Holden Barina News

The Chevrolet Aveo sedan - the North American version of Holden's light car - has ranked poorly in the latest US roof crush test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The Smart ForTwo earned the highest rating of good compared with acceptable for the Honda Jazz, Hyundai Accent, Mini Cooper, and Toyota Yaris. The Aveo was marginal. It is the second time the safety spotlight has shone on the small Holden. In the first round of ANCAP testing it rated two stars. But the latest model is a four-star car, getting a stronger body and B-pillars and standard side airbags. It uses more high-strength steel to boost impact protection. Under the IIHS roof crush test, vehicles’ roofs must be twice as strong as the current minimum US federal safety standard to receive a good rating. The ratings are part of new roof strength testing program, adding to consumer information already gathered for front, side, and rear crashworthiness. The institute's front and side crash test protocols are similar to the European New Car Assessment Program. Institute president, Adrian Lund, expects the roof crush test to drive improved rollover crash protection. "In the same way our frontal offest and side test have led to better occupant protection in these kinds of crashes," he says. There has been a big improvement in roof structures over the past few years as carmakers make stronger bodies to earn better IIHS and EuroNCAP crash ratings. Strong A and B pillars help prevent intrusion and also strengthen the roof. "Small cars should have an easier time with the roof strength test," Lund says. "Their light weight means their roofs don't have to work as hard to keep the structure around the occupants intact in a rollover." In the US test, a metal plate is pushed against one side of a roof at a constant speed. To earn a good rating, a roof must withstand a force of four times the car's weight before reaching a depth of 125mm. The Smart withstood a force of 5.4 times its weight. The Barina withstood a force of just over three times its weight.  

It could even be a Reno. All the names fit, but the one most likely to fit for Australia is Viva. Or perhaps Barina. The name game has developed as General Motors pushes its smallest new global design towards showrooms. GM has already created the Corolla-sized Cruze, which is sold with a variety of names and badges around the world, and now has its next compact almost ready for action. The names will vary because it is planned to be sold as a Chevrolet, a Daewoo, a Buick and a Holden _ as well as a Suzuki. Regardless of the name, the newcomer is a youthful little city car which will start a a five-door hatch in 2010 and will be followed by a sedan and baby station wagon in 2011. These Carparazzi pictures show the Barina as it is today, disguised as a test car during trials in Europe, with great looking computer renderings of how it will finally look once it has been morphed for the road. It has a similar edgy style to the Cruze, but also reflects the need for maximum space and style in a car which is likely to sell for well below $20,000 in Australia. Few details have emerged yet on the baby car, which has been spawned for low-cost production at Daewoo in Korea. But it is likely to have an all-new mechanical platform, with cabin package and suspension systems which are flexible enough to suit the many needs of GM buyers around the world. And the car is going ahead despite the recent chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the USA. It is set for Australia, probably towards the middle of next year, although no-one at GM Holden is prepared to comment on the car. Or the name.

A dying Sydney newspaper this week rather cleverly headlined their coverage of the GM humiliation as “Government Motors Holden”. Not bad that. A flash of the old cleverness. Except, of course, taxpayers forking out to subsidise the building of cars they themselves don’t want is not exactly news in this country. Yeah, yeah, yeah - everyone’s cock-a-hoop that Holden’s remaining 6500 workers, its dealer network, and the thousands whose livelihoods are contingent on this brand, are not going to be out of work. For now at least … The manufacture of cars badged Holden – whether it’s an essentially 20th century six cylinder sedan bought mainly by fleets or a re-badged Daewoo – means the marque remains as firmly clamped to the breast of subsidy as a newborn to its mummy. The federal Government has committed $6.2 billion of your and my money to succouring local car makers. It’s paying Holden to build the globally-engineered, four-cylinder car (and already endlessly spruiked) Cruze here from next year. So it had better be bloody good. It had, in fact – given that Holden has lost $300 million in recent years – be better than the Mazda3. That’s the benchmark for sub-$30K car quality. As the May sales figures showed yet again, it’s the car on which Australians spend their own money Yes, the ever declining Commodore sold 3683 to the 3’s 3038 – but not one of the Mazda’s sales was to fleets, without which Holden’s scarcely overtaxed production lines would be barely ticking over. Nor can Holden continue to rely on the approximately 75 per cent of bung ’em at out a bargain price fleet orders - not given the haste with which they shed value. So the only question is if Holden is to justify the continued injection of funds from people who really don’t want to buy them, is this: will the Cruze be good enough to trouble the Mazda3? Because if it’s just another anodyne re-badge job – if it’s just another Barina, Viva or Epica – you can officially remove that “i” from icon.

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 a 2009 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

The car industry uses a web of alliances to survive. Lust, affairs, one-night stands, engagements, marriages and divorces — it can be hard sharing your love. It can also be expensive, especially if the human analogy is applied to the car business. DaimlerChrysler's recent divorce cost the now-solo Daimler AG a cool $33 billion. Daimler and its former partner, now known by her maiden name of Chrysler Group, still share the kids. These include shared components and manufacturing, including the Chrysler Crossfire (based on the previous Mercedes-Benz SLK) and Jeep Grand Cherokee, which uses Mercedes' V6 diesel engine and transmission. Daimler-Benz and Chrysler courted in the late 1990s, sealing their association in 1998 with a new name, DaimlerChrysler. The marriage was mutually beneficial. Daimler gained economies of scale and a new customer for engines, transmissions and an outlet for its old platforms. The previous Mercedes E-Class shares the same platform as the Chrysler 300C. Chrysler gained unprecedented, cost-effective access to the drivetrains used to power its distinctively styled cars. Of the divorce, shareholders of Daimler- Chrysler spitefully said “I knew it wouldn't work”. Marriages may be difficult, but alliances are what keep many car companies afloat. All these inter-relationships are spurred by one goal — profit. So competitive is the car industry that every dollar counts. Making cars cheaper improves profits, even if that means relocating factories to countries with low labour costs, non-existent unions and tax-free government incentives. Few would know that 10 models on the Australian market are made in Thailand. South Africa makes five, there's one from the Czech Republic, three from Slovakia, one from Poland, four from Malaysia and one from Indonesia. Build quality in most cases is as good as you'd expect from a country-of-origin factory. The biggest difference is manufacturing costs. Building a Volkswagen Golf in Germany, for example, costs substantially more than building the same car in South Africa. Sharing components such as engines, transmissions, platforms and bodies with a rival company — or at least one perceived as being a rival — is big business. The platform of the Mazda3 is similar to the Volvo S40 and Ford Focus. Ford has a big chunk of Mazda's shares and owns Volvo outright. The Toyota Aygo, a one-litre hatch soon to be sold in Australia, is built in the Czech Republic with the Citroen C1 and Peugeot 107. The only differences are interior trim, grilles, head and tail lights. Everything else, except the badge, is identical. General Motors has a giant web of ownership, component sharing and minor shareholdings. It owns Saab and Hummer, and rebadges cars including the Daewoo Matiz as Chevrolets. GM owned 20 per cent of Fiat until it dissolved the relationship in 2005. But retains component sharing deals and owns 50 per cent of Fiat's JTD diesel engine technology. GM also has 3 per cent of Suzuki (it had 20 per cent until selling down in March 2006) and 7.9 per cent of Isuzu. This relationship crosses with Fiat. Suzuki buys Fiat diesel engines for its European cars but also buys diesels from the PSA group (owner of Peugeot and Citroen) and Renault. Fiat this year will also supply diesel engine's to Saab. The Suzuki Splash, to be launched in Europe later this year is based on the Swift/SX4 platform, but will be rebadged the Opel/Vauxhall Agila for European sales. Fiat sells the Suzuki SX4 as the Sedici in Europe. Suzuki also owns 11 per cent of GM-DAT, the Korean-based company that makes the Holden Epica, Captiva, Viva and Barina. GM sold its 20 per cent of Subaru parent, Fuji Heavy Industries, in 2005. Fuji bought back most of the shares, though Toyota bought in and now owns 8.7 per cent of the company. Toyota also owns Daihatsu and has a big stake in Yamaha. Yamaha has an engineering alliance with Toyota — twin-cam engine and multi-valve heads included — and recently created the V8 engine for Ford-owned Volvo. GM also gets its Saab plant in Sweden to make the Cadillac BLS mid-size car, alongside its Saab 9-3 and 9-5. The Hyundai Sonata's 2.4-litre engine is shared with the Jeep Compass, Dodge Caliber, Chrysler Sebring and Mitsubishi Outlander. Renault has an alliance with Nissan and owns Samsung (Korea) and has a joint venture with Mahindra (India). Porsche's Cayenne SUV is built in Volkswagen's factory in Slovakia alongside the Volkswagen Touareg and Audi Q7. Porsche's Cayman is built in Finland. That's just the tip of iceberg. Peyton Place has nothing on these guys.  

The Royal Automobile Club of Victoria has just completed its annual cost of ownership survey of a range of current models. The survey looks at total running cost and is based on vehicles travelling 15,000km a year, which is the Australian average. It factors in the cost of a typical car loan, depreciation, registration, club membership, comprehensive insurance plus servicing, fuel and tyre costs. Fuel costs were calculated on an unleaded petrol pump price of $1.26 a litre, $1.31 for diesel and 47c for LPG. Fuel prices have risen significantly since the survey was finished so true running costs will be even higher. The survey results show the cheapest car costs about $6000 a year to run, compared to $18,500 for the most expensive. The most affordable car was Hyundai's Getz at $116.54 a week, followed by Holden's Barina ($120.85) and the Toyota Yaris ($125.88). Go up a size and Toyota's Corolla was the winner at $154.49, followed by the Ford Focus ($156.49) and Holden Astra ($158.12). The medium class sector was won by Toyota's Camry at $193.05, followed by the Mazda6 at $197.85, and Honda Accord Euro ($218.07). Large cars are, as expected, more expensive to run but, surprisingly not that much more. The best was Mitsubishi's 380 at $200.44, so it is cheaper than the Honda Accord. Toyota's Aurion was next best ($217.60), followed by Ford's Falcon ($229.13). For large families, the Kia Carnival people mover at $216.68 beat the Honda Odyssey ($228) and Toyota Tarago ($267.61). Diesel and hybrid cars were cheaper to run but don't forget diesel cars initially cost more and replacement batteries for hybrids are hellishly expensive and have a short lifespan. The cheapest was the Honda Civic hybrid at $175.29, beating the Toyota Prius at $200.63. A VW Golf diesel was better than the Prius on the wallet at $187.93. A Ford Falcon running on LPG cost $211.43 a week, while the dual-fuel Commodore came in at $225.10. The popular compact SUV market was headed by Honda's CRV at $203.86, followed by Nissan's Xtrail ($207.36) and Subaru's Forester ($208.52). Medium SUVs had the Holden Captiva out in front at $225.16, followed by the Ford Territory ($234.47) and Toyota Prado ($286.16). At the expensive end of the running cost spreadsheet were the big four-wheel-drives. The cheapest was Nissan's Patrol at $269.53, while the Toyota LandCruiser cost $357.51 a week.

They went down that path with a cosmetically enhanced Nissan Pulsar-based Holden Astra in the 1980s that bombed miserably. But today, fuel prices are skyrocketing — and increasingly becoming a critical part of the car-purchase equation. HSV is returning to economy without deserting its traditional V8 heartland. Today you can fire up a HSV-tuned 177kW turbocharged Astra VXR and now the company is looking at bringing in the hot turbocharged 1.6-litre Corsa VXR. Already a hit in the UK, where it went on sale in March, the three-door pocket rocket will mark a continuing evolution in the direction of HSV. Former HSV chairman John Crennan, who retired last year but still wears the brand on his sleeve and remains a part of the company, explains HSV does not necessarily have to replicate a Holden product in its line-up, meaning an Epica HSV is highly unlikely. “The Corsa is one Euro brand we're looking at,” he says. Crennan says there is no specific time frame for the arrival of the Corsa, but if the numbers stack up, it could be here within 18 months. The car would be pitched into Mini Cooper S and Peugeot 207 GT territory with a price tag around $35,000. The Corsa VXR has 143kW on tap at 5850 revs and 230Nm from 1980 revs from a lightweight 1.6-litre four, giving the car sprint time of zero to 100km/h in 6.8 seconds and top speed of more than 220km/h. The VXR's four-pot is mated to a close-ratio six-speed manual. With its performance credentials and bold styling, the mini hatch fits perfectly into HSV's DNA. The mirrors, foglight-surrounds and centre exhaust all have a triangular theme, while the chunky front and rear bumpers, side skirts and 18-inch alloys hint at the performance underneath. Inside there are sculpted Recaro seats, racecar-style, flat-bottomed steering wheel, drilled alloy pedals and piano-black dash trim. Like the Mini Cooper S, it has an overboost facility that increases torque on demand to more than 260Nm under hard acceleration. The power is kept in check with a specially tuned ESP system, up-rated disc brakes, suspension and variably assisted power steering, which alters weight and feel of the wheel depending on the way the car is driven. In Australia, Holden's previous-generation XC Barina was a highly respected Opel-sourced Corsa model. But when the new TK Barina went on sale late in 2005, the company chose to source it from GM-Daewoo in South Korea. While competitively priced, the newest Barina scored poorly in the Australian and European New-Car Assessment Programs. It only managed a two-star crash rating. Meanwhile, the Brits are raving about our HSV Clubsport sedan. In a land beset by high petrol prices and appalling congestion, they can't get enough of the 6.0-litre — badged as a Vauxhall VXR8. HSV's managing director, Scott Grant, is also eyeing other markets. “We're committed to 300 Clubsport R8s a year to the UK for the next three years,” he says, adding that the new long-wheelbase Grange is the next export candidate — possibly to the Middle East and China.