Opel shutting down in Australia effective immediately

[Owen1888]

Holden, Opel, Vauxhall......who cares?
It's all just GM crap.
Funny how they all have the same lion as their emblems, the idea that you could buy the same car here in Australia with 2 different badges is nothing new with GM, Holden has shared badges with numerous crap cars over the years.
The 'legendary' VK Commodore was an Opel before it was a Holden, no great loss.

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by Owen1888

Holden, Opel, Vauxhall......who cares?
It's all just GM crap.
Funny how they all have the same lion as their emblems, the idea that you could buy the same car here in Australia with 2 different badges is nothing new with GM, Holden has shared badges with numerous crap cars over the years.
The 'legendary' VK Commodore was an Opel before it was a Holden, no great loss.

The force is strong in this one...

[Mr Hardware]

This is going to happen more and more as the aussie dollar gets weaker compared to the US dollar. Remember when Jeep almost pulled the pin in Australia in about 2002 when it was 50c to the dollar?

[MethodX]

Originally Posted by Owen1888

Holden, Opel, Vauxhall......who cares?
It's all just GM crap.
Funny how they all have the same lion as their emblems, the idea that you could buy the same car here in Australia with 2 different badges is nothing new with GM, Holden has shared badges with numerous crap cars over the years.
The 'legendary' VK Commodore was an Opel before it was a Holden, no great loss.

Opel uses a lightning bolt and Vauxhall a Griffin.
Mercurey is gone too. and Lincoln could be next... no great loss huh...

Seeing as they are all Yank multinationals.

[XR Martin]

Originally Posted by Owen1888

Holden, Opel, Vauxhall......who cares?
It's all just GM crap.
Funny how they all have the same lion as their emblems, the idea that you could buy the same car here in Australia with 2 different badges is nothing new with GM, Holden has shared badges with numerous crap cars over the years.
The 'legendary' VK Commodore was an Opel before it was a Holden, no great loss.

It was the VB Commodore. And apparently the amount of money spent on the Opel to become a Commodore, could of designed a completely unique car.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by MethodX

Mercurey is gone too. and Lincoln could be next... no great loss huh...

Seeing as they are all Yank multinationals.

Your right, no great loss.

[calais]

Im not too sure whats breeding faster in this thread. Sarcasm or stupidity.

What it means is that a company is bleeding cash somewhere and thats never good for competition or our economy.

GM, Ford, Fiat/Chrysler whoever ALL have major roles to play in offering an adundance of choice like we have never seen before. How people can hide behind a baseless and childish dedication to a brand and throw critisism from a keyboard just shows the level of understanding the general public has about how a profitable global business needs to be run.

[Buntz]

I'd be more excited to see more brands leave... they take sales from the locals.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Buntz

I'd be more excited to see more brands leave... they take sales from the locals.

What, so therefore making people buy a car they don't want?

[castellan]

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

It was the VB Commodore. And apparently the amount of money spent on the Opel to become a Commodore, could of designed a completely unique car.

The Opel was a superior car to our rubbish commodore we got here in this backward nation,
Our Red motor vs the Opel 3.0L boy ! that thing could do 200km/h and the HP one 220km/h.
It was 1990 before we got the Opel independent rear end here in our statesman, Opel had it in 1975 our type of what we call a VB Commodore.

It was Opel that was the closest cousin of our first Holden not USA GM.

[fte50]

Originally Posted by DJM83

What, so therefore making people buy a car they don't want?

Bluntly, a big fat YES, let everyone buy a car they don't want so long as you know your children will have jobs.

Honestly, it was good enough for our forefathers to drive local made, were they lesser of a human being than the population of today?
I remember a generation of people who weren't concerned of brand image, and yuppy statements.

In hindsight though, people must be hard pleasers if they cannot find any compromise within them to drive a local, be it on size, efficiency quality, performance etc.

I know plenty here will disagree, but if we all drove a falcadore would we be any worse off?

[2011G6E]

Very very popular brand overseas, and have been for many years.

However, they're virtually unheard of here in Oz. Given the huge choice of very good cars from all over the world we have access to at the moment anyway, it was probably a bit foolish to try and jump in with something middle of the range. Most of the success stories lately have been new models that are cheap and packed with features.

Originally Posted by fte50

Bluntly, a big fat YES, let everyone buy a car they don't want so long as you know your children will have jobs.

Honestly, it was good enough for our forefathers to drive local made, were they lesser of a human being than the population of today?
I remember a generation of people who weren't concerned of brand image, and yuppy statements.

In hindsight though, people must be hard pleasers if they cannot find any compromise within them to drive a local, be it on size, efficiency quality, performance etc.

I know plenty here will disagree, but if we all drove a falcadore would we be any worse off?

Yes, we would. Once you let the local players know that they had no competition, why try harder to build better cars? It's like restaurants overseas that automatically add the tip to your bill...what incentive is there to try harder when you know you're going to get the money anyway? That's what killed the American industry back in the seventies and eighties...shoddily built lumps that Yanks honestly thought were :the best in the world", even as it fell apart around them.

Do you honestly think people should "compromise" and put up with whatever they have dished out to them, ignoring the best the world outside has to offer? That they should pay more and use patriotism as a reason to buy cars that they DON'T want?
Obviously by your post, you do.

Our "forefathers drove local" because they were virtually forced to...they had been lied to that our local cars were the best, couldn't be equalled, and until they actually were exposed to foreign cars, they didn't know what they'd been missing. It was a real culture shock to find out that what you believed were expensive options were merely standard features on them funny foreign cars. That's one way that history is repeating itself today. We see foreign cars coming out with all sorts of features and fitments that are either optional or just plain not available on Australian built cars like the Falcon and Commodore.

Don't believe that back in the 1970's people didn't want foreign cars...they wanted them alright, but strong tariffs and import duties kept people out of them, meaning they had to grudgingly drive whatever the local makers dished out and told them to be happy with. They'd been brainwashed by advertising that honestly made them believe that they were lucky that they were buying primitive sedans with gas guzzling engines and rudimentary suspension and lack of standard features.

Why do I mention the old days? Because it's true...if you don't remember the past, you are bound to relive it...and we pretty much are in some ways. Ford didn't accept that the public had changed it's needs...not "wants", but needs...and the Falcon just wasn't part of it any more. There were and are plenty of better packaged better equipped cheaper cars that do the same job.

[JG34JA]

Originally Posted by fte50

Bluntly, a big fat YES, let everyone buy a car they don't want so long as you know your children will have jobs.

Honestly, it was good enough for our forefathers to drive local made, were they lesser of a human being than the population of today?
I remember a generation of people who weren't concerned of brand image, and yuppy statements.

In hindsight though, people must be hard pleasers if they cannot find any compromise within them to drive a local, be it on size, efficiency quality, performance etc.

I know plenty here will disagree, but if we all drove a falcadore would we be any worse off?

We'd certainly all be better off with commonality of parts - vastly more efficient.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by fte50

Bluntly, a big fat YES, let everyone buy a car they don't want so long as you know your children will have jobs.

Honestly, it was good enough for our forefathers to drive local made, were they lesser of a human being than the population of today?
I remember a generation of people who weren't concerned of brand image, and yuppy statements.

In hindsight though, people must be hard pleasers if they cannot find any compromise within them to drive a local, be it on size, efficiency quality, performance etc.

I know plenty here will disagree, but if we all drove a falcadore would we be any worse off?

I dont want a falcon or a commodore, is that so hard to understand?
Im not saying that i would be a lessor person for owning one i just dont want one.
Im not concerned about brand image, i still own a Ford FFS.
I guess im still fortunate the brand i love still makes a car i want i guess.
I wouldnt be worse off but i dont want one, simple.

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by DJM83

I dont want a falcon or a commodore, is that so hard to understand?
Im not saying that i would be a lessor person for owning one i just dont want one.
Im not concerned about brand image, i still own a Ford FFS.

I wouldnt be worse off but i dont want one, simple.

Exactly right.
But that's what a lot of people simply cannot understand...there will be people here on this forum who cannot fathom how you would want any other Ford than a Falcon.
In the public, there are people, a lot of people apparently, who simply don't want what a Falcon has to offer.
We have had cars of all makes, all sizes, all cylinder configurations. We've had a few Commodores and a couple of Falcons. Our last car...the G6E...was a good car. It could have been a great car with a few extra features and a little more build quality and materials. However, as good as it was, in the end it didn't suit our needs. The car that did suit our needs was a twin cab Triton. For many many people out here that's what they need, and want, both at the same time.

Do people suggest we honestly force people to buy only a couple of makes of car, and expect them to be happy with it?

Let me know how you get on with that...

[fte50]

Fair enuff !

[OZQUAD44]

Excessive choice doesn't always equate to an improved a situation, look at pay tv, hundreds of channels of crap.

I bet some Opel buyers are certainly regretting there choice right now.

[castellan]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

Very very popular brand overseas, and have been for many years.

However, they're virtually unheard of here in Oz. Given the huge choice of very good cars from all over the world we have access to at the moment anyway, it was probably a bit foolish to try and jump in with something middle of the range. Most of the success stories lately have been new models that are cheap and packed with features.




Yes, we would. Once you let the local players know that they had no competition, why try harder to build better cars? It's like restaurants overseas that automatically add the tip to your bill...what incentive is there to try harder when you know you're going to get the money anyway? That's what killed the American industry back in the seventies and eighties...shoddily built lumps that Yanks honestly thought were :the best in the world", even as it fell apart around them.

Do you honestly think people should "compromise" and put up with whatever they have dished out to them, ignoring the best the world outside has to offer? That they should pay more and use patriotism as a reason to buy cars that they DON'T want?
Obviously by your post, you do.

Our "forefathers drove local" because they were virtually forced to...they had been lied to that our local cars were the best, couldn't be equalled, and until they actually were exposed to foreign cars, they didn't know what they'd been missing. It was a real culture shock to find out that what you believed were expensive options were merely standard features on them funny foreign cars. That's one way that history is repeating itself today. We see foreign cars coming out with all sorts of features and fitments that are either optional or just plain not available on Australian built cars like the Falcon and Commodore.

Don't believe that back in the 1970's people didn't want foreign cars...they wanted them alright, but strong tariffs and import duties kept people out of them, meaning they had to grudgingly drive whatever the local makers dished out and told them to be happy with. They'd been brainwashed by advertising that honestly made them believe that they were lucky that they were buying primitive sedans with gas guzzling engines and rudimentary suspension and lack of standard features.

Why do I mention the old days? Because it's true...if you don't remember the past, you are bound to relive it...and we pretty much are in some ways. Ford didn't accept that the public had changed it's needs...not "wants", but needs...and the Falcon just wasn't part of it any more. There were and are plenty of better packaged better equipped cheaper cars that do the same job.

If you look at our aussie cars in the past you will see the fact is they were made for us aussies in this land.
Look at the USA cars pre 80's they were to big.
The jap cars to small.
European cars to weak.
And if you buy utes, we made the best.
Look at the first falcons no problems in the USA but hear fell apart and the commodore did as well, so they had to make them for aus conditions.
One has to remember the roads we had back in the day and not just your city driving hacks.

[csv8]

Consumers are the winners from Opel's decision to quite the Australian market with big discounts across the now defunct range.

Opel prices have been slashed by thousands of dollars in light of the brand’s recent announcement that it will close its doors.

Dealerships are “heavily discounting prices” to clear stock, and buyers are reportedly flocking to showrooms to seek out bargains from General Motors’ European brand.

Drive contacted a number of dealerships, and we’ve been informed that potential customers can expect to save big bucks on all models in the Opel range.
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“They’re flying out the door,” one dealer told us.

Drive understands Opel Australia has issued a pricing sheet detailing recommended drive-away prices for all of its models during the closure period, with losses subsidised by the brand's head office. However, it seems some dealers are more eager than others to clear their lots, and there are savings of up to $15,000 to be had.

The Corsa, which usually starts from $16,490 plus on-road costs, can be had for $12,000 on the road for a low kilometre demonstrator - a saving of about $7000. Opt for the five-door model and you shouldn’t pay more than $14,000, despite its existing price of $18,990 plus on-road costs.

The performance-focused Corsa OPC model, previously priced at about $34,000 on the road, can now be had for less than $25,000 - a huge 27 per cent drop.

The Astra small car struggled against $19,990 drive-away deals from Hyundai, Nissan, Ford and Mazda, but you can now get an Astra automatic hatch for less than $20,000 on the road.

There are even examples priced from as little at $16,990 - about $12,000 less than buyers were expected to pay for an Astra hatch with an automatic transmission just a few weeks ago.

The Astra wagon is also selling at a huge discount, with models available from $22,000 - or $9000 less than the previous pricing. The three-door Astra GTC models can be had for about $23,000 - again, a drop of about $9000.

The go-fast Astra OPC is also on the bargain list - many dealers are offering a $39,990 drive-away price for this car, which used to be priced at $42,990 plus on-road costs. Shop around, though, and you could pay as little as $36,000.

For family buyers, the Opel Insignia mid-size sedan and wagon could prove a hot deal, with demonstrators selling for less than $30,000 at a number of dealerships. Most are priced towards the $35,000 mark, which still represents savings of as much as $10,000.

The Insignia OPC performance sedan is perhaps the biggest bargain of all, with pricing for it hovering around $49,000 - about $15,000 less than the pre-closure price of $59,990 plus on-road costs.

Opel Australia has again stated that buyers won’t be left out in the cold. It says General Motors is committed to ensuring all owners will be able to have their cars serviced and maintained by existing Opel dealers, and it is expected that Holden will take over all further after-sales duties once the Opel dealerships have shut their doors.

“There’s stock, we’re selling the cars, there’s no issue of warranty or protection of the consumers,” one dealer said.
http://brisbanetimes.drive.com.au/mo...809-2rmuz.html

[MattsTerritory]

I never ready heard of the brand until they came to Australia - not really much of a car nut, only really got into cars once I bought my territory.

I guess though when you think about it, a few of the Opel cars were aimed at the 18-21ish year olds and the pricing was okay.. but many people that age can't afford to purchase $20,000+ cars if they are at uni and only work a few nights a week, sad to see them go but a sign of the times I guess..

Australia has a very big market, over 60 brands according to Holden.. might be 59 brands once Holden go under..

[csv8]

Speculation is rife that Holden will add a number of Opel models to its ranks, following news of General Motors’ European brand’s decision to shut up shop in Australia.

Drive contacted a number of Opel dealers around the country and we were told on at least five occasions that some Opel models will be sold as Holdens. And the most likely candidate, it seems, is the Astra.

Almost all other parties spoken to suggested that a confirmed decision on which models will be sold by Holden was still some time from being made, but the most popular suggestion was that Holden would again offer the Astra - in particular the high-performance Astra OPC.

One source went as far as saying that “the Astra will be coming back as a Holden”.
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Another said: “Holden would be more likely to bring in the [Astra] OPC”.

Yet another suggested the Corsa city car and Insignia mid-size sedan and wagon would not be considered because they would clash too heavily with Holden’s current offerings, the Barina Spark and Barina city cars and the Malibu and Commodore family cars. That same source coyly suggested “there is plenty of speculation around the Astra range”, and that the Zafira seven-seat people-mover - which was due to launch locally this week - may also make its way to the Holden range.

The release issued by Opel Australia last week stated: “Opel will now begin analysis together with Holden regarding the potential for future Holden-badged niche product, in order to ascertain if opportunities for individual carlines exist.”

Opel Australia head of marketing and public relations, Michelle Lang, says that the brand’s parent company in Germany is eager to explore any potential product tie-ups with Holden.

“Opel in Germany don’t want to be walking away if there’s any opportunity,” Lang says. However, on the topic of specific models being sold under the Holden name, Lang says there are no plans close to being signed off.

“It is pure speculation,” she says. “Our German counterparts are simply looking to ensure there are no opportunities, and to make sure they exhaust all avenues.”

Holden corporate affairs manager Sean Poppitt says any rumours of Opel models being sold as Holden’s is “pure speculation”.

“It’s hugely speculative, and it’s far too early to discuss what may or may not happen in regard to Holden,” Poppitt says.

Any move to add the Astra to the local brand’s range would appear counter-intuitive, given Holden currently builds its own small car offering, the Cruze sedan and hatchback, here.

Drive also contacted HSV, which could potentially sell the Astra OPC as its standalone small car offering. However, HSV’s director of sales and marketing, Tim Jackson, indicates there are no such plans in place.

“We don’t talk about anything that may or may not be coming up,” Jackson says.

“We have said if we can find the right solution in the small car space we’d definitely look at it,” he says.

However, it’s believed the costs involved in turning the Astra OPC into a bespoke HSV offering may be too prohibitive for the car to be competitive, not to mention have it sell in any great volumes.

HSV did previously offer the Astra three-door as a small performance model, the HSV VXR, but the sales volumes were not large enough to sustain the car locally.
http://brisbanetimes.drive.com.au/mo...809-2rmlr.html

[DJM83]

Id own a Corsa over a Crapbox spark anyday of the week, maybe holden should turf the rubbish Barina they have and use the Opel Corsa badged as a barina.

Really hope they keep the OPC range, pity it will have an HSV badge though if they do (I do realise why)

[Bossxr8]

Opel pulled the pin because they couldn't afford to cut their prices to match rivals, how will sticking a Holden badge on them change this????

Makes no sense.

[Franco Cozzo]

I'm not in the market for a Falcon and I'd probably never would be, I buy hatches as they are more practical to me than a sedan, fit more in the boot because you can have taller items in there and you can fold the back seats down flat to make a mini-wagon.

Also since having diesel cars I won't buy anything with petrol engines again, unless its a project car or something.

Thats why I won't buy Australian cars new as it seems we only make sedans.

Most of the time when I'm driving its only me and another passenger, or maybe 4 people at most, which fit into my Focus fine.

If I wanted something to haul around a family chances are I'd go dual cab American import (which they don't sell new here) or large SUV.

[Bossxr8]

How is that related to Opel shutting down in Australia?

[eb2fairmont]

Originally Posted by castellan

The Opel was a superior car to our rubbish commodore we got here in this backward nation,
Our Red motor vs the Opel 3.0L boy ! that thing could do 200km/h and the HP one 220km/h.
It was 1990 before we got the Opel independent rear end here in our statesman, Opel had it in 1975 our type of what we call a VB Commodore.

It was Opel that was the closest cousin of our first Holden not USA GM.

Yeah but the opel protos fell apart after 100k's on aussie outback roads. Know id rather be in the holden.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

How is that related to Opel shutting down in Australia?

Well there was a big discussion just before about forcing people to buy local cars for the sake of supporting our manufacturing industry, I should have quoted it.

[csv8]

[QUOTE=Bossxr8;4844344]Opel pulled the pin because they couldn't afford to cut their prices to match rivals, how will sticking a Holden badge on them change this????

Makes no sense.[/QUOTE
put a Holden badge on anything it will sell!!!

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Well there was a big discussion just before about forcing people to buy local cars for the sake of supporting our manufacturing industry, I should have quoted it.

Originally Posted by DJM83

What, so therefore making people buy a car they don't want?

...which seems to be the way a lot of people would really like it to be...no choice, two cars on sale in Australia, you take what you get given and "compromise"...just shrug and take it, ignoring the best the world has to offer and being happy with what you get dished out and don't say "Please sir, may I have some more?".

[JG66ME]

Originally Posted by castellan

If you look at our aussie cars in the past you will see the fact is they were made for us aussies in this land.


Look at the first falcons no problems in the USA but hear fell apart and the commodore did as well, so they had to make them for aus conditions.
One has to remember the roads we had back in the day and not just your city driving hacks.

Thats what they told us. Driving in central Queensland in XA-C Falcons and HJ-Z Holdens when they were new I can say they had issues.

Hit a pothole in an X series Ford and you will be needing a wheel alignment as it is very probable that the camber pin has shifted. Other than that the XCs we had where fairly good although power wise the 6s where asthmatic.

We also had three HZ Holden 202s on site driving from Rockhampton out past Black Water. They where so unreliable it is not funny. When we got our first Commodore in 1979 it wasn't much better.

Cooling system to small, always overheating.
Tri Matic transmissions could not handle the heat and died every 20-25000km.
Exhaust manifolds warped at the ends and leaked.
Harmonic balancers let go on a regular basis and went through the radiator..
Waterpump shaft used to work its way out and the fan would go through the radiator.

All these cars had to be modified to keep them going. We fitted after market radiators, extractors to cure the manifold issues and transmission coolers. This helped a bit but they where really awful cars. Add to that they couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding.