Holden to launch 4 new vehicles in the next 6 months

Holden product onslaught has begun, with the company confirming it will be launching no less than four new vehicles in the next six months, plus a Holden first, seven-seat Acadia SUV in 2018.

At an exclusive business briefing event held overnight at Holden’s GM Australia Design Studios in Melbourne, the company hosted the surprise premiere of five new vehicles.

Alongside the US-sourced Acadia, Holden revealed the all-new Astra hatch, Barina small car, Trax small SUV and Trailblazer full-size SUV to represent the next wave in Holden’s ongoing product revolution, with a particular focus on the critical and growing SUV segment.

Holden Chairman and Managing Director, Mark Bernhard, said Holden was now well underway in delivering on its 2015 commitment to deliver 24 new models by the end 2020.

“From the September 1 launch of Colorado, Holden will launch five new vehicles over the next five months to accelerate our showroom revolution. This level of launch activity hasn’t happened at this company for nearly 15 years and signals our intent loud and clear.

“We’ve already talked a lot about the all-new Astra hatch, the reigning 2016 European Car of the Year, joining our showrooms later this year and the new Barina is a beautiful offering to join the Spark in rejuvenating our small-car portfolio.

“I’m particularly excited, however, to reveal further details around our SUV strategy, headlined by the all-new, seven-seat Acadia. Alongside Trax, Trailblazer and another all-new global SUV that we’ll add to our portfolio soon, Holden will introduce four new SUVs by 2018. This puts us in a great position in the fastest-growing segment of the market.

“The vehicles we’ve revealed reinforce our commitment to introduce the finest global vehicles for Australian customers. The Acadia will be sourced from the US, the Astra from Europe, and the Barina, Trax and Trailblazer from Asia. Holden is in a unique position where we can provide our customers with the best of the best from around the GM world,” said Mr Bernhard.

At the same event, Holden also unveiled it’s ‘Take Your Time Test Drive’ marketing campaign which encourages customers to take their choice of Holden vehicle for a test drive, at their leisure and in their own time, without a salesman by their side, for up to 24 hours.

“Holden has made huge strides in customer service with improvements in our customer satisfaction and customer retention. But we still have a lot of work to do and we know that customer service alone isn’t a differentiator – every company talks about customers,” said Holden’s Executive Director of Customer Experience, Peter Jamieson.

“We need to find more and better ways understand the needs of our customers and find solutions. That comes from really listening to our customers.  It was listening to customers that lead us to introduce the Take Your Time Test Drive.

“Customers told us that the current test drive process wasn’t a great experience. Customers are busy and don’t have the time to take an hour out of their day and don’t like the perceived pressure of having a salesperson next to them. Customers can now take one of our vehicles, when it suits them and test drive the vehicle of choice in their environment for up to 24-hours”.