The current Holden line-up is a mixed bag of Korean, U.S. and local offerings all with a different feel, none feeling quite as distinct as the home grown Commodore. Ed Welburn, Vice President of GM Design, admits the current line-up is not consistent, saying Holden is a “portfolio that needs improvement.”
This news comes as Australia’s Car Advice reports on Welburn making a visit to Australia to show Holden dealers the future product planning currently in the works, which has dealers “thrilled.” Welburn stopped short of saying which country Holden vehicles would take more design language from, but we’re pretty positive Holden will be majorly influenced by Germany’s Opel.
The incredible Buick Avenir concept shows Aussie design is alive and well inside Holden, which also has us raising a brow as to Holden’s position within global design. We think it would slot in quite well as a cousin to elegant Buicks influenced by the classy design direction Opel has taken as of recent.
Nevertheless, General Motors is striving to ensure every vehicle in the Holden line-up will narrow the gap between such different design as the current line-up does.
“The portfolio should be so consistent that the customer doesn’t know if it came from Korea or Australia or Germany or Mexico,” tells Welburn, who added that currently the Holden line-up is a “portfolio that needs improvement”.
“They can co-exist if they have the same design language and the same feel and the same goal, they can co-exist if the portfolio is consistent, and if it’s not consistent then you’ve got a problem.”
Welburn would not commit to a proper timetable of when we would see the narrowing of design take place, but we do know the trip he made down under occurred eight months ago where he revealed the upcoming line-up to Holden dealers.
“I would just say that when I was in Australia less than a year ago and I showed that portfolio to the dealers, the dealers were thrilled, thrilled,” he told.
“It was like the future of the Holden brand and the portfolio that they will get is as strong if not stronger than at any other time in the brand’s history. I just feel very good, and that group of dealers that I met with felt very good.”
Comments
Holden has a hard time but it will become stronger, and can be holden as ever.harder and harder time to endure and survive. Gm rebirth. I am confident and feeling like that and want it all, I believe, before the end of the GM.
Holden will create new machines as well as all new GM globally. Holden has been too isolated, at least I had that feeling. GM’s new strategy is collaboration and sharing.
Aveair and Bolt are the final Holden designs. The future belongs to big markets with production
Design can only go so far, product needs to be as good. The Opels will be beneficial but GM needs to realise that we are not a developing country and that the CRAPtiva 7 and Colorado (Truck & SUV) just don’t cut it. For the price we pay, we should be getting the Equinox and GMC Canyon. The ‘tiva/’nox isn’t big enough either. Need the GMC Acadia in the line-up.
I suppose this is really an issue that is a result of GM having all these different brands, some that operate in different parts of the world. Note Ed Welburn’s comments about Holden’s and Buick’s design language when discussing the Avenir concept in another recent Caradvice article:
“I spent a bit of time in Australia, and I think I know Holden quite well, but they know it even better than I do. I wonder if the design is a hair too romantic for Holden.
“If I were designing it as a Holden from the start I think the rear wouldn’t be quite as swoopy.
“Holden’s are generally a bit more of a ‘spline line’ rather than a musical line.”
So in the past you had a unique local Holden range then an imported Holden range that seemed to fit in and not look to divergent probably by coincidence rather than being deliberate.
Now you have no unique local Holden range with this ‘spline line’ design language and GM are having to backfill the Holden range with product from multiple divisions and the design language is very different. This is obvious when you put the Cruze next to the Astra.
Where does GM go from here? Is Ed saying that they are going to try bring all GM global design languages closer together (Cadillac would be an obvious exception). With Buick and Opel coming together in terms of design they aren’t going to bring those vehicles closer to Chevy in design language. It is going to be tricky how they are going to pick what vehicles to bring into the Holden range whilst trying to keep the design language consistent.
with some of the products can be really difficult, however, and you do not need to share all of the models. Cadillac is the most different designs, and all right, however, may remain in their lines. It is important to work together and sharing knowledge, skills and techniques, and novel solutions. those models which are considered to provide a variety of names, however, can also be directly shared everything so certainly do not, and in particular the GM. VAG is easier to share everything but the GM is complicated business.
Who knows specifically how it goes VAG cooperation is powerful.
For example, the previous high-class machines machines machines panankse lower classes, and so on. All used very carefully and precisely. Basically, larger and more expensive cars model will be switched to another brand of smaller and cheaper model.
VAG-making model pays for everything but can not be copied because the companies are, however, different. VAG is the EU and the global GM in terms of its producers.