Aussies: Holden Viva

[astroboymoto]

wtf is it? I'm guessing its the Korean replacement for Astra Classic? horrible car...

but seems holden marketing struggle to think of ways to sell small cars...

[Janus]

Yeah, from the very little I have seen I presumed that it is some cheap import that is meant to slip in between the Barina and the new Astra. That is just judging from the price bands.

[Lurch0001]

Yeah, it's a Daewoo-sourced replacement I think. Holden in their wisdom have decided to source all their small cars from Korea (ie, Daewoo) rather than Europe (ie, Opel)

[fbc]

Holden have been forced to seek cheaper alternatives - the Opel sourced product were just too expensive to be competitive and turn a profit, so we get the Viva & new ex-Daewoo Barina. It's bad for Holden, but in some respect they have no chocie - if you want to blame someone, blame Opel, they're the ones setting the transfer pricing.

[watto]

And from the pcitures in "Drive" (The Age) today, they look like tinny pieces of Korean shite...

Damn you GM Opel!

[astroboymoto]

and despite being cheaper it will still sell worse than the Opel alternatives anyway...

Holden either needs to stop selling rebadged small cars or make smaller versions of the commodore that are kinda medium sized cars totally unlikely so the status quo of switching between Opel and Daewoo every 5 years will stay put.

[SL65]

Yeh there was a damning article about these new Daewoo models and how EVERY SINGLE COMPONENT IS STRAIGHT FROM KOREA- DAEWOO.

Aparently there is absolutly no way for unsuspecting consumers to know its Korean or its a Daewoo apart from this serial code in the engine bay.

Very dissapointed with this crap So do we get to keep the Astra,Vectra, Zafira and anything else i'v missed?

[Magnet]

Their logic is that people don't care about the car, just the badge. Hence people bought garbage like the Apollo and Nova about a decade ago.

[fbc]

Originally Posted by SL65AMG~V12~604BHP!!!!!!!

Very dissapointed with this crap So do we get to keep the Astra,Vectra, Zafira and anything else i'v missed?

Astra stays and sits further upmarket of the Viva, Vectra stays for now, but to be replaced later by another Daewoo (tbc). Barina has already been replaced by a Daewoo - Barina name stays though. Zafira stays for now, but iirc it will die soon as Holden aren't going to bring in the new Zafira.

But hey, we do get the Tigra

Originally Posted by Magnet

Their logic is that people don't care about the car, just the badge. Hence people bought garbage like the Apollo and Nova about a decade ago.

Apollo and Nova were a slightly different circumstance as the 'original' Camry and Corolla were on sale at the same time - these Daewoldens are at least not being sold alongside Daewoo badged versions. But your logic is still right - Holden are gambling that people won't be bothered by the lower quality, and that the quality of the vehicles is good enough

[Z102]

That seems to be GM's new politic: sell more Daewoos by rebadging them with "prestige" badges. They started in Europe by rebadging the whole Daewoo range "Chevrolet", and now they seem to be doing it in Australia. I don't think they're fooling anyone, though. In Australia they might be called Holden Barina and Holden Viva, but they're still Daewoo Kalos and Daewoo Lacetti

There's something funny about this. Here in Valencia there's this long avenue full of dealers, and this stupidity leads to the paradox where if you want to buy a Matiz, or a Kalos you have to go to the former Daewoo dealer (which of course now is a Chevrolet dealer), halfway through the avenue, but if you want to buy a Corvette, you have to go to GM's dealer, which is a completely separate one, and also sells Hummer and Cadillac. So, in the end, the only thing GM is achieving is devaluating the Chevrolet badge, and that's just insane, IMO.

[watto]

Originally Posted by Z102

In Australia they might be called Holden Barina and Holden Viva, but they're still Daewoo Kalos and Daewoo Lacetti

And they're still going to be smouldering piles of poo and I will laugh at anyone who is stupid enough to not realise that it was once a Daewoo!

[fbc]

Originally Posted by watto

And they're still going to be smouldering piles of poo and I will laugh at anyone who is stupid enough to not realise that it was once a Daewoo!

So true. Plenty of people will buy them without knowing they're Daewoos, until one day when they're washing it they notice a funny badge stamped into the metal somewhere...

Re the Chevy badged Daewoos - amazing how the one brand can be stuck on a Daewoo and a Corvette - and GM wonder they're stuck in a hole

[BlaRo]

To GM it's not a badge, it's a car. Who cares about brand values when they can just take any generic car and slap a "Holden" "Suzuki" Chevrolet" Daewoo" "Opel" "Buick" sticker on them? At least it makes them money!

The only company in the world to get away with such blatant and ugly rebadging. Hell, even Ford treats their marques with somewhat more respect.

[astroboymoto]

Originally Posted by BlaRo

The only company in the world to get away with such blatant and ugly rebadging. Hell, even Ford treats their marques with somewhat more respect.

yeah like when they put a Jaguar V8 in a Aston Martin Vantage V8 then put a Aston Martin DB7 body on a XJ-S called it an XK

all brands are to American auto giants is giant parts bins for exploitation

[Renesis]

pics??

[Janus]

Nice comparison of the new Barina and the Viva. Looks like they are spawned from the same Korean factory.



Different countries, different names, same crap car!

Holden Viva (Australia) = Chevrolet Optra5 (Asia) = Suzuki Reno (US) = Chevrolet Lacetti (Europe) = Buick HRV (China)

[BlaRo]

Don't forget the Chevrolet Aveo, which is also known as the Daewoo Kalos, Chevrolet Kalos, Pontiac Wave, Suzuki Swift+, the Holden above, and the Chevrolet Sail, replacing the Buick Sail which was also known as the Opel Corsa, Vauxhall Corsa, Chevrolet Corsa, Chevrolet Barina, Chevrolet Celta, Chevrolet Montana (in Brazil, amusingly), Suzuki Fun, the last Holden Barina, and the Opel Vita. Am I missing any here?

Badge engineering is the scum of the earth.

[Renesis]

It's called a Chevrolet Aveo/Pontiac Wave/Suzuki Swift + here but we don't have the same front end, we have the first generation.. only the new 3 door hatchback will have this front end. We also have a sedan version








and the 2nd one you showed is called the Chevrolet Optra 5 in Canada too.

[astroboymoto]

Suzuki Swift + ??? wtf? they are saying this lump of shit is BETTER than a real Suzuki swift?

[david_gavin]

Imo the Holden Viva is the most ugly looking cars that I have ever seen anybody driving.
It looks like it has been designed by a computer or something, because it has no personality.
However, it is a cheap car so it isn't supposed to be special, they could at least try.