Holden Commodore sales resurgence means its factory won’t close early

HOLDEN has revealed more about the fate of its Australian factory after reviewing its sales results, while it continues to struggle against imported cars.

Holden Is Recalling 42,000 Commodores due to seat belt issues Picture: Supplied

HOLDEN says there are no plans to shut its factory earlier than 2017 even though sales of the Cruze small car have fallen sharply this year and hit a new low last month.

The Holden Cruze, which is built alongside the Commodore in Elizabeth, has struggled against imported cars buoyed by the strong Australian dollar and Japanese brands boosted by an artificially devalued Yen.

The tally of 1346 deliveries is the lowest since production of the Cruze switched from South Korea to South Australia four years ago.

A statement from Holden said: “Over time, Cruze has been a very strong seller both for Holden and GM globally. Holden has just released (special edition) models and there have been no changes to our manufacturing plans.”

The locally-made Cruze is expected to be phased out about a year before the Commodore because it is due for a model changeover.

However, Holden is yet to decide if it will extend the life of the locally-made Cruze to boost efficiency at the Elizabeth car factory, or replace it with an imported model and manufacture only the Commodore through to the end of 2017.

Strong seller ... Holden’s Commodore is still performing. Picture: Supplied

In the meantime, the Commodore has once again become the driving force behind Holden sales.

The company has been propped up by a resurgence of the Commodore — sales are up 60 per cent after last year’s record lows — and a boost in Holden’s imported vehicle line-up.

Holden was one of only three brands in the Top 10 to post a sales surge in May as the rest of the new-car market recorded its fifth month in a row of decline.

The Commodore, which until three years ago was Australia’s top selling car for a record 15 years in a row, managed to maintain fourth spot behind the Toyota Corolla and Mazda3 small cars and the Toyota HiLux ute.

The Commodore was the bestseller of the locally-made cars (2648), with sales of the Melbourne-made Toyota Camry down by 21 per cent (to 1522 deliveries) and the Ford Falcon flatlining with just 700 deliveries (the same as last year), putting it well outside the Top 20.

Poor sales ... the future of the Holden Cruze sales is in doubt.

Despite the Commodore’s recovery, General Motors will not reverse the decision to end local production because it is not selling enough to keep the Holden factory running efficiently.

Although the Commodore’s fourth placed result is commendable given the buyer preference for small cars and SUVs, it is still only selling at only a quarter of its ideal production rate.

The rest of Holden’s sales surge in May relied on imported models, as the company prepares for a future without locally-made vehicles.

Last month was a record May for Holden Colorado ute sales and the best ever result for Holden Trax compact SUV.

Despite record low interest rates, sales of new cars were down again in May, after a hitting a two-year low in April and starting 2014 behind last year’s sales rate.

Official figures released Wednesday show 94,562 new vehicles were delivered in May, a decline of 2.3 per cent compared with the same month last year.

Top 10 brands in May 2014

Toyota: 17,246 — down 9.2 per cent

Holden: 9012 — up 8.7 per cent

Hyundai: 8403 — up 4.7 per cent

Mazda: 7751 — down 4.7 per cent

Ford: 6950 — down 4.0 per cent

Nissan: 6281 — up 6.0 per cent

Mitsubishi: 5780 — down 17.6 per cent

Volkswagen: 4918 — down 11.0 per cent

Subaru: 3202 — down 8.6 per cent

Honda: 2539 — down 30.0 per cent

Top 10 cars in May 2014

Toyota Corolla: 3871 — up 6.3 per cent

Toyota HiLux: 3313 — down 9.5 per cent

Mazda3: 3291 — up 7.8 per cent

Holden Commodore: 2648 — up 60.8 per cent

Hyundai i30: 2553 — up 1.6 per cent

Ford Ranger: 2317 — up 35 per cent

Volkswagen Golf: 2301 — up 46.1 per cent

Mitsubishi Triton: 2254 — down 13.5 per cent

Mazda CX-5: 1715 — down 3.5 per cent

Holden Colorado: 1689 — up 22.5 per cent

Nissan Navara: 1541 up 2.5 per cent

2014: The year so far

January: down 3.7 per cent

February: down 3.8 per cent

March: down 0.1 per cent

April: down 5.2 per cent

May: down 2.3 per cent

Source: Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, all percentages compared to the same month the previous year.

This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling