Mixed Euro message for Monaro
UK says yes but Germany says no to Holden's coupe
Extracted article by Bruce Newton, 21 January 2003, www.goauto.com.au

THUMBS UP from the UK but thumbs down from mainland Europe. Those are the latest results in Holden's grand export plan.

Vauxhall managing director Kevin Wale has confirmed a 2004 target date for Monaro on-sale in the UK, in the wake of a highly successful outing for a CV8 at the Birmingham motor show last year.

Mr Wale plans to market both the supercharged CV6 and CV8 through a limited number of Vauxhall dealers with the intention of selling between 300 and 500 per annum.

But Opel boss Carl-Peter Forster is not so interested, having decided the V-Car Commodore in sedan or coupe form is not what he wants to sell in Europe.

It was not a total rebuff from the Germans, who kept the door open for possible co-operation later in the decade when the "world car" VE Commodore platform becomes available.

Back in the here and now Mr Wale, a former Holden executive, said his objective was to finalise a program with Holden to take Monaro and then possibly other models as soon as possible.

And as an added wrinkle, the car could be badged as a Holden rather than a Vauxhall - and the UK name certainly seems to be the option favoured by Mr Wale.

"We are just working with Holden now on specifications and whether we can make it work," Mr Wale confirmed exclusively to GoAuto.

"We are starting with Monaro and we would like to follow with other stuff, but there's no point jumping that hurdle until you get the first one underway because that will unearth any ongoing problems or potential problems you might have.

"So we will concentrate on getting the Monaro up first and see what follows after that."

Mr Wale confirmed the display of an unbadged CV8 at the Birmingham motor show late last year had spurred on the plan to bring Monaro to the British Isles.

"It encouraged us, it did everything we would have hoped for in my opinion. It got lots of positive reactions, it provided a lot of excitement - just the nature of the car. I think it certainly encouraged us," he said.

But it was at Birmingham that the question of the car's branding also emerged as an issue as it bore no Holden or Vauxhall identification.

Since then there has been speculation in the European press that it would be badged as a Holden.

"We were still trying to work out if we did it what our badging strategy would be," Mr Wale said. "So we deliberately left the badges off the car."

However, going with Vauxhall now seems to be the preferred option: "Clearly Vauxhall makes sense to us as the local market marque, we just need to confirm whether that is the way we ought to end up or not," Mr Wale said.

"Clearly Vauxhall makes sense to us as the local market marque, we just need to confirm whether that is the way we ought to end up or not," Mr Wale said.

He rejected suggestions the Monaro will be pitched into the market as a Benz/BMW competitor, rather that pricing would be based on customer demand.

"There is really not a specific target product we are aiming it against. We'll go and do our pricing models and all the rest, but ... the pricing models are related to the affordability of the customer base rather than lining it up against a target car like you would do with a volume model," he said.

"We won't be going out there trying to line it up head-for-head against another product out there - we'll look at what someone would pay for that sort of car."

While unwilling to suggest to GoAuto what the price may end up being, Mr Wale has suggested in the European press previously that the car could have a starting price of around 41,000 Euros.

Modifications to the Monaro for Vauxhall would be limited only to homologation/engineering issues, unlike the facelift the Pontiac GTO received.

But while there is no indication that Monaro homologation will be difficult, the 2004 on-sale date is likely because of Holden's stretched engineering and manufacturing resources, particularly with GTO production starting in September.

"I can't see people taking their eyes off GTO to build a couple of hundred cars for us," said Mr Wale.

Following the Monaro, Vauxhall has its eyes on further high-performance variants including HSV product, but nothing is finalised at this stage. Utilities and all-wheel drives, the latter due for local launch this year, could also be on the agenda.

"If we can work through Monaro and make it work, it gives us the opportunity to see what else can work out here," Mr Wale said.

"So the Monaro is the important development program for us.

"If we can get that up, it tells us what needs to be done. It creates an understanding of the fundamental mechanical support and service requirements and then you can work out what you can bring in to support those."

* Holden's hopes to sell Commodore into the Mexican market fell over late last year due to a high tarriff wall between Australia and Mexico - and a GM product range in the country already heavy on large sedans.