Holden ute could capitalise on struggling US

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Holden ute could capitalise on struggling US
Barry Park
April 27, 2011 - 9:57AM
Comments 35

Holden's Commodore-based utes could be headed for the US.
American tradesmen looking to downsize could yet find an Aussie ute suits their needs.

Hard times in the US may open up an opportunity for the Holden Commodore-based ute to gain a foothold there, the head of General Motors' North American operations says.

Mark Reuss, the former managing director of GM's Holden Australia subsidiary who has since moved on to head up the company's US operations, says if hard times continue, fuel prices keep rising and tradesmen look to downsize from massive pick-up trucks to more economical vehicles, the ute's day may still come.

He says the US is also staring in the face of tougher emissions controls scheduled to roll in from 2016 that will force car makers to rethink the model line-ups they sell, particularly in terms of lowering the carbon dioxide emissions of their showroom fleets.

''The bandwidth we have on pick-up trucks in the US is huge,'' Reuss told Drive at the New York International Auto Show last week.

''When you look at fuel prices today, I think there's going to be a segmentation of that bandwidth,'' he says.

''I've lived in Australia and I've seen where fuel prices are $5 a gallon [the US is currently struggling with fuel prices pushing $4 a gallon], and lots of tradesmen will use a ute with a tray on the back to do lots of different things, and they don't need the bandwidth of a big pick-up truck,'' he says.

''I get my job done, and I do it with a lot less operating costs [with the smaller ute] and enjoy the vehicle.

''I think there's opportunity in other markets around the world to look at how the micro-segmentation actually works,'' Reuss says.

However, the right change for the Holden ute is yet to happen. Reuss says the heavy-duty pick-up market is still ''robust'', although owners will have to make a substantial investment in a replacement vehicle once the US economy picks up.

''There's a big, pent-up demand ... because those trucks are used hard, they're used to make a living,'' he says.

Holden is believed to be waiting for the next major model update to the VE Commodore sedan, expected in about 2014, before making a fresh assault on the US market.

Shortly before the global credit crunch hit in 2009, as many as half of all the Commodores coming off Holden's Port Elizabeth assembly lines were destined for overseas markets including the US.

The US models were sold under the Pontiac name, which GM has since shelved as it consolidated the number of brands it owned to fight off the threat of bankruptcy. However, Holden has since built up a police vehicle export program based on the long-wheelbase Holden Caprice that it is selling under the Chevrolet badge, with any future Commodore program expected to follow suit.

My comment..Why isn't FOA being as proactive as GM??????????????