Holden has given 30 of its dealerships the ax as it continues to transition from local manufacturer to an import-only brand. CarsGuide reports Holden made the difficult decision after combing through sales data showing an overall slump and lack of brand loyalty.
Holden currently has 230 dealerships across Australia, but that figure will dwindle to 200 after December 31, 2017. The city of Melbourne, which has the highest concentration of dealers, will likely be hit the hardest.
“Holden has conducted a review of our dealer network footprint as we transition out of local manufacturing and make the change to a full-line importer for the long term,” Holden’s executive director of customer and dealer operations, Peter Jamieson, said.
“Taking into account a number of factors, the difficult decision has been reached that the size of the dealer network must be reduced.”
Jamieson added Holden’s network remains the second largest in Australia.
Holden’s share of the fragmented Australian market has slipped considerably in recent years. While Ford recovers after ceasing local manufacturing, and import brands like Mazda and Hyundai find success, homegrown Holden continues to struggle. Ford outsold Holden last month even after yanking the beloved Falcon and Territory nameplates.
Statistically speaking, one in five Australians purchased a Holden 20 years ago—today, seven in 100 consider the lion brand.
“They are just not on people’s radars any more. They’ve got a huge carpark of owners but loyalty is really low,” an unnamed analyst said. “They missed when Australians moved on from football, meatpies and Holden cars. They’ve recognized now, but it’s too late.”
2018 will be a big year for Holden regardless of sales. The first fully-imported Holden Commodore in decades will go on sale and supplementary crossovers and SUVs will arrive from Chevrolet to round out a new Holden lineup.
Comments
“Lack of Brand Loyalty”. What about “LACK OF CUSTOMER LOYALTY” GM?
Well a combination of that and crap product.
In my country peoples loyalty was to Holden not GM. No design, no engineering, no manufacturing, sorry no interest. IB is right I reckon, Holden will be dead within 5 years. I put it to GM, do the right thing and euthanize it now while it still has an ounce of credibility. I mean really, what point is there in a car company that doesn’t design or build anything.
Go on GM, do it please.
“A lack of brand loyalty”. Are they even talking about the customer here or is the comment more appropriately directed toward GM management itself? GM couldn’t even wait to liquidate Opel before allowing the “all new” Holden to gain a foothold. It’s likely the Holden brand will be dead within 5 years – a far better fate than to suffer the indignity of becoming another importer of third world Asian automobiles regardless of how befitting of many Australians government induced downward mobility those may be.