What’s Happened To The Holden Dealer Network?
The main reason created by the closing of Holden is reimbursement of dealers, many of who have paid out millions for car lot improvements in recent years even with dwindling revenue.
While not going into the protracted sagas of the weeks of arguing between the two sides, the General offered compensation of one thousand and five hundred dollars for each automobile, while the dealers needed $6110. In spite of Holden dealers many private and public urges for talks and for significantly larger compensation General Motors never moved from the initial amount.
And this meant over one-hundred and twenty remaining from one hundred and eighty-four Holden dealers had to accept the original offer earlier this week due to GM announced a deadline of June 30.
Australian Automotive Dealer Association CEO James Voortman was critical in the assessment of how the negotiations between the two stakeholders occurred, blaming GM.
However, that doesn’t mean the argument has come to a conclusion. The Australian Holden Dealer Council (AHDC) indicates that the remaining 60 or so dealers are set to appeal to General Motors to obtain more.
Both General Motors (GM) & Holden haven't released any statement on the agreement.
Which Company Can Service A HSV?
As many Holden dealers having already have taken down the Holden signage & moved to different brands, it has created a lot of angst & lack of understanding for existing Holden customers.
General Motors stated earlier on this year it wanted to sign 5 year contracts from Holden dealers with the possibility to extend to a decade, to give Holden customers have peace-of-mind. While exact details of the contracts were lost with all the saga around compensation, it is assumed the other dealers accepted the amount from GM have been able to include service contracts included with agreements.
What About Holden Special Vehicles
High performance company, HSV is set to rebrand to GM Speciality Vehicles (GMSV).
Their February announcement of the closure to Holden operations, General Motors layed out plans to sell certain vehicles under the GM Specialty Vehicles banner. And while they have been quiet about these ideas after their statement, it’s widely assumed GM will partner with Holden Special Vehicles, and will expand its offerings of right-hand drive altered General Motor's autos.
Yet, a possible problem that has come to light which could be a sticking point to this plan and the AHDC issuing the following report in the month of June that examines the GMSV's legitimacy. Â
Voortman stated that was very concerned regarding the possibilities that General Motors might dissolve the Holden network and come back in the market using a new name.
Holden is closing down in Australia https://t.co/RioxEssKrk
— Viktor Meldrewski (@VikMeldrewski) July 4, 2020