Holden can beat Toyota | global GM boss

The president of General Motors, Dan Ammann, says Holden can overtake Toyota by 2020 -- armed with a flood of US and European cars.
 
The president of General Motors, Dan Ammann, has boldly backed Holden’s claim that it will overtake market leader Toyota in Australia by 2020 -- even though Holden hasn’t been number one for 11 years and has just posted its lowest sales in 19 years.
 
The most senior man within General Motors made the comments at the Paris motor show overnight and gave an insight into the global cars that would drive Holden sales.
 
It means Holden will have more European cars in its line-up (rather than sourcing solely from South Korea and Thailand) and could have the iconic Camaro muscle car and heavy duty pick-ups from the US in Australian showrooms within the next five years.
 
“I think (being number one again) is achievable,” said Mr Ammann. “I think it’s the right plan for Holden to have and I think it’s important at this time, with the reconfiguration of the business down there, that we make a very clear statement about our intentions and that we’re going to be in the market with a total portfolio.”
 
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Mr Ammann, originally from New Zealand, said Holden now had friends in high places in Detroit who would unlock the doors to a host of US and European cars that have previously been off limits to Holden.
 
Former Holden boss Mark Reuss (2008 to 2009) is now in charge of global vehicle development, and his successor at Holden, Alan Batey (2009 to 2010), is now the executive vice president of General Motors in North America.
 
“A lot of the senior leadership in (General Motors) have an association and a strong affiliation with Holden,” said Mr Ammann. “There is a disproportionate amount of emotional attachment to Holden. Watch this space. We have more to come.”
 
Mr Ammann admitted Holden had lost focus on growing segments of the new-car market because it had spent the past decade trying to protect the Commodore as customer demand faded.
 
“If you looked over the last few years with the benefit of hindsight, having the strength that we’ve had in Commodore has probably taken the focus off some of the other areas where we could have been stronger and had more product in the market,” said Mr Ammann.
 
But General Motors had emerged from the Global Financial Crisis in 2009 with a new way of thinking and was planning to build more cars for right-hand-drive markets, he said.
 
Left-hand-drive cars such as those sold in China, North America and Europe are left-hand-drive and account for 75 per cent of all cars sold globally.
 
Customarily, right-hand-drive cars cost more to build on a per unit basis because they only account for 25 per cent of cars sold globally.
 
But Mr Ammann said General Motors has started to integrate changes for right-hand-drive cars at the very beginning of the planning stages, to increase the number of right-hand-drive cars in its portfolio.
 
“We have all sorts of great cars around the world that we can bring in,” said Mr Ammann. “We are totally committed to Holden.”
 
“As a company we haven’t done a very good job about being systematic about right-hand-drive cars. We will be much more expansive in our thinking on that going forward.”
 
Mr Ammann said the changes “won’t happen overnight” but “as we get into the next generation of these (vehicles) there will be more good things to come”.
 
Mr Ammann said Holden was “well progressed” with the car that will replace the Commodore in 2018.
 
“We have decided (where the Commodore replacement will come from), it’s progressing well, and I can’t tell you much more than that,” said Mr Ammann. “There won’t be any huge surprises I’d say, (but) it will be a world class product.”
 
Holden has not confirmed where the Commodore replacement will be sourced from.
 
But insiders have confirmed to News Corp Australia that, after initially planning to source the Commodore replacement from China, it will now come from Opel in Germany.
 
It means that the Commodore will have come full circle, as the original Commodore launched in 1978 shared its DNA with the Opel sedan of the time.
 
Meanwhile, the boss of Opel in Germany, Dr Karl-Thomas Neumann, told Australian media at the Paris motor show overnight that Holden will eventually source about one-third of its cars from Europe.
 
“The Australian market and the Holden brand is important to General Motors,” said Dr Neumann. “It will be of the responsibility of Opel to supply certain cars for Australia.”
 
Holden has already confirmed certain models from the Astra range, as well as the Insignia sedan and wagon, and Cascada convertible are coming next year.
 
But other Opel models such as Corsa city car are expected to follow.

“(Opel cars) will be about one third of the portfolio of Holden; it is an important export business for us,” said Dr Neumann.
 
It means that Holden will likely sell some Korean-sourced small cars and SUVs alongside those from Opel in Europe, giving the brand a greater selection of models and price points.