Holden Nova Reviews

Holden says there is room in the market for its two flagship Colorado variants, with the recently-released Z71 Xtreme and the HSV-fettled SportsCat designed to target different types of buyers.

Not long ago even Holden execs considered a diesel Commodore a heresy. Now, with the Opel-sourced import, all bets are off.

The Holden Trailblazer SUV could soon follow in the tracks of the new Holden Colorado Z71 Xtreme dual cab ute.

Holden needs the Equinox to punch above its weight in the SUV stakes. Does the US-designed, Mexican-built five-seater pull it off?

If the Holden Volt was guilty of anything, it was of being ahead of its time. To see why, you need to flashback to 2010 in Australia. Holden's local engineers were working feverishly on a new Commodore, the VF. Customers were still buying the home-grown brute, and our collective motoring palate was still running

Holden's upcoming Acadia large SUV will be the most tech-heavy vehicle in the Holden range, with a strong suite of safety and convenience technologies offered as standard.

Holden has torn the covers off its new high-spec Colorado pick-up, the Z71 Xtreme, available from October of this year in “exceptionally limited” numbers at $69,990 driveaway.For perspective, the Xtreme is $15,000 more expensive than the Colorado Z71 Crew Cab 4x4 upon which it is based, with the full-time range-topper priced at $54,990, but that excludes on-road costs.Holden justifies the Xtreme's pricetag by pointing out that it is equipped with “over $19,000” worth of genuine Holden accessories.Specifically, the Xtreme gains a high-end winch system with a heavy-duty bash plate, as well as 10,000lb load capacity and 30 metre synthetic line.The uprated off-roader is also treated to a high-visibility LED light bar and winch bar, upgraded front suspension, all-terrain tyres and a vehicle recovery kit.Based on the Colorado Xtreme concept vehicle that was shown at the Bangkok motor show in 2016, the new production vehicle borrows a handful of Melbourne-designed genuine accessories.Other features include a roof tray kit, rear steel step, fender flares, Colorado badging on the tailgate, “Xtreme” decals, black tubular side steps, a black grille, a soft tonneau cover, bonnet bulge and a black extended sports bar.According to Holden product marketing manager Andre Scott, the release of the  Z71 Xtreme was in response to a growing customer demand for stronger off-road capability.“The top end of LCV market continues to develop, and we’re seeing a growing number of customers demanding greater off-road capability,” he said.“The Colorado Xtreme was a concept car that resonated with our customers, and to not onlyput it into production, but elevate it, is very exciting,” Like its Z71 donor-vehicle, the Xtreme is powered by a 2.8-litre Duramax turbo-diesel engine that produces 147kW and 500Nm, and boasts a 3.5 tonne towing capacity.It will only be available with the six-speed automatic transmission found in the Z71.

Australia's new-car market went into reverse gear in July, dragging down sales by almost 8.0 per cent on the same month last year and with it, putting the first seven months of this year behind the same period in 2017.The result is a disappointment considering sales to June this year had strengthened and pointed to a strong calendar year result. For the month, only three carmakers – Kia, Nissan and Volkswagen – posted gains.The official VFACTS figures released today showed the volume of vehicles sales for the first seven months of the year were down 0.2 per cent, or 1233 vehicles, at 691,073 units.In July, the month was down 7.8 per cent on July in 2017.The sliding passenger-car segment remained on target, falling 20.2 per cent in July with the only spark being a 31.8 per cent boost in micro-car sales, led by Kia's Picanto (up 58.3 per cent in July) and the Mitsubishi Mirage (up 39.8 per cent).Light-commercial vehicles showed some resilience by lifting 0.1 per cent.Ute sales were up 1.3 per cent overall with 4WD utes making the biggest LCV gains with a 6.4 per cent rise on July 2017.The segment was dominated by the Toyota HiLux that was again Australia's top-selling vehicle.Unexpectedly, SUV total sales cooled by 1.0 per cent although within that segment, small SUVs and upper large SUVs lifted 3.4 per cent and 4.1 per cent respectively.SUVs are comfortably leading passenger car sales by about 25,000 units year to date and medium-size SUVs are the biggest sellers in year-to-date figures. However, the SUVs couldn't beat strong sales of small passenger cars – led by Corolla's 17.7 per cent segment share – for the month of July.In brand sales, Toyota was again on top, although it copped a 5.7 per cent fall last month as the effect of moving to an imported version of the Camry was felt.Camry was in new territory, down 44.8 per cent in March and 37.4 per cent year-to-date but it still had the lion's share of the segment.Other Toyota models that recorded big falls included the Yaris (-10.1 per cent); Fortuner SUV (-43.5 per cent); Corolla (-19.1 per cent); and the 86 sports coupe which fell 35.5 per cent, more than clone Subaru BRZ's 9.7 per cent decline.The RAV4 posted a modest 6.7 per cent increase in July, while Kluger, Prado and HiLux delivered strong results. Mazda recorded second spot on the brand ladder but had a 6.4 per cent drop over July last year as all models except the Mazda6 sedan slipped.Despite that, selected Mazda models retained strong positions. The Mazda3 was the nation's fourth best-selling vehicle and was followed by the CX-5 SUV in fifth. The new CX-8 diesel SUV came in with 220 sales in July.Hyundai's i30 small car was in sixth overall and had a 2.6 per cent lift in sales in July. The Tucson mid-size SUV, due for a model upgrade next month, was in 10th position.Overall, Hyundai lost 5.9 per cent of sales caused by retractions in Accent (-31.7 per cent), iLoad van (-28.9 per cent), Elantra (-19.9 per cent) and Veloster (-50.3 per cent). Mitsubishi had strong results from its Pajero Sport (up 37.6 per cent) and Eclipse Cross (723 sales in July), while Ford slid 12.6 per cent for the month on declining sales for Mustang, Everest, Fiesta and Mondeo.Kia increased sales but its powerhouse expansion was slowed to 3.2 per cent in July compared with the same month last year.Nissan moved gently upwards with sales in March lifting by 4.1 per cent. Its best-selling X-Trail was up almost 10 per cent and Patrol did well, but Juke and Qashqai fell.Volkswagen recorded the biggest sales jump of the top-10 players, with a 4.7 per cent increase that was boosted by a 62 per cent leap in Golf sales and a 36.1 per cent increase for Amarok 4WD.Holden couldn't take a hit in July with a 39.3 per cent sales plunge to 3927 units and pushing it into ninth position with a 4.6 per cent market share for July and 5.3 per cent share year to date.Huge sales falls for key models included the Astra (-47.7 per cent), Commodore (-65.9 per cent), Captiva (-63.6 per cent) and Trax (-30.2 per cent).The new Equinox mid-size SUV didn't help much with 271 sales for July, but there was some comfort in the 12.0 per cent lift for the Colorado 4WD that is part of a strong marketing push.Subaru rounded out the top 10 on 3366 sales, but it was 21.1 per cent behind July last year.The three prestige Germans were caught by double-digit falls, with Audi down by 36.0 per cent, BMW sliding 21.8 per cent and Mercedes-Benz Cars – which remains the premium segment leader year to date – down by 15.4 per cent.Some of the lower volume premium brands shrugged off the gloom, with Alfa Romeo up by 39.4 per cent on its Stelvio and Giulia newcomers; Infiniti stronger by 19.6 per cent; and Volvo ahead by 34.7 per cent.Some of the biggest movers last month were Chinese brands LDV (up 146.9 per cent) and MG Motor (up 538.6 per cent). A revitalised Peugeot posted a 137.7 per cent gain on its 3008 and 5008 SUVs. Top 10 selling brands July 2018 Top 10 selling models July 2018

If we'd been writing a list of the most exciting cars due in the coming 12 months even a handful of years ago, four-wheel drives would be lucky to have rated a single mention.

GM Holden has announced that Toyota Australia's previous president, Dave Buttner, will lead the company as chairman and managing director.