help protect the values of the W427 vehicles that have been purchased by customers.

"I think we've got to respect the 137 people that spent a lot of money with this car and there needs to be a breathing space between the types of cars that we do."

HSV says the dip in the economy hurt sales and some buyers pulled out of their W427 deals at the last minute.

"Out of 137 there were a handful of people who walked away from their deposit because financially they weren't equipped to deliver the rest. There were some problems with a handful of customers. I think had we been in better times that number would have crept up probably to 150."

Harding said a few cars remained in dealer stock as a result and would likely be retained by the owners of the dealerships as collector pieces. He said HSV's engineering department also has some cars that will get scrapped or put into the second hand market.

"Either way we will be respectful to the 137 people who paid the new price. If I think that by getting rid of the company fleet of 427s, of which there aren't that many, that will damage the market, then I won't do it [sell them]."

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