Holden reveals import business is in the black as it spruiks new range and logo

Holden has revealed its import business is turning a profit as it unveils a new range, a fresh logo and ad campaign.

Chairman and managing director of GM Holden Australia Mark Bernhard with the new line of vehicles. (Aaron Francis/The Australian)

Holden has revealed its importing business is profitable as it unveiled five new car brands, a new logo and advertising campaign that will underpin its relaunch following the closure of local manufacturing next year.

In a briefing at its Melbourne headquarters on Tuesday evening, Holden managing director Mark Bernhard said the company’s importing business made an after-tax profit of $128.1 million last year.

“It’s fair to say the importing business is subsidising the car-making business,” Mr Bernhard told reporters.

“But the good news for the company is that the importing business is profitable and sustainable, and we now have the line-up of cars to take us into the future.”

He said the company’s success would not be judged simply on market share, but on making money.

‘’We are not blindly chasing market share ... We are not playing a discount game,’’ Mr Bernhard said.

The five new vehicles include the European-built Astra, American-made Acadia SUV, and three Asian-built cars, the Barina, Trax and Trailblazer. One will be launched each month over the next five months.

Holden has also streamlined its logo, replacing the red lion badge with a silver lion.

It’s new advertising campaign also appeals to a much more diverse audience than traditional Holden pitches. It’s new brand ambassadors include actor Claudia Karvan, chef Luke Nguyen and fashion entrepreneur Jane Lu.

‘’We need to broaden our appeal to a wider audience. Our appeal needs to be more multicultural, we need to be attracting more young people, more women to our brand,’’ Mr Bernhard said.

On Tuesday evening Holden’sexecutive director, Customer Experience Peter Jamieson also unveiled a new customer program to be known as “Complete care”.

“It is a promise to our customers to put them at the centre of everything we do,” he said.

The first initiative will be the “Take your time test drive”, allowing customers to take a car a test drive for a 24 hour period.

“Our customers told us they didn’t want the inconvenience of taking a test drive — they didn’t want someone sitting beside them during a test drive ... They wanted to experience our vehicles in their time.”