GM's Pre-Bankruptcy Fire Sale: Is Holden next?

tone76

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Some believe that Holden might be up for sale soon:

http://business.theage.com.au/business/holden-could-be-sold-as-gm-teeters-20090529-bpgo.html?page=-1

Given that it's a self-contained car company in its own right (i.e. it can engineer and produce a car from scratch), it has a specific niche in large inexpensive RWD cars and it's one of the few GM divisions not bleeding money (yet), I wonder who'd buy it? Would another car manufacturer (such as a Chinese manufacturer) buy it, or would it go to a firm that doesn't currently make cars?
 
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Well, the Chinese are a possibility. Don't they use the Commodore as a base to that Buick thing?

Yeah. The Commodore also sells in the Middle East, Brazil and South Africa as a Chevrolet ... which is where it could get tricky.

I couldn't see a 'traditional' car company (such as Fiat) putting their hand up for Holden, as it's just too far removed from their core products and would probably still command a relatively high price because it's in not such bad shape compared to GM's other offshore divisions. Having said this, how funny would it be if Fiat did buy Holden, and then started sending Chrysler-badged Commodores to the States .... :lol:

So yeah ... if Holden was put up for sale - and I get the impression that GM would really only sell Holden as a last resort - it would most likely be picked up by the Chinese or maybe someone like Tata. Tata isn't as silly as it sounds, after all there are synergies with Holden and Jaguar i.e. they are both large RWD specialists and the two brands wouldn't cannibalise each others sales, and I suspect that shared Holden/Jaguar platforms would drive development costs down and make both manufacturers more profitable.
 
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The last thing I want to see right now with Holden is to be sold to the Chinese. All they would do is make a big cock-up. IMO, we can work on our own, but not without help I believe.
 
Just keep Holden away from the Koreans. No more Daewoo crap PLEASE.
 
^^^
And the Koreans too. Half of holden's products are made by Korean robots.
But surely Korea (whether North or South, but I prefer South because I was born there) must be good at something in the motoring industry if their Car culture is subtle but big.
 
Just keep Holden away from the Koreans. No more Daewoo crap PLEASE.

The ironic part is that GM's share in Daewoo (around 44%) is actually owned by Holden on behalf of GM. So, if Holden got sold, that could take Daewoo out of the picture for GM as well, unless Holden's share in Daewoo was sold to someone else first.

I still reckon that the most obvious potential buyer for Holden would be Tata. Holden Nano, anyone? :p
 
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Holden Nano, anyone? :p

1o98vo.jpg
 
Nooooooo...
Let's pool our money and buy it between us.
I suspect we'd make brilliant CEO's.

...But seriously, last thing holden need right now is another change in direction, like what the korean/chinese would do.

Best case I could think of is if SOMEHOW holden were bought out privately from GM to the current people in charge or someone who wasn't counting dollars.

We can all dream can't we?
 
Considering Holden is the only full range GM brand in Australia I think they'd be reluctant to sell, whereas in Europe, they will still have Chevy despite selling Opel.

Side note - does Vauxhall being sold mean no more VXR8? Or will it be an out of place decent car in a sea of Daewoos (remind you of anything?)?

As for buying Holden, why not Mitsubishi? No 380 leaves a Commodore sized gap in their market, and a locally made Lancer would be much more attractive than an Australianised-Cruze.
 
Considering Holden is the only full range GM brand in Australia I think they'd be reluctant to sell, whereas in Europe, they will still have Chevy despite selling Opel.

Nope - Chevy is sold by the Opel dealer network, thus is out of the picture in Europe.
 
^^^
And the Koreans too. Half of holden's products are made by Korean robots.
But surely Korea (whether North or South, but I prefer South because I was born there) must be good at something in the motoring industry if their Car culture is subtle but big.
Hehe it would be so awesome if the north koreans snatched Holden! Rename the brand "Juche" and make the stereo only play one station as well as not being able to turn it off! Hehehe.

The (south) koreans are good adapters, they didnt have any shipping industry, one day decided to build ships, became one of the biggest shipbuilding nations on the planet. Same goes for cars, construction machinery, kitchen appliances, home entertainment, computer technology...
Good thing they haven't tackled flat-packed furniture yet! :)

Btw Dr_Grip, do all/most Opel dealers in Germany also sell Chevrolet? Saab/Opel-dealerships up here usually don't sell Chevrolets. The dealership where I bought mine sells Saabs, Opels and Hyundais for example.
 
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Has Australia got a left wing government at the moment? Nationalisation - Holden-Leyland anyone?

That's possible with this government, probably a smarter use of tax money than some of their other ideas.
 
Over here Chevrolets are mostly sold at Opel dealerships but it's not a rule, I've also seen a VAG + Chevy dealership, for example. Saab's dealership network is extremely unstable over here, 2 major Opel dealers sell tham at 4 of their dealerships right now. In the first quarter of 2009, they've sold a grand total of 8 cars, which translates into a stunning average of 0.67 cars sold per dealership per month.
 
AFAIK, most bigger Opel dealerships in germany sell all GM brands or at least can order them.
 
That's possible with this government, probably a smarter use of tax money than some of their other ideas.

Holden is a big Aussie icon, so hopefully they don't fold even though I'd prefer a Falcon over a Commodore :p
 
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