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Holden Astra Sedan And Wagon Cut From Lineup

Pour one out for the Holden Astra sedan and its Sportwagon counterpart. General Motors’ Australian subsidiary said both models will no longer be part of the lineup, CarAdvice reported Tuesday.

The discontinuation of the sedan is hardly a shock. The Astra was essentially a rebadged Chevrolet Cruze. Holden sourced the sedan from a now-closed plant in South Korea, the Gunsan assembly plant. With the Lordstown, Ohio plant also idled and the end of Cruze production confirmed at GM’s Ramos Arizpe facility in Mexico, no plant could continuing supplying the Astra sedan.

Holden Astra Lineup

A Holden spokesperson said the brand is aware the end of the sedan creates a “gap” in Holden’s lineup, but it’s unclear where a replacement may come from. The only options appear to be from the GM China lineup, but it’s unclear if any of sedans GM sells in China could be assembled in right-hand drive for Australia.

Otherwise, GM exited the compact car business with the death of the Cruze this past March.

2017 Holden Astra sedan 003

The Sportwagon variant has been built in Europe at an Opel production facility, which France’s PSA Group now owns. Holden said the wagon variant has been a slow seller, which led to its death. The news leaves just the Astra hatchback in the compact segment for Australia. The Astra is a clone of the Opel Astra sold in Europe and built in Poland. Eventually, GM will need to source a replacement for it, too, unless it plans to end sales in the segment altogether in Australia.

GM only has a license for PSA to build GM-era cars at Opel facilities until early next decade. The Holden ZB Commodore, based on the Opel Insignia, will also need to sort its future out. Holden has already signaled it’s open to dropping the Commodore from its portfolio if the market doesn’t warrant the liftback sedan in the future.

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Source: CarAdvice

Former GM Authority staff writer.

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Comments

  1. The Sportwagon is built at the Vauxhall factory in Ellesmere Port, currently in limbo with its future uncertain.

    The Australian vehicle market isn’t really large enough for GMH to sell both the Astra and the Trax, which are essentially in the same segment.

    The original plan was to source the Astra and Commodore from Europe, with the Trax replacement (Trailblazer) being sourced from South Korea and replacing the Trax, that vehicle moving up a class. The sale of GM Europe threw a spanner in that plan.

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  2. I don’t think any brand has died as quickly as Holden. GM allowed the brand to deteriorate, even worse than Chevrolet USA and more on par with Pontiac.

    End of local production hurt yet Toyota and Ford have weathered the storm in far better form. I remember GM was offered a distribution deal for Holden and should take it. my This would allow GM to introduce Buick GMC–two semi premium brands that truly have potential with proper brand building. Chevrolet could also be an. option but it is to much like Holden not to mention Buick GMC has real global potential as solid profit drivers.

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