The jingle used to tell us we loved “football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars”.
These days we love Japanese utes and small Toyotas, Hyundais and Mazdas more.
Monday’s announcement from General Motors, Holden’s US parent, that the brand will be “retired” and local design and engineering operations cease is doubtless based on strong financial reasoning, but poor brand management is also part of it.
The numbers didn’t stack up
Sales of Holden vehicles and a shift from large sedans to small and medium sized cars and sportscars and SUVs didn’t help.
At its peak, between 2002 and 2005, Holden sold more than 170,000 vehicles a year. By 2019 it sold less than 40,000; none of them made here.
In November, it sold just 2,668 cars, down from 5,125 the previous November.
Global competition from Japan, Korea and Thailand for brands like Kia and Hyundai, added to its woes.
Internationally, Holden was only present in two small markets, Australian and New Zealand, which between them don’t even account for 1% of global sales, and require steering columns on the right hand side of car. It has made Holdens hard to internationalise.
Monday’s press release blamed “highly fragmented right-hand-drive markets”, the cost of growing the brand, and the unlikelihood of achieving a decent return on the investment if it tried.
General Motors isn’t even going to bother to sell foreign-made sedans in Australia, although it will continue to sell speciality vehicles.
Yet its brand is ingrained in Australian history.
Holden defined a brand
Brands are a combination of tangible and intangible elements. Among the tangible elements are visual design elements, like logos, colour, images and packaging, such as the Holden “Lion and Stone” and distinctive product features, such as the feel of the leather, the sound of a roaring V8 and the quality of the duco.
But that is only part of what makes a brand. Tangible elements can be easily copied and are a feature of nearly all products. The challenge is to develop and leverage intangible qualities.
These can include experiences (such as service) and feelings such as reputation, personality and values.
Nostalgia is a Holden value. It’s rich history, dating back to 1856, has helped define the brand.
Many of us who grew up in the 1970s remember family car trips to the beach in a Kingswood station wagon. In the 1980s, we watched Brock, Richards and Perkins win Bathurst. Movies like Puberty Blues made the Holden Sandman panel van every young man’s dream, and every parent’s worse nightmare.
General Motors killed it
Being Australian was at the core of that identity. General Motors took it away.
On October 20, 2017 it stopped production of all Australian-made vehicles and began importing Commodores from Germany. Then in December last year it axed the Commodore, after 41 years.
It killed the value that was left in the brand. We fell out of love with Holden because it fell out of love with us.
Gary Mortimer, Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour, Queensland University of Technology
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
What I am sad is the $2bn subsidy that was given to them. Government should not use tax payer money to help private companies. They wasted the money and look at what was the result. $2bn is a high price for nostalgia and for an Australian brand.
I almost threw a party when GM said it was closing up in Australia. I said thanks, goodbye and do not let the door hit you on the way out.
The plain truth is the Holden workers striked and striked until the floor sweepers were on $50 per hour and profit became small. They made the 2nd worst quality car in the free world. As for the “Holden nostalgia”, come on guys, that was a marketing ploy for the gullible to suck up.
Your comment was good until you started talking shit and spreading falsehoods.
The plain truth is your comment should never have passed, it says nothing except profanity. Are you the “School Bully” all grown up?
I come to Life hacker to see what is new, and try to make valuable comments, whilst djbear come to bitch ! I note this is not the first time you had snide comment for sawyerh.
Moderator – Perhaps this members status needs to be reviewed.
My comment still has more truth than yours which falsely sought to blame unions as being at fault for recent events.
Also, if you are going to complain about my profanity, Perhaps dont use some in the very same comment.
Can you say the word “IRONY” sawyerh?
If there is fault we need to go far beyond recent events and go back to when the Holden problem become too much for GM:-
“GM Holden has agreed to an extraordinary wage deal that will lift the income of 4000 employees by up to 22 per cent by 2014, despite the carmaker seeking a taxpayer-funded assistance package from the Gillard government.”
seen at https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/industrial-relations/holden-signs-record-pay-deal-as-unions-wins-22-per-cent-wage-rise/news-story/d7b6fd9fd23d594a06041954f1af9fa8
What have you got?
All i see is an article from a totally not unbiased news site that is only reporting on the wage increase.
Nothing on Holden blaming the wage increase on their demise. The only one blame unions are conservative shock jocks relying on their gullible and misinformed listerners.
Did you know that Germans Car industry is even more unionised than ours? With much better wages, I dont see their car industry collapsing. Its almost as if you are just pulling crap out of thin air just to sook about unions.
Run along back to Andrew Bolt.
You have an article in a newspaper with a known editorial agenda.
I have an academic paper concluding unions had little to no effect on the outcome
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/293044552_Who_Killed_the_Australian_Automotive_Industry_The_Employers_Government_or_Trade_Unions
Your move Sawyerh
Good. Grew up with bogans going on and on about Holden. Like Harley, they seemed to just want to focus on a small, shrinking market for over priced big gas guzzlers for people who’s masculinity and personality is tied to a brand. Good riddance.
You seem overly sensitive over holden.
Compensating for something by denigrating others?