Selected dealers have been approached to join an exclusive network that will sell the military-inspired Hummer H3 SUV, and eventually encompass Saab and US luxury marque Cadillac.
"It's gone beyond the discussion stage. It's been formally talked about to the dealer network," an automotive retail source said. The source said Holden had modelled its strategy for adding two new American brands on Ford's Premier Automotive Group of Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo.
"What they're envisaging is Holden going to do its version of PAG — Hummer being Land Rover, Saab being Volvo and Cadillac being Jaguar," the source said. "It's a lot of money to spend for dealers, but the pay-off is they'll eventually get three brands. They haven't finalised the Cadillac bit of it, but the Hummer plan is a fait accompli."
The longer term intention was to integrate Saab with the Hummer and Cadillac network, the source said.
The offer was only being made to selected high-volume Holden dealers or dealer groups.
"The volumes will be too small to spread across the Holden dealer network, so the plan is to ensure a concentrated market presence," the source said.
Large Holden dealers were aware of the plan but reluctant to discuss it.
"It (Hummer) will be bundled in with other products — just what, we haven't been told yet," one metropolitan dealer principal said.
Another city dealer principal said, "Not everybody's going to get Hummer ... I've been told it could come under Saab, HSV or Holden."
Holden launched the Hummer H3 at the Australian Motor Show. It said the SUV would go on sale next year after right-hand drive production begins in South Africa, but sales and marketing director Alan Batey declined to give specifics.
"We're finalising the details of which distribution channel we'll use and we'll make an announcement in two months' time," he said.
"It's a niche. It's not going to be a mainstream segment but it's going to do well."
About 1000 Hummer sales a year was the initial target with prices starting between $50,000 and $60,000, according to another Holden executive.
Holden spokesman Jason Laird said the company had yet to finalise its Hummer marketing strategy and had no detailed plans for Cadillac.
"We're looking at all options available to us," he said. "But nothing's firmly in place when one of the brands is not confirmed for this country."
If approved, Cadillac would be unlikely to arrive here before 2008, Mr Laird said. "Discussion about Cadillac would be premature, although we've made no secret of our interest in the company," he said.
Cadillac is on an export push with foreign sales up by 42 per cent last year, giving the brand its best result since 1990.
Cadillac launches in South Africa — another right-hand-drive market — next February.
The three-model line-up consists of the Cadillac BLS, a sedan based on the Saab 9-3 for $44,000, the STS sports sedan at $70,000, and the SRX crossover at $79,000.
The vehicles will be marketed together with locally made Hummers and imported Saabs by GM South Africa's newly established Premium Channel division.
GM executives in Detroit are bullish about the export prospects of Hummer, which has been one of the few sales successes in the automotive giant's recent history.
In Europe, where the H3 went on sale last year, the brand's sales are up more than 200 per cent. Exports could account for up to 25 per cent of the brand's 62,000 annual sales, Hummer general manager Martin Walsh last week told the Detroit News.
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