Holden pressured to cut Commodore VE prices

Holden pruned prices on upmarket versions of the VE by as much as $8400 for the luxury Calais compared with the VZ Commodore, but raised the price of the entry-level Omega by $500 while scaling back the run-out factory discounts on the previous model.

While Commodore sales rebounded last month to 5455, the result included 700 old-model VZ station wagons, leaving a market of approximately 4745 VEs. Dealers report strong demand for higher-priced versions, but muted interest in the volume-selling Omega.

Operations director for fleet managers Leaseplan, Anthony Rossi, said some of his client fleets had been disappointed with pricing for the Omega, and were waiting for the price to fall.

"We've had some major customers who have not been very happy with the way the numbers are coming out for VE," he said. "I'm hearing some dealers are wavering a bit. There are signs they are prepared to break ranks on pricing".

Automotive industry consultant Tony Robinson of risk management firm Sureplan agreed the fleet industry was lobbying for a lower price on the Omega. "I'm hearing from fleet managers who are very disappointed with VE pricing and are prepared to sit on their hands, at least until they get a look at the (Toyota) Aurion."

Mr Robinson said other local makers who had previously tried to dictate prices to fleet buyers had all retreated. "Mitsubishi tried it with the 380, Ford tried it with the AU, even Toyota tried it in the '90s under Bob Miller — but they all stepped back."

Mr Rossi said there was "a vibe," among dealers that fleet discounting would start soon.

But Holden marketing manager John Elsworth said sales were on target and there were no plans to increase the factory fleet discount on Commodore models. "We're selling about what we thought we would."

The build mix from Holden's Elizabeth plant was moving towards more highly specified versions, Mr Elsworth said. "We have a flexible plant and we can align what we build with what dealers order. Right now, that's driving towards the Calais and SS versions and SV6."

Retail discounts on upmarket Commodores were already running at up to $4500 on Calais V and SS V models, said the director of car-buying agent Privatefleet, David Lye. "That leaves plenty of margin for dealers, but it's perhaps a little more than you'd expect at this stage in the car's lifecycle."

The previous entry-level Commodore Executive and Equipe models had been consistent low-volume sellers with Privatefleet's buyers, but all the agency's Commodore sales last month had been SS, Calais or SV6 models, Mr Lye said.

A bright spot for Holden was strong sales for the Commodore-based WM Statesman and Caprice limousines, which returned to dominance of their market segment and reversed the slumping sales of the previous model. And total Commodore sales included a monthly record of 491 high-performance and premium-priced Holden Special Vehicles models.

Dealers reported stronger demand for the repriced performance and luxury versions of the VE than for the basic versions and some metropolitan dealers reported difficulty keeping luxury and performance versions in stock.

"I can't keep a Statesman demonstrator — as soon as I put one on the floor it's sold," one dealer said.

Last week's October sales figures showed a rebound in car sales, with 80,000 sales putting the local market on track for 970,000 by year's end. But local makers were largely left out of the action in a recovery confined to light and medium-sized models.

Toyota's Melbourne-made Camry was the only local model to benefit from the resurgent medium-car segment. Large locally-made cars failed to share in the prosperity with sales down by 3.4 per cent on the previous October.

Ford Falcon monthly sales dropped to under 3000, and for the first time the six-cylinder and V8 powered Falcon was outsold by the new four-cylinder Toyota Camry, which recorded 3046 buyers.

Mitsubishi's Adelaide-built 380 sedan remained stable at 944 sales to record a disappointing 14,100 for its first year on sale but Toyota's new Aurion large car had 343 registrations, despite only going on sale last week.