Holden verging on dominance

It seems New Zealand's love-hate relationship with Australia is showing out in car sales figures. Motoring editor ALASTAIR SLOANE reports on the Holden's rise and rise.

It can't be the footy or Down Under mateship. The Rugby World Cup stand-off sees to that. What about the cricket? We knocked them over in the one-dayers and gave them a bit of hurry-up in the tests. Is it prawns? Victoria Bitter? Russell Crowe? The Sunshine Coast? Sir Les Patterson?

Or is it, as cricketer Shane Warne said, that New Zealanders are just wannabe Australians? What would Warne know anyway? They called him Virgin in his early playing days, on account of everything he said was virgin (verging) on the ridiculous.

Whatever is behind New Zealanders' love-hate relationship with Australia is showing out in car sales figures. Holden, the best-selling brand in Australia, is the best-selling brand in New Zealand.

Its Commodore VT/VX sedan has been the best-selling car in New Zealand for 18 straight months. Its Commodore ute outsold long-time commercial favourite the Toyota Hilux in January. Toyota caught up in February but Holden commercials still lead the field.

Holden is on a roll this year, continuing the sales success of last year when it increased its share of the market by 26 per cent over 2000. Toyota's and Ford's growth last year was below double figures.

At the end of last month, Holden had 17.3 per cent of the passenger car market and 21.1 per cent of the commercial segment. Overall, it had sold 2132 vehicles for an 18.1 per cent share. Toyota had sold 1907 vehicles for 16.2 per cent and Ford 1656 for 14 per cent. Next came Mitsubishi with 1065 for 9 per cent and Nissan with 1021 for 8.7 per cent.

That's for the first two months. In February, Holden topped the sales race with 1067 vehicles for 18.9 per cent. Ford was second with 957 for 16.9 per cent and Toyota third with 931 for 16.5 per cent. Holden was the only carmaker to sell more than 1000 vehicles in January and February.

So how come Holden, in particular the Commodore sedan, is the flavour of months gone by?

One reason is that farmers, traditional Holden and Ford buyers, are higher on the hog these days and favour the Commodore over the Ford Falcon and Toyota Camry. Another, says Holden executive Aalbert Van Ham, is the buoyant business sector.

"The business environment continues to grow in confidence and the Commodore forms a large part of business fleets. It's all heading in the right direction for Holden."

Not only in New Zealand but Australia, where Holden is speeding up plans to export the two-door Monaro and Commodore ute to the United States by the end of next year.

Bob Lutz, the chief of North American operations for Holden parent General Motors, has told Holden he wants both vehicles rebadged and ready for sale in America as soon as possible.

GM is likely to badge the Monaro the Pontiac GTO, a name that has slipped from American lips since the muscle-car era of the 1970s. The ute night be badged Chevrolet El Camino, after the swept-up GM two-door of the same period.

Former American President Bill Clinton had a El Camino, back in the 1970s when he was a budding politician in Arkansas.

"It was a real sort of down-southern deal," he said. "I had astro turf in the back. You don't want to know why but I did."

The astro turf was Clinton's casting couch, years before he learned to work the Oval Room.

Lutz was in Melbourne at the beginning of March and drove both the Monaro and Commodore ute. He said he had told Pontiac brand managers in America that the Monaro was the ideal GTO badge carrier. Chevrolet managers would be getting a call about the ute, he said.

But Holden has some work to do, mostly on the Monaro, before exports can begin.

It must gear up for left-hand-drive assembly and its engineers must figure out how to put the LHD Monaro's fuel tank between the rear axles to conform with American regulations. The RHD Monaro has the fuel tank behind the rear axles.

The fuel tank in the Commodore ute isn't a concern: the ute is based on the Commodore wagon and its fuel tank sits between the rear axles. The ute's LHD programme is also not a worry - utes already go to the Middle East and Brazil.

Holden must prepare the cars in time for a 160,000km emissions driving test in America. Test results must be analysed before sales can begin.

Meanwhile, Holden New Zealand is gearing up for the new Vectra, a rebadged German Opel which will arrive here later this year.

Chassis engineers wanted the Vectra to ride and handle as well as the Ford Mondeo. Designers wanted its finish inside and out to be as good as the VW Passat.

Indications are that the third-generation Vectra, a $400 million investment for Opel, pretty much succeeds on both counts.

The Vectra is bigger all-round than the outgoing model. The new dimensions boost interior space, says Opel, and the drag co-efficient of 0.28 and new sound-deadening insulation provide a quieter ride.

The new car is much stronger than the current model, thanks to the use of lightweight aluminium and magnesium along with high-strength steel.

Torsional rigidity is up 74 per cent. This is a contributing factor in a vehicle's improved handling and ride.

The mainstream engines will be four-cylinder petrol units producing between 90 and 108kW and mated to five-speed manual and four-speed automatic gearboxes.

A 3.2-litre 155kW V6 with 300Nm of torque will power the coupe-like Vectra GTS.