Holden Barina 2008 News

The Holden’s new generation Barina sedan - an extended version of the hatch - has just landed in showrooms with a starting price of $16,490. However the sedan has more cargo space than its sibling storing 502 litres compared to the 290 litres the hatch offers with the seats up. The Barina sedan comes equipped with standard features including Bluetooth phone and audio streaming, USB input and iPod connectivity, steering wheel controls, cruise control and ‘follow me home’ headlights, as well as interior storage options. Like the hatch the 4-door sedan is powered by a 1.6 litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine equipped with standard 5-speed manual or 6-speed automatic and shares a five-star ANCAP safety rating. The hatch has sold 1,318 units since its release last November and Holden spokesman John Elsworth says the sedan will be “an excellent addition to the range”. “The addition of the sedan variant adds a new dimension of practicality and flexibility to the Barina range,” he says.

By an official measure, at least.This dating-almost-back-to-the-millennium crap can – a Daewoo Kalos in mild disguise – has had its crash safety rating bumped up from a bottom of the ladder two stars from five (the worst in an Australia-available new passenger vehicle) to a Commodore-matching four.Which is nice.But why did this need to happen? Why the sudden volte face?Because, according to Holden, there was nothing wrong with the dingy Daewoo dunger in the first place. At least that’s what it claimed back in oh-five when it succeeded the comparatively brilliant Opel Corsa (the 2001 Wheels Car of the Year, no less) in rebadged-as-a-Barina guise.This is despite the unanimous verdict among the motoring hack collegiate that the so-called Barina was a pile of pus. It’s just that certain of this fraternity neglected to write that.“It’s a nice package backed up by Holden,” one of these trilled unctuously.Yet I remember the gripless and squealing at no provocation standard tyres, the manual shift that moved like a breadstick being stirred through porridge, the steering that would have disgraced a pre-PlayStation video game, the hostile relationship between front and rear ends when in motion, and the unrivalled air of cheap nastiness that pervaded the whole construct.Equally one recalls the seething barely post-pubescent Holden operative assigned the task of taking me to task for permitting this to be said in Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph; a sensation uncannily reminiscent of the time I was menaced by a yapping poodle.Yet more indelible is the memory of a more senior Holden operative chuckling delightedly during the launch of yet another Daewoo (the dismal Epica) that great numbers of girls were attending dealer’s events designed to sign ’em up to a Barina. Talk about a Kalos attitude.So if the bogus Barina was critique-proof, why the need for improvement?Could it be that Holden – heaven forbid – wasn’t being perfectly Francis when they decried the original ANCAP verdict on the Kalos/Barina? Or have they just now stumbled on this realization, which means the company is seven years behind the rest of the world? 

   The baby Barina is now far safer than it was, and almost up to the standard of the top selling Commodore, after a sales slide triggered by a sub-par score in Australian New-Car Assessment Program crash testing.The Barina only scored a two-star rating after it hit Australia in 2006 but a major development program this year in Korea has seen that boosted to four stars in official NCAP ratings which become public this morning. (SUB: Thursday) NCAP is claiming credit for the improvement, and RACV chief engineer Michael Case said yesterday that GM Daewoo - which supplies the Barina to Holden - even invited a safety delegation to visit its base in Korea to help with improvements to the car."It shows that once people know (about a poor NCAP score) they respond by not buying that vehicle. Immediately after the result was published there was a lot of negative publicity," Case said yesterday."Safety became more top-of-mind ... and people responded. Clearly there was a move away from it, sales-wise.""NCAP is claiming the credit for putting pressure on GM Daewoo, through Holden, to improve their safety performance. We tracked the sales of the Barina after our result was made public and there was clearly a connection."Changes to the latest Barina, which went on sale in late July as a2009 model, run deep and include everything from a stronger body structure to tougher B-pillars and standard side airbags.GM Holden says the easiest way to pick the 'safer' Barina is by new sheetmetal on the front end, which looks distinctly different even though the car is still officially the same model.It is trumpeting the four-star score for the Barina, which now matches the Commodore, Viva and Captiva. But even the Commodore falls short of the maximum five-star ranking of the safest Australian-made car, the Ford Falcon."This announcement confirms the effectiveness of our various safety improvements," the executive director for sales, marketing and after- sales at GM Holden, Alan Batey, said yesterday.But Case said the changes would not have come without help from NCAP and the pressure which came from the Barina's sales slide. He also said that the change to a Korean-made Barina had seen the car's result slip from the four-star ranking of the previous model, which was designed and built in Europe."Clearly it was a cheaper product. GM Daewoo wanted to improve the result and a couple of Australian NCAP people went to Korea earlier this year," Case said."We spoke to them about what could be done to improve the performance of the car. It was clear they were committed to getting from two to four stars with the vehicle."They are now just across the line into four stars. They really focussed on the areas that would improve their score. They have taken more time to develop the vehicle." 

Safety is the new buzzword for the Holden Barina. After scoring a two-star rating in ANCAP testing, a new and improved Barina is now claimed to be better in a crash.The Barina is still basically a Daewoo carryover design, not one of the forthcoming global GM vehicles, but it has been upgraded with side airbags and more body reinforcement in a mid-life change that includes the predictable facelifting work to the body and cabin.“We are trying to address the safety in the car,” GM Holden's director of marketing, Phil Brook, says.“In our view, we have made some significant improvements from a safety point of view. It's the only car in its class with standard side airbags — and has some changes to the structure of the car. It's a way of addressing any concerns about safety.”Brook says Holden will not donate a car for an updated NCAP test because it believes its work is more than good enough.“We design the car for real-world tests and NCAP is only one measure. Obviously, we would prefer a better safety image.”The latest Barina comes with a slight price increase at a time when GM Holden says it is struggling to keep pace with Australian demand for the car.“We have people screaming for them,” Brooks says. “Given we have them, the car is good for probably 1200 units a month. It varies from 900 to 1200, depending on stock.”Brooks says Holden has lifted the bottom line on the Barina, but the increase is down to improvements and the costs of the airbags and raw materials.“It's up at retail by about $800. It's to cover the cost of a number of changes,” he says.The latest Barina has a new grille and changes to the headlights and tail-lights, as well as a cabin including an updated instrument panel, console and new seat fabrics.The new-look dash has a four-circle instrument cluster with matt-chrome trims.Prices run from the three-door hatch, from $14,490, to the four-door sedan and five-door hatch from $15,990. The major option is anti-skid brakes with alloy wheels at $1190.“It's what we would call a minor change to this particular generation of Barina,” Brook says, hinting that the all-new replacement is about two years away and definitely part of the global GM product push. 

The wraps are off the new Barina