Change Holden to Chevrolet

[vztrt]

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...503-1e69h.html

Would save a fair few Commodore drivers money!!

Change Holden to Chevrolet, says US website
Barry Park
May 3, 2011 - 4:10PM

A controversial proposal by a GM-focused consumer website to replace the lion badge in Australia has been described as “absurd” by Holden.

Holden has labelled calls to replace the iconic Australian car maker’s badge with the Chevrolet bowtie as ‘‘absurd’’.

General Motors-focused consumer website GM Authority today published an editorial column suggesting the Holden badge needs to make way for a global brand such as Chevrolet to give the US car maker the same global leverage as rival Ford, which sells all its cars under the one name worldwide.

According to GM Authority chief executive Alex Luft, the Holden name is hurting GM’s ability to establish Chevrolet as a global brand.
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‘‘So, while Holden may be working in Oceania for now, General Motors will find that keeping Holden around will put Chevrolet at a greater disadvantage compared to global brands such as Ford and Toyota as time goes on,’’ the editorial says.

‘‘As such, I would love to see Chevrolet (along with Buick and GMC) become completely global brands to the tunes of Ford, Toyota, BMW, and Lexus, among others.’’

A number of Chevrolet models are rebadged as Holdens for the Australian market, including the Captiva SUV and Cruze small car.

However, Holden spokeswoman Emily Perry has branded the name-change suggestion as ‘‘absurd’’.

‘‘Holden is, and is recognised by GM, as one of the, if not the, strongest brand in the GM stable,’’ Perry says.

‘‘Mike Simcoe [GM’s director of design] was in my office last week saying the same thing: as a brand it's better bought, better understood, more passionate than any other,’’ she says. ‘‘Holden is not going anywhere.’’

Luft lists several advantages to GM having a unified brand worldwide, including the ability to have global marketing campaigns and a unified brand image — ‘‘luxuries that General Motors currently can’t enjoy due to the brand and name dichotomy present in Chevrolet and Holden,’’ he says.

He even suggests how the change-over from Holden to Chevrolet may trickle into the Australian mindset.

‘‘Now, for those who think I’m absolutely crazy to even suggest the replacement of Holden — a brand that’s been around since 1856 and has been owned by GM since 1931 — let me be extra clear: I’m not recommending that the Holden brand be expunged tomorrow and be immediately replaced by Chevrolet,’’ he says.

‘‘Doing so may prove disastrous for both marquees (sic).’’

A good approach would be something similar to computing giant Cisco’s takeover of the Linksys brand, he says, where components were labelled ‘‘Linksys by Cisco’’ for several years before the Linksys name was dropped from the branding altogether.

He even suggests the Barina name used for Holden’s small car range sold in Australia could adopt the ‘‘Sonic’’ badge after US consumers struggled with the Aveo name used for the car in the North American market.