Holden Is Dropping Cars Altogether To Focus On SUVs

It only seems like last week that Holden took its last production presence out of Australia, but now it’s going one step further and ditching conventional cars altogether
Holden Is Dropping Cars Altogether To Focus On SUVs

Troubled General Motors brand Holden is to ditch all of its remaining car models in order to focus solely on SUVs and Utes, in Europe more commonly called pickups.

The news represents a sad moment in time for a brand that used to have such a strong following for its powerful sports/pony cars like the Commodore. It’s perhaps not too surprising, though, as GM has already offloaded its European mainstream car brands to PSA, and that was where all of Holden’s chassis and engine tech came from.

Buyers want more of this
Buyers want more of this

Among the cars to be lost from sale in various global markets is the Astra; now totally out of favour with buyers almost everywhere. The Commodore (Europe’s Insignia) is already being wound down with a view to restricting supply to match the dwindling demand before the axe falls at last next year.

In their place will sit a rejuvenated range of SUVs and pickups with better technology, road manners and comfort, Holden says. Platforms will naturally be shared with GM stalwarts like the Captiva and Silverado.

Holden Is Dropping Cars Altogether To Focus On SUVs

Holden Interim Chairman and Managing Director, Kristian Aquilina, said:

“The SUV segment is approaching half a million units, and LCVs over 200,000 units. That’s where the action is and that’s where we are going to play.

“The decision to retire the Commodore nameplate has not been taken lightly by those who understand and acknowledge its proud heritage. The large sedan was the cornerstone of Australian and New Zealand roads for decades.

“But now with more choice than ever before, customers are displaying a strong preference for the high driving position, functionality and versatility of SUVs and Utes.”

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Comments

Alex Shutt/SHUTTMAN

Gm at its finest

12/10/2019 - 13:02 |
37 | 0

I agree with you there…

12/10/2019 - 17:24 |
2 | 0

Yep, it looks like Holden has just pulled a Ford…

12/10/2019 - 17:24 |
7 | 1
Anonymous

Let me guess, this is due to low demand for conventional passenger cars?

12/10/2019 - 13:12 |
5 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Probably, they should just make wagons instead

12/10/2019 - 15:20 |
3 | 0
Anonymous

2019: Holden discontinues all its conventional passenger car models to focus on SUV’s and utes/pickups.

2029: No more regular passenger cars anywhere because of SUVs and pickups.

2039: Every car sold is either an SUV or pickup.

2049: Your toaster, washing machine, phone, computer, TV and games console come in SUV or pickup form only.

4009: Humans come in SUV or pickup form only!

4059: The U.S. president is either an SUV or pickup!

500,000 years later: All the planets of the solar system are either SUV’s or trucks!!!

12/10/2019 - 13:21 |
28 | 1
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Nah mate this shit is just a trend, wait a couple of years and all of this suvs and crosstards will be at the scrap yard

12/10/2019 - 13:24 |
16 | 1
Evan Smith 1

So now Holden can sell even more of the crappy badge-engineered boxes that GM sells here. Great.

12/10/2019 - 13:26 |
12 | 0

*fail to sell

12/10/2019 - 21:06 |
6 | 0
Twopoint0

RIP holden, you will be missed, screw SUVs

12/10/2019 - 13:58 |
18 | 0
Tomislav Celić

Remember when Minivans were the trend?

12/10/2019 - 16:11 |
6 | 0

Quite frankly, minivans are far cooler than crossovers

12/11/2019 - 00:13 |
5 | 0
Anonymous

Wait, why is it saying that future products will be based on GM products ? Shouldn’t it be more of a PSA plateform such as the 3008/5008 for the SUVs and the upcoming Peugeot pickup which should have a Holden derivative ?

12/10/2019 - 17:29 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

As far as I know, GM still owns Holden. They just sold Opel to PSA

12/10/2019 - 22:52 |
4 | 0
Alex Shutt/SHUTTMAN

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Nope, Holden is gm, so gm is going to milk it for all it’s worth

12/12/2019 - 12:34 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

No more commodore by 2020. So 2020 supercars V8 is going to be Mustang vs Camaro but with turns and a GTR

12/10/2019 - 17:59 |
1 | 0
Luk9wow

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

I think they will use the commodore for a few more years like they did with the FGX Falcons

12/11/2019 - 05:02 |
1 | 0
Alex Shutt/SHUTTMAN

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

The new Mustang Mach e is g/-\y as all hell and might become fords trademark among soccermoms across the country, if this happens, I’m shooting myself so I can tell Carrol Shelby what has happened.

12/12/2019 - 12:34 |
1 | 0
Anonymous

F

12/10/2019 - 20:58 |
2 | 0
Anonymous

What a bunch of c**ts.

12/11/2019 - 09:23 |
2 | 0