My fears were well founded as Holden launches the Daewoo Tosca in New Zealand—calling it, as in Australia, the Epica.
   The reports across the Tasman are that the Tosca is about as enticing as a porterhouse steak at a Buddhist monastery.
   The Murdoch Press was not complimentary and believes that the Tosca has been beaten on everything except price.
   At least the Aussies get a four-cylinder model. Here in New Zealand, where the two-litre mid-sized sedan is a staple, Holden is fielding only a 2·5-litre six.
   Holden believes that the Opel-sourced Vectra C was a failure, but given that the company spent cents and peppercorns marketing it, it’s no wonder. It was commercial suicide, despite the Vectra (at least in New Zealand) having plenty of supporters after successful A- and B-generation models.
   But Holden New Zealand seemingly has zero independence. It could have sourced the Barina and Vectra from Opel as before. After all, it was courageous enough to do so back in the 1980s, looking to Isuzu for the 1984 Camira, and to Opel for the Vectra A in 1989. Now, it is stuck with selling rebadged Daewoos, including models that were so horrid that they were originally withdrawn from the New Zealand market some four years ago.
   Vectra C sales dried up in Australia due to the model’s switch to imports, after years of local assembly. Consequently, one could buy a bigger Commodore for Vectra money. Here in New Zealand, I imagine buyers were suspicious why the Holden Vectra C sold here had the 2003-model grille—when even the Mexican market Chevrolet Vectra sports a facelift. My thoughts—not backed up in any way—are that the “new” New Zealand Vectras left the factory some time in 2005, but certainly not in 2006 or 2007.
   We are not that dumb, General Motors. And to think, Bob Lutz is meant to be a “car guy”, a bloke who loves Holden a lot.
   Yet despite his presence (and aside from the Commodore-derived models), GM is flogging us the local equivalent of Oldsmobiles: dull, compliant, but no long-term future or positive brand associations.
   Maybe Denny Mooney, Holden’s boss and an ex-Olds guy, only has one mode.
   When you are spending thousands on a car, you research it well. And Tosca fails on a lot of counts. Plus, people are more brand-sensitive these days—price, while still important, is less of an issue with private buyers. Unfortunately for Holden, buyers will even look, surprise, surprise, at their rivals’ reviews. Or maybe they weren’t aware of this fact?
   The Tosca—as well as the handsome but slightly inept Daewoo Lacetti 5—will do well with fleets, but at the end of the day, they have all the usual hallmarks of Daewoo underdevelopment.
   It is not the first Holden slip-up. When the Daewoo Kalos returned to these shores as the Holden Barina, it replaced its Spanish-built predecessor, the Opel Corsa C, that had a four-star NCAP rating. The Kalos has two stars.
   Now, the new Opel Corsa D is cleaning up in Europe, being a little car that has big-car manners. It’s wiping the floor with fragments of what was the Toyota Yaris.
   Here, Holden has given up that market to the Yaris, which is superior to the Kalos in every respect.
   With the Holden Epica on the market, Ford will be laughing when its CD345 Mondeo is launched in New Zealand (reminding the company of the Cortina v. Sunbird days), and Toyota doesn’t seem to be getting many sleepless nights with its Camry–Aurion duo. Posted by Jack Yan, 01:11  permalink

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