For Australia it’s out with Holden, in with General Motors Specialty Vehicles

[Bryan]

GM Authority is reporting that General Motors and the Walkinshaw Group have cemented their stake in the new General Motors Specialty Vehicles brand, which is looking more and more like it will ultimately replace Holden in Australia as the marque ceases operations before 2021.

Read the full article on Hagerty.com:

https://www.hagerty.com/media/news/australia-out-holden-in-general-motors-specialty-vehicles/

[spoom]

OMG, I'm sorry, but I just burst out laughing. Has the motoring world been crying out for the combination of a Grand Am and a Ridgeline? Why not just take a sawzall to an Aztek, and put the savings into a good ad agency?

[Pepperalls]

Utes have sold well in Australia for decades. The one pictured in the article is not even close to the ugliest of the breed.

[Footpounds]

It's different down under

[JohnGone]

An automotive MULLET -- business in the front, party in the back.

[Zephyr]

Personally I love the look of the Avalanche pictured in the article and I wish they were available in the US. If you've ever watched the Australian TV series "A Place To Call Home" you know that cars that married a sedan front end to a pick-up style bed (think Ranchero) were very common in 50's Australia, particularly in rural areas. Aside - the main reason I liked the Australian show Dr. Blake was that the police cars were all 56 English Ford Zephyrs, like the one I drove to high school in 1964.

[Tomwas]

Love that pickup crossover, very sharp... I think it would sell well in the US and world market...

[BobWade]

Like the Aussies, I miss Holden immensely. As a 2017 Chevy SS Sedan owner (Holden Commodore in Australia), I can attest to the Aussies penchant for high performance sedans. V-8, check; performance suspension (magnetic ride), check; high performance brakes (Brembo), check; rear wheel drive, check! What's not to love.

[MikeMelb]

This article would have been out of date 2 years ago.

GM are dead and buried in Australia and in dispute with old dealers about compensation for lost investment in franchises and providing spares and warranty service

[Figgy308]

Holden ceased making RWD and indeed any cars in 2017. They did import some largely unloved vehicles from any number of places, but the Opel built sedan was only a stopgap given GM sold Opel at the same time.. $160,000AUD or about $114,000USD today. An R spec Mustang, built factory RHD with the supercharged 5.0 is $99,000 so you must really want to have a bowtie to shell out sixty thousand extra.

How did they land with that name? GM is a bit on the nose what with the killing of Holden, so why not Chevrolet Performance Vehicles, or simply Chevrolet Muscle. Unless there is another performance car that they may import and no Cadillac won't be on the list.