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NEWS
No guilt trip for Holden
Holden says its upcoming VF Commodore advertising campaign is about changing perceptions, not ‘guilting' Australians into buying homegrown large carsGM Holden says its new ‘Think Holden’ advertising campaign is not designed to “guilt” people into buying a large Australian car, but to change peoples’ perception of the brand.
Already on air in the lead-up to the VF Commodore’s official release on June 1, the new campaign focuses on the Volt plug-in hybrid’s fuel-saving technologies and the world-class capabilities of the upgraded Commodore and its US export twin, the Chevrolet SS.
Holden says its latest advertising strategy aims to bring buyers back to Holden by highlighting its latest technologies, not by making Australian consumers feel guilty for not buying homegrown vehicles – despite its claim that of the 60-odd automotive brands available in Australia, “Only one brand was born here”.
“It is not about guilting people into buying Australian,” said GM Holden Chairman and Managing Director, Mike Devereux, at the launch of the VF Commodore in Canberra this week – product and drive reports from which are embargoed until May 30.
“It's about us building a truly world-class car in Australia, making people feel passionate again, making people feel excited, making people feel proud of what we can do in this country and really challenging people to think differently about our great Holden brand.”
Devereux said he was angered by the common misconception that GM Holden no longer built cars that Australians wanted to buy, given the Adelaide-assembled Cruze small car was the nation’s fourth best selling model last month.
And he said the VF would bring buyers back to Australian-made large cars, sales of which are at an all-time low, with the Commodore less popular than ever in its 35-year history.
“This is about changing a lot of preconceptions about our brand,” he said. “Critically, we need to stop having people thinking that Holden makes really good cars for somebody else and have them start thinking that Holden makes really great cars for me. Commodore will do that.”
But he admitted that the success of the VF was vital to the future of GM as a manufacturer in Australia, where Holden two weeks ago posted a $153 million operating loss – its first since the GFC in 2008.
“Yes, we’ve had our challenges. There is no question that VF is critically important to the future of Holden. We’ve had to change our manufacturing philosophy to compete with imports.”
Production of the VF Commodore, which was developed with the aid of a $38 million federal government co-investment in lightweighting and aerodynamics, commenced on time on Monday (May 20).
Priced at least $5000 lower than before from $34,990 plus on-road costs at base level, the VF is the first major Commodore upgrade since the billion-dollar VE in 2006 and will be billed as the most advanced car ever built in Australia.
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Written byMarton Pettendy
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