While all eyes were on the highly-publicised transition of Holden from Australian car-maker to full-line importer later this year, another milestone deal was being discussed that has the potential to put the lion brand on yet another new path.
With the end of local Commodore manufacturing from October this year the entire Australian line-up will be sourced from other global regions including Europe, but a big French spanner has been thrown in the works.
In a significant deal, French automotive brand conglomerate PSA Group has taken over General Motors’ European brands Opel and Vauxhall as part of a €2.2 billion deal ($A3.1b) throwing the shape of future European-sourced Holdens into uncertainty.
When the deal is completed in the latter quarter of this year, existing PSA brands Peugeot, Citroen and DS will join forces with Opel and UK sister brand Vauxhall to become the continent’s second largest auto group with a 17 per cent stake of the market and only just behind German giant Volkswagen.
So what does the deal mean for Australia and the supply of cars that have already been confirmed?
Well the Australian brand is saying that, quite simply, nothing will change under the new arrangement and the arrival of Opels badged as Holdens will continue as they are already are such as in the case of the Astra, for example.
“Holden and Opel have had close ties for many years and delivered fantastic vehicles to Australian customers, including the current all-new Astra and the next-generation Commodore due in 2018,” Holden said in a statement after the announcement emerged from Europe. “The good news is these product programs are not affected at all.”
But while that may well be the case for the foreseeable future and as long as the models that are coming out of Europe are still the ones designed under GM ownership, what about a decade or so down the line when the French blood is coursing in the veins of new vehicles?
It is much the same story coming from the other side of the fence – where there is soon to be no fence at all – with Citroen’s CEO Linda Jackson repeating the positive sentiments of Holden, and explained that operations will continue “exactly as it was before, because basically the purchase of Opel simply adds another brand,” she said.
“We will still continue with all the brands we’ve got because we see them as complementary, we don’t see them as substitutionary, so for us it’s exactly the same,” she said.
“We will continue to make sure we move forward in Australia and to have good representation and we have good models.”
Among the models to come from Europe to Australian showrooms will be the eagerly anticipated replacement for the Australian-made Commodore, which is sold as the Insignia in Europe.
Just as a number of models in the current GM global pool share platforms, engines and technologies, it is highly likely that at a point in the future, Opel and ultimately Holden models will share the underpinnings of Peugeot, Citroen and DS cars.
Even General Motors president Dan Ammann was saying little about the long-term future of European-sourced vehicles following the deal.
Speaking at the Geneva motor show immediately following the announcement, the GM boss said it was too soon to discuss details publicly, but reiterated the respect that GM has for Holden.
“What I want to emphasise is we are 100 per cent committed to the business in Australia and New Zealand,” he said. “We have a lot of exciting things in the pipeline and it is going to be a really good period of time for the business down there.
“There are a lot of people inside GM that have a lot of history with Holden. There is nothing we want more than to see the business be successful and prosper down there and we are totally committed to that happening.”
Mr Ammann would not comment on the likelihood of Holden badged Peugeots and Citroens as a possibility for the long term, once the current GM-designed cars were due for replacement.
“Clearly the current models that are just launching we will run through their full lifecycle and what we do beyond that is yet to be determined,” he said.
Fans of GM-owned brands that are feeling a little anxious about the recent development may find some relief in the news that it looks likely that the company’s luxury brands are remaining firmly under North American ownership for now.
While the more accessible ranges of Opel and Vauxhall will be taken under the PSA banner, high-end brand Cadillac and Chevrolet – which sells the Camaro and Corvette in Europe – will remain the property of GM in Europe and the rest of the world.
According to US publication Automotive News, General Motors president and CEO Mary Barra confirmed that the company would retain the high-end brands in Europe.
“That is the plan at this time, to continue with those models and brands in Europe,” she said. “We continue to grow the Cadillac brand. We’ll continue to do that in a very disciplined fashion.”
Australian Holden fans already have a lot to get used to with the end of local production but is the news that lion-badged cars will have a blend of North American, French and Aussie DNA a bridge too far for even the most staunch enthusiast?
