Holden drive on to record sales success
8/1/2002 14:44 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
It seems everyone likes a winner – including car buyers.
On the back of another record-breaking year of success on the V8 Supercar circuit, Holden were yesterday named the best-selling car manufacturer in Australia for a sixth consecutive year.
Led by the Commodore, the car which took Mark Skaife to the 2001 championship and Holden to another manufacturers title, General Motors snared the lion’s share of the market last year, 21.4 percent, to finish ahead of Toyota as Australia’s most popular make. It was the best result by Holden in 28 years.
A direct relationship between racing success and sales – the old mantra of ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday’ – has never been proven. But it seems Ford’s heavy investment in the Supercar series hasn’t translated to the showroom success it was hoping for.
Ford slumped to third behind Holden and Toyota according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries VFACTs results, with Ford's troubled AU Falcon trailing Holden’s Commodore as Australia’s best-selling vehicle by more than 31,000 units.
Meanwhile, the Commodore could soon invade America’s highways if a plan to introduce the iconic vehicle to the US market proves successful.
Holden Australia plans to begin exporting its new Commodore, rebadged as a Chevrolet, in 2005.
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