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Post by dixinormus on Feb 17, 2020 5:35:29 GMT
GM have just announced that they are canning the Holden badge in ANZ. I doubt that there will be many tears shed; their value proposition died years ago when people no longer wanted to buy V6 sedans.
The only Holdens left on sale here are the Astra & Insignia and a couple of US-market 4wds. I guess it will be PSA’s decision on whether to sell the Astra or Insignia down under going forward under a different brand. GM tried with the Opel brand a few years back but it flopped...
Mind you, you can pick up an Insignia less than a year old for around GBP16k at the mo... there might be some bargains to be had?
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Post by EspadaIII on Feb 17, 2020 7:27:07 GMT
I can't say I am very surprised.
The Australia New Zealand market is very small and not suitable for specific market designed and built cars. They didn't even export very well despite the similarities of the Australian and US markets in terms of geography. The New Zealanders have obviously decided that econd hand Japanese cars are the way to go.
Too few buyers, too expensive to build and the nearest plants are probably so far away to make it pay.
Surprising really given that had they produced cars most RHD markets want they could have done well. But they resembled American barges.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Feb 17, 2020 8:51:47 GMT
A preliminary to Vauxhall getting the same treatment, I suspect.
Incidentally, I saw an early one in an old TV show the other night and wondered, is ‘Astra’ now the longest-running model name, at least in this country? I think the first one arrived in 1979, looking pleasingly sharp and modern, I thought at the time. That’s 40 years ago; the Cortina ran for about half that; the Mini has been gone a long time (and there was no continuity between the old and the new.)
Range Rover might be a contender, but it seems to have diversified (like Mini) into a brand rather than a mere model. Corolla came to an end, although Civic is still around, I suppose. Any other long runners?
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Post by tyrednexited on Feb 17, 2020 9:02:09 GMT
..... Corolla came to an end, although Civic is still around, I suppose. Any other long runners? ..Corolla has, of course, just been revived. It is the new Auris (which was the new Corolla). I think Toyota have probably realised the value of the name. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2020 11:53:20 GMT
Fiesta has been going since 1976. Golf, Polo and Passat are mid-70's inventions. 3, 5 & 7 series are 'old' names. Mercedes E, G & S names have been around for donkey's years too.
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Post by EspadaIII on Feb 17, 2020 14:20:56 GMT
I miss the Celica.
We pronounced it the "Sell EEE kah"
My American cousins called it the "Sell ih kah"
The Merc designations are misleading. The E was initially the German for 'fuel injection' in the days when most cars had carburettors. But as the model line up increased they had the problem of two cars of different disigns with the same name (e.g. 280E which was either the E-Class we know today or the S-Class). Think this changed about the time the old 190 changed to the C-Class. 1995??
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Feb 17, 2020 14:21:01 GMT
Yes, I was forgetting Fiesta and the various VWs. Mercedes didn’t adopt the current letter prefixes until the 1990s, though; before that it was 280E, or just plain 200 if you were poor. (The C may have got it first, and the bigger ranges were renamed to match. ‘E’ may just have come from the Einspritzung that was already in most of them.)
And 3 and 5 are the only BMWs that predate the Astra, and I’d call them naming conventions rather than actual names.
And Transit is probably older than any of the above. 🚛
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Post by Humph on Feb 17, 2020 14:51:09 GMT
Morgan +4
Good of you to applaud! But really no need, however,
I thank you !
😎
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2020 16:12:31 GMT
+4 being what you'll find the driver wearing ?
Started thinking about this on the drive home, while trying to distract myself from Cherman drivers at roundabout, Skoda Octavia. There's a name that's been around in automotive circles since God was a lad.
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Post by EspadaIII on Feb 17, 2020 16:20:38 GMT
Actually Skoda Rapid is possibly pre-war?? Wiki says 1935-47. Corolla is merely a child by comparison.
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Post by Humph on Feb 17, 2020 16:23:31 GMT
VW Beetle ( yes I know it's a nickname but it's sort of OK )
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2020 16:28:36 GMT
I was thinking more of names that had been in continuous use. Octavia celebrated 60 years last year.
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Post by EspadaIII on Feb 17, 2020 16:30:25 GMT
Really - 60 year continuous use?? Don't recall the Octavia from before the Mk1 in the late 90s?
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Post by Humph on Feb 17, 2020 16:47:42 GMT
Ford Mustang. 56 years and counting.
I'd quite like a Mustang. Is that wrong?
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Post by tyrednexited on Feb 17, 2020 16:51:49 GMT
Toyota Land Cruiser - bringing the Taliban to you since the early/mid 50's.
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