Car Companies outraged at Top Gear AU

[whiteb]

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,26278,24766231-10229,00.html

FILMING of the Australian series of Top Gear has turned into a demolition derby with a repair bill close to $200,000.

Eager driving and wild stunts have left a trail of destruction behind the Top Gear team that goes beyond the expected bill for bald tyres from slides and burnouts.

Luxury cars have needed total resprays because of flying stones, and lesser brands have reported damage from silly stunts created for the SBS TV series, which is unofficially confirmed for a second series in Australia in 2009.

Some of the most expensive repair bills involved a Lamborghini, which is believed to have sustained about $25,000 damage during filming, while a group of Holden Astras needed $30,000 to restore them after they were used in a game of "lawn bowls".

"We have no appetite for automotive Jackass," the spokesman for one of the damaged brands said.

"When they revisit series two, they will encounter a lot of shut doors," said another.

The damage bill for Top Gear goes way beyond anything seen in any form of Australian motoring journalism.

"All we will say is that it turned out to be a very expensive test drive," said Holden spokeswoman Kate Lonsdale of the Astra bowls stunt.

The show's producers failed to return the Herald Sun's phone calls.

 

[GerFix]

I'm not surprised that there is a considerable damage bill from the series, but I am surprised at the complaints about the damage caused during the Astra Lawn Bowls segment .... surely Holden knew what they were going to do during that segment before they released the cars to TGAu.

 

[watto]

They're just shocked because Australia has never had a balls out car review show before. The most Glenn Ridge ever does on 'The Car Show' is take a soft roader onto sand. Oooooohhhhhhhh, scary.

The 2nd last comment is right though, they may see some doors shut on them. Not bad though, they can have some good cheap car challenges in place.

 

[fbc]

Really, how can they be surprised? They would've known full well what Top Gear gets up to - particularly if, as with Holden's case & the Astras, you get asked for several examples of the same model.

 

[Dino]

I am surprised that the manufacturers were surprised as to what happened to their cars. I would think it to be absolutely necessary to know ahead of time exactly what kind of damage the cars can receive while filming.

Then again, I don't really think that damage valued close $200k is really necessary. Especially for what is basically a new show. Yes, TG UK has not been very nice to their cars, but they have a history and TG AUS does not. If I was a manufacturer and wasn't completely informed of the potential dangers, I'd be angry as well.

But I don't have all the info, so who knows what the complete deal was.

 

[Labcoatguy]

Pissing off manufacturers? Sweet! Looks like there's hope for this show after all.

 

[JPDyno]

Mneh, i must admit some of the crap pissed me off a little. There was no need to smash up perfectly good $30,000+ Astras. The only time i can think that TGUK has smashed up near-new cars is the car-soccer, atleast they were bottom barrel cars (and i doubt they were donated by toyota). I still dont understand why they didnt just go to a wreckers and pick out cars for the bowls segment, much like TGUK did with conkers.

There was also when Steve took out a post drifting like an idiot in the W427.
Driving like an idiot, obviously thats fine for the show, but reckless enough to take out posts with donated cars? Please. Even car nuts have some mechanical sympathy.

 

[Ironlord]

There was no need to smash up perfectly good $30,000+ Astras. The only time i can think that TGUK has smashed up near-new cars is the car-soccer, atleast they were bottom barrel cars (and i doubt they were donated by toyota).

Holden got away lightly. There were only six Astras involved, whereas there were twelve Aygos in the original Aygo football (five a side, but sharp-eyed viewers will have noticed cars with the number 6 on them) which were far more beat up afterwards. Six of those were reused in the rematch... which meant smashing up six Foxes as well. And then there's the Suzuki Swift ice hockey match from the Winter Olympics special. And Hamster's deliberate crashing of a brand new Renault M?gane in one of the early series.

As fbc said, TG have been smashing up new cars for years (and I'll bet it stretches back into t'old days as well). Holden must have known what was coming. And besides, Aus$30,000 will be a drop in the ocean if even one Commodore sale is due to Charlie's impassioned plea at the end of the series for Aussies to buy Aussie cars... if anyone was still watching by then. And I'll bet someone buys an Astra because they saw it on the lawn bowls and realises that even if it isn't a Commodore, it doesn't automatically have to be a rebadged Daewoo.

 

[Cobol74]

Fantastic chaps, keep it up! The Aussie motor industry has not quite got the idea just yet me thinks.

Tell them "remember what happened to the sales of the Vauxhall Vectra/Cavalier when the boys (in this case Aussie boys) did not like it!"

 

[avanti]

Don't understand why they are complaining, its still extremely cheap advertising!

 

[whitehornmatt]

Well if SBS paid the money to repair them, where would there be a problem? And even if SBS didn't pay to fix them, $200,000 isn't a lot, GM lose that in 10 seconds don't they?

You can't drive a car in Australia without some stones hitting them, and with the exception of the (very good) Astra segment, it wasn't deliberate. The Astra segment itself started with a quite positive review of the car, so there is a benefit to Holden.

 

[Icedvovo]

...surely Holden knew what they were going to do during that segment before they released the cars to TGAu.

You'd have to think so, to at least some degree. Or are Holden admitting to being THAT naive?

So it seems the cringeworthy damage of those new cars will actually come back to bite TGA.

 

[Dsemaj]

I think it would have been made very clear what was going to go down with the Astras. I don't see what they're really complaining about. Free advertisements.

I guess Holden's idea of a TV show with their cars is a pissy, lameass 60th Anniversary show... I mean, infomercial which uses a whole load of history footage and just has a bunch of their cars in a studio with Deborah Hutton being a stupid, fake ass prat. Not to mention ends with the head of Holden talking some sentimental rubbish at the end..

 

[GerFix]

You'd have to think so, to at least some degree. Or are Holden admitting to being THAT naive?

So it seems the cringeworthy damage of those new cars will actually come back to bite TGA.

If Holden are so upset, maybe that will put an end to the Holden vs Ford tests. *


* well, not really :lol:

 

[klankymen]

I guess that makes ford the winner then?

 

[stiggie]

When I spoke to Warren and Steve after the filming of episode 5, they mentioned that Nissan had asked TGA to pay for the destroyed tailgate on the ute Charlie had used in the mining challenge. When the producers asked Nissan how much they would normally have to pay for prime time advertising as long as that review, they suddenly decided that it wasn't such a big deal after all.

I seriously doubt that any of these car companies were unfamiliar with how TopGear tests cars.

BTW, the Herald Sun is owned by the fiercely anti-BBC Rupert Murdoch.

 

[GerFix]

I guess that makes ford the winner then?

Well, I think that was a given anyway. The last thing Holden would want is to see the Epica compared to the Mondeo or the Viva and Barina compared to anything. Since TGAu has already done the Commodore and Astra, I think this bleating from Holden is an excuse to not offer up their rebadged Daewoo rubbish for appraisal. That's my conspiracy theory anyway

<snip>

BTW, the Herald Sun is owned by the fiercely anti-BBC Rupert Murdoch.

Speaking of conspiracy theories. If Rupert etal wish to scupper TopGear .... a story like this isn't going to help ... surely it would be a ratings booster if anything.

 

[rkc62]

Tell them "remember what happened to the sales of the Vauxhall Vectra/Cavalier when the boys (in this case Aussie boys) did not like it!"

Jeremy has always talked about the fact that both Vectra and Cavalier sales went UP after he bagged them. He uses it as an example of why TG is just entertainment, not a car review program. I predict he'll soon report Insignia sales have increased since he reported it as boring with a hard seat...

My guess, and it is no more than that, is that the manufacturers weren't told as much detail about the impending test as they are used to getting, and they're saying they want to be told... Surely they're not going to refuse to provide a test car.

 

[rkc62]

And can someone remind me what happenned to a Lamborghini?
Apart from the awful scene of revving it out cold, I don't remember any Lamborghini getting damaged?

 

[DXPetti]

And can someone remind me what happenned to a Lamborghini?
Apart from the awful scene of revving it out cold, I don't remember any Lamborghini getting damaged?

Stone Chips I am guessing. Lambo paint isn't the cheapest going around :lol:

Pretty sh*thouse by Holden to come out and whinge like a bitch. They could of said "We aren't happy how it went down" and then leave the real meat to private conversations with the TGA Producers

Maybe the W427 will drop down the leaderboard mysterious