GM Holden eyes local mart

By Sharen Kaur

sharen@nstp.com.my

Published in NST on March 20, 2013

EXPORT VERSION: Aussie carmaker may rebadge its concept cars under the Chevrolet brand if there is demand in Malaysia

GM Holden Ltd (GMHL), Australia's second biggest car- maker, may rebadge its Holden concept cars under the Chevrolet brand and offer them to the Malaysian market depending on demand, says its chief designer Richard Ferlazzo.

GMHL designs, engineers and manufacturers small and large concept cars under its own Holden brand for the Australian market. They include the Commodore range of sedans, Sportwagon and Caprice, priced at between A$15,000 and A$60,000 (RM48,000 and RM194,000).

The company, which is headquartered in Port Melbourne, Victoria, also sells about 5,000 units of the cars in the Middle East.

Ferlazzo told Business Times at the Australian Automotive Week 2013 here that there is currently a demand for Holden cars in Malaysia but the scale was too small for export.

He added that GMHL's parent, US automaker General Motors (GM), may also not favour the idea of selling Holden cars directly to Malaysia as it is promoting Chevrolet as a global brand.

"The Holden Commodore, which has been in the market for more than 15 years, is very popular in Australia. We are launching a new version of the Commodore over the next few months with new prepositions, configurations and designs.

"If Malaysians like the new version, we may rebadge it under the Chevrolet brand and offer it to them. The engineering aspects, specifications and performance will be the same. The only major difference between the Commodore and the Chevrolet is the body," Ferlazzo said.

Rebadging is applying a different brand or trademark to an existing car and marketing it as a different model. Rebadging is common because of the high cost of designing and engineering a totally new model, or establishing a new brand.

GMHL has for the past 60 years been designing and engineering cars for GM that includes Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac and Buick, which are produced in the United States, and European-manufactured Opel and Vauxhall.

The company has offered badge-engineered Chevrolet, Nissan, Suzuki, Toyota, and Vauxhall Motors models in sharing arrangements with GM Korea, Opel and Isuzu-sourced models.

"The industry is growing in terms of number of cars sold each year but there is competition. There are a lot of brands in the market place. How we differentiate ourselves is through style, functions and value. For the price you pay, you get a lot of the car," Ferlazzo said.

GMHL was previously known as Holden Body Builder before becoming a subsidiary of GM in 1931.

The history of Holden dates back to 1856 when it was founded as a saddlery manufacturer. It moved into the automotive field in 1908. The current name was adopted in 2005.

GMHL currently holds around 45 per cent share in Australia's automotive market.