With General Motors discontinuing the Holden brand in Australia and New Zealand, some may be wondering what will come of Holden Special Vehicles – the officially designated Holden tuning arm run by Walkinshaw.
It would seem as though this would be a fairly bitter time for HSV. After all, how can Holden Special Vehicles exist without Holden itself? There’s actually quite a lot going on over at HSV, however, with the company telling CarAdvice.com.au that its conversion programs are keeping it busy.
“For us right now the immediate future is business as usual, as evidenced by the imminent introduction of the Chevrolet Silverado 1500,” an HSV spokesperson told CarAdvice. “We continue to work closely with Holden and General Motors to best realize the ongoing opportunity in the niche specialty market in Australia.”
Following the departure of the VF Commodore in 2017, HSV turned its focus to the conversion and sale of imported American vehicles like the Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD and Ram 1500. HSV also imports and sells the Chevrolet Camaro SS and Camaro ZL1 in the country and will soon offer the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 locally, as well. Looking further ahead, HSV hopes to begin selling converted full-size GM SUVs in Australia and New Zealand, such as the new Chevrolet Tahoe or Cadillac Escalade.
HSV Camaro ZL1
These conversion vehicles will be sold under the General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) banner in the country. It’s not clear if the vehicles will continue to be sold through retail storefronts, with Holden set to close its 203-plus dealerships in Australia and New Zealand this year.
The only HSV-tuned model currently sold through Holden dealerships is the HSV Colorado Sportscat. The rugged mid-size pickup will soon be phased out, however, as HSV is renamed GMSV and shifts its focus to its conversion business.
The GMSV Silverado 1500 LTZ is expected to launch in Australia in March with prices starting at around $110,000 AUD.
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Source: CarAdvice.com.au
Comments
The current 2SS will no longer be offered as it can’t compete with mustang on price, while it is a better car it’s not 30k better.
the ZL1 will continue on alone.
Love that Colorado. Need that in the US.
Interesting to see how any GM related product will fare regardless of who waves their magic wand over it. Not detracting from the product that Walkinshaw produces but GM has taken a flying crap on the Holden badge and people are not going to forget. I wish the crew at Walkinshaw all the best with it though.