Yes, you read that right; Holden, the automaker whose entire assembly and manufacturing operation in Australia is having its plug pulled out in 2017 is optimistically looking towards the future.
Australia’s Drive sat down with the company’s freshly appointed chairman and managing director Gerry Dorizas, who announced that the company is looking to become the number one selling brand in the country by 2020.
It seems a bit unlikely, given the current context, but Dorizas makes it clear that “The strategy or the point where we want to go is to go back to number one. In a boxing match there are 12 rounds…I think we’ve gone through the eighth round. There’s still some rounds to go, but we’ll be back.”
Back around a decade ago, the brand was top name of the local Australian scene, and back then, they owned like 25 percent of the entire market.
Now, Toyota (which itself will bail on Aussie in 2017 too) leads the market, but its share has been declining and now sits around the 19 percent mark; Holden comes in at number two, with 9.9 percent.
Dorizas also stated that, “the market shares are going to start levelling out,” though it will require a lot of effort and focus from their side in order to keep up and even grow.
However, there’s no mention of where these (future so-called) Holdens will be imported from. Two possibilities are the US and China, though none have been confirmed officially yet. All that was mentioned in regards to this was that “the new product strategy” was “being deployed.”
By Andrei Nedelea
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