Who will replace Holden in V8SC?

[billy bigtime]

http://www.news.com.au/business/stor...54-462,00.html

[Razor]

I think it will not be "who will replace Holden?" but "Who will buy Holden from the General Motor accreditors?" TatA, Prodrive and Tom Walkinshaw come into mind.

[billy bigtime]

Originally Posted by Razor

I think it will not be "who will replace Holden?" but "Who will buy Holden from the General Motor accreditors?" TatA, Prodrive and Tom Walkinshaw come into mind.

Toyota is my guess.

[Denosaur]

I think you might find that as part of the US Government bail-out, that the government has been given shares in GM in return for the cash. Along with so other t's & c's they have put on them.

I very much doubt that GM will go under, but parts of the body might be sold off to keep the head alive.

[david5]

Chinese company perhaps ?

"We Australians like Football, dim sims, Panda bears & Holden cars "

[TSR]

Originally Posted by Razor

I think it will not be "who will replace Holden?" but "Who will buy Holden from the General Motor accreditors?" TatA, Prodrive and Tom Walkinshaw come into mind.

Prodrive are to busy hooked up with Ford for the v8taxi series

[dazza027]

Some how i dont think Walkinshaw would have the deniro's to buy Holden outright... It would probably be some cashed up Saudi Arabian or something similar, or maybe the guy that runs redbull... who knows, but not walkinshaw

[Rob Bailey]

can't see V8 supercars lasting past this year.

[EBXR8]

Originally Posted by Rob Bailey

can't see V8 supercars lasting past this year.

Same was said for NASCAR and this year, and they are still plodding along.

[Rob Bailey]

Originally Posted by EBXR8

Same was said for NASCAR and this year, and they are still plodding along.

down here I think the corp $ will drop off.

[R4z3rw33n]

Although GM are in trouble, why would they shed part of their business that's actually performing? If anything, I'd expect GM to cling to Holden tightly.
Holden are also rumoured to be building a new small car platform from 2010 onwards, aren't they?

A Holden withdrawal from V8SC would surprise me, as it's basically the lifeblood of their marketing image.

[Rob Bailey]

Originally Posted by R4z3rw33n

Although GM are in trouble, why would they shed part of their business that's actually performing? If anything, I'd expect GM to cling to Holden tightly.
Holden are also rumoured to be building a new small car platform from 2010 onwards, aren't they?

A Holden withdrawal from V8SC would surprise me, as it's basically the lifeblood of their marketing image.

in times of trouble US companies will often pull out of countries were it is in profit example GE finance.Some bean counter back home will look at Australia and go ,sell it,close it down, its only a small % of our overall business.Hope I'm wrong but.

[xrystl]

Originally Posted by R4z3rw33n

Although GM are in trouble, why would they shed part of their business that's actually performing? If anything, I'd expect GM to cling to Holden tightly.
Holden are also rumoured to be building a new small car platform from 2010 onwards, aren't they?

A Holden withdrawal from V8SC would surprise me, as it's basically the lifeblood of their marketing image.

Holdens contribution to the GM machine = less than 1% , so they don't really contribute much more than the company's postage fees - GM is probably in the mire for well over US$100bn , shares are now worthless as there are no longer any profits and their production and lack of sales no longer cover their interest bills and workers entitlements, there is nothing in the GM line up that the people want to buy , and even if there was the population now can't afford to buy new cars . The Government can't bail them out forever . GM have been trying to offload Saab and Hummer , with no success - TATA looked at Hummer and wouldn't take it over for free - Saab is now a white elephant - Terex is for sale , the mining industry is in bust mode and Terex has an oversupply of stock from cancelled orders (this from a friend who works at Terex) and their workforce has been cut by 40% over the past 2 years.
Pretty grim picture , Holden should be happy to be under control of a new owner .

[GTRMagic]

So if Holden becomes a subsidiary of Tata or someone similar, where will Holden get the next generation of V-series chassis from?

Given that the VB/C/H/K/L/S/T/X/Y/Z/E came with some significant grounding in an Opel model, suitably adapted for local engines, suspension and market conditions, and that Opel looks in worse shape that even GM USA....

... is..



.. the shape of Commodores to come??

More seriously,

[GTRMagic]

I guess it wont be SAAB Here

When is Holden's turn?

[inpitlane]

Originally Posted by R4z3rw33n

Although GM are in trouble, why would they shed part of their business that's actually performing? If anything, I'd expect GM to cling to Holden tightly.
Holden are also rumoured to be building a new small car platform from 2010 onwards, aren't they?

A Holden withdrawal from V8SC would surprise me, as it's basically the lifeblood of their marketing image.

Mark Reeus on In Pit Lane this Tuesday reasserts his commitment to local motorsport but casts some doubt over the future of V8 Supercars.
He's called for a wider selection of cars and manufacturers and the ability to run cars like the new Cruze at the top level of local motorsport.

[xrystl]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

I guess it wont be SAAB Here

When is Holden's turn?

Sad that it has turned into this , I think the Swedish Government is correct in not bailing out a private company (GM seems to expect the whole world to bail it out of a situation it put itself into) - I think the Yanks are starting to see that it is a bottomless barrel that they are trying to fill with their rescue plan .
VW looked at Saab , but it had been too "Opalised" by GM to make it worthwhile (was in Porsche documents) Opel/Vauxhall is close to being in the same boat as Saab as the Governments are not going to bail them out , VW bought Scannia and have made it a profitable concern . Probably find that in a few years to come the big three will be Toyota - Hyundai - VW , in no particular order.

Ford also have a problem with Volvo as it hasn't made a profit in yonks , and at this time who is going to buy a Auto maker which has had nothing but red ink for forever?

TATA wouldn't take Hummer off GMs hands for nix , their comment ït's a Dinosaur .

GM paid US$4.5bn to get their share of Fiat off their books -
with figures like these why on earth spend billions trying to keep a company afloat when they still haven't any real products that the population want to buy .
I have sampled there wares as rental cars , my wifes 03 Camry is a generation ahead of their 08 models , and the Camry is not that good!!

[Another Bob]

I fail to see how GM can come out of the end of this the same company they were at the beginning of this crisis.

I doubt they will totally shut shop world wide lock stock and barrel, but then again stranger things have happened, or will they be nationalist like the US banks will end up?

If that happens the US taxpayer will have zero interest in manufacturing vehicles in places like Oz or even somewhere as close as Canada for that matter.

That doesn't mean that GMH will close its doors, but it would be sold. To who, now that's a $64,000 question.

Now, getting back to the thread, would the hypothetical future buyer of GHM see a marketing advantage in V8SC that they feel would lead to more of their cars being sold? If not, they will pull out.

If they pull out, what other manufacturer would think they would gain a sales advantage when one of the two original V8SC brands couldn't see that advantage?

[nic.v814]

I believe GM may actually survive but it will have to reinvent itself and get rid of whoever was making all the stupid decisions. Their one eyed approach really screwed them ,they never bothered to think about the future.

[mountainstar]

If you haven't heard the news GM is looking now to off load Opel and Vauxhall and is speaking of possibly retaining an interest in both if sold. In this economic climate, who wants them?

GM really is quite a mess to sort out with huge profitable operations in China and South America and then you have plants in Australia, Canada, Russia, Europe, Korea, etc.

[duke_toaster]

Originally Posted by inpitlane

Mark Reeus on In Pit Lane this Tuesday reasserts his commitment to local motorsport but casts some doubt over the future of V8 Supercars.
He's called for a wider selection of cars and manufacturers and the ability to run cars like the new Cruze at the top level of local motorsport.

Interesting that the Cruze was mentioned - RML have developed a Super 2000 version of it for the WTCC, and Arena are developing a S2000 Focus for the BTCC. Could this be the shape of things to come for touring car racing in Australia?

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by duke_toaster

Interesting that the Cruze was mentioned - RML have developed a Super 2000 version of it for the WTCC, and Arena are developing a S2000 Focus for the BTCC. Could this be the shape of things to come for touring car racing in Australia?

You'd have to hope not - little 300 hp buzz boxes just nothing special at all but the harsh reality might just be that is where it all ends up.

It'd certainly be a tough job trying to plan ahead a few years just now.

[duke_toaster]

Originally Posted by Tourer

You'd have to hope not - little 300 hp buzz boxes just nothing special at all but the harsh reality might just be that is where it all ends up.

It'd certainly be a tough job trying to plan ahead a few years just now.

They do produce good racing, especially in the BTCC - 280hp doesn't sound much, but a full quarter of a tonne less weight, reasonably sticky tyres and a bit more grip produces something rather exciting, at the cost of outright lap times. They also sound rather good, oddly enough.

[inpitlane]

Originally Posted by duke_toaster

They do produce good racing, especially in the BTCC - 280hp doesn't sound much, but a full quarter of a tonne less weight, reasonably sticky tyres and a bit more grip produces something rather exciting, at the cost of outright lap times. They also sound rather good, oddly enough.

Sadly they won't sound anywhere near as good down here. The one thing that surprised me about the WTCC cars at Macau was the great noise they made, then I saw the regs which stipulated a maximum noise level of about 105 db down here they'll be limited to a good 10db less which trust me makes a huge difference.
Although the V8's are far more exciting in the amount of power they produce, the racing is pretty boring compared with some of the wild battles they have in WTCC and BTCC, having said that though the S2000 cars really do need at least another 100 bhp and even less weight to be really exciting.
Watching them on the straights was a bit like watching Formula Vees, they're very, very slow compared with the V8 Supercars.

[Backagain]

If the S2000 concept is introduced, I can see a huge resurgence in Sports Sedan racing, people love the sound and apprearance of the big V8's.