It was a genuine bombshell moment – and the impact of it could reverberate for years to come.
General Motors Europe CEO Pere Brugal told the UK’s Autocar that just because the company is American based, it doesn’t mean its sole focus is on the left-hand drive US market. But it was his mention of Australia that really caught our attention.
In case you haven’t read our earlier report, here’s what Brugal said: “We craft cars that we don’t have in the US, but we have them in other markets.
“We have cars that are specific for the South America region, and we can have cars that are more of an Asia or China portfolio.
“Not all of them are available in the US, and not everything which is available in the US is available for China customers or European customers.
“In the future, can it be that [we create a] car that is [just] for Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan or Korea? Maybe it can be.”
So what exactly does that mean? Could GM really build a vehicle just for the Australian market? It seems unlikely, given the size of our market and the fact that, you know, they tried that for 89 years with an Australian-only car brand – Holden.
It made cars specifically for Australia for a very long time, but eventually the economics of building cars for a market where the best-selling model is approximately 45,000 units per year simply doesn’t stack up.
So was Brugal lying, optimistic or something else? In truth, I think he means what he says, but I wonder how realistic those possibilities are for Australia.
To be blunt, it’s hard to see too many specific models that would work just for Australia (and New Zealand) without needing to also be popular in other right-hand drive markets, such as the UK and South Africa, in order to ensure enough economies-of-scale.
General Motors Australia, which GM Speciality Vehicles falls under alongside Cadillac, is doing a good job with what it has available. The line-up offered in Australia across the Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC brands arguably does as well as, if not better, than Holden could in the current market.
GM Australia’s emphasis on low-volume, high-profit models is a good business case, as I’ve previously written.
But there is one obvious candidate for an ‘Australian-specific’ model that could work here, filling a missing piece in the existing GM portfolio – a mid-size ute. While the Chevrolet Silverado does a fine job at the upper end of the market (on both size and price) there is arguably a lot of potential for a smaller ute in the local range to compete against the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.
Sure, the mid-size ute market is more competitive than ever before and there is a diminishing return for the newer brands getting involved, but with the right brand (like Chevrolet) and the right product there is a gap in the market.
GM confirmed recently that it’s working with Hyundai on a range of commercial vehicles, including multiple ‘pickups’ for a variety of markets. Coupled with Hyundai Australia’s recent confirmation that it too will have a new ute by the end of the decade opens the door for GM Australia to take advantage.
Like I said earlier, the ute market is getting more crowded and buyers are starting to look for different things, namely hybrids. If GM and Hyundai worked on a plug-in hybrid ute, similar to the BYD Shark 6, it could be the right option at the right time.
Of course, it wouldn’t just be for Australia either with South Africa and South East Asia other potential markets. And it wouldn’t just be a Chevrolet (or GMC or whatever they call it) because development costs would be shared with Hyundai.
Is this obviously just my opinion and I have exactly zero sway in the decision-making rooms of General Motors, but if the American giant is serious about considering specific cars for the Australian market, none makes more sense that a revived version of the ‘Holden Colorado’ to take on the Ranger, HiLux and even Hyundai’s upcoming ute.
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