When you buy something from Apple the packaging has emblazoned on it conspiciously, "Designed in California." Obviously the hardware is made in China. Holden is making the same transition: providing high value and highly profitable engineering services to its global parent company. Design is another high value area where Holden is making a mark with designs like the Torana, Efijay and now the VE Monaro Coupe.

Holden does very little manufacturing in comparison to the engineering it does such as the VE platform, the Chevrolet Camaro, and the global variants of its Commodore/Statesman vehicles. I expect a day will come when it no longer does the capital intensive and low profit manufacturing, replacing it instead with engineering and design services - much like Apple does.

This is the clever country is it not? Why the crying over Mitsubishi manufacturing going offshore when it was heavily subsidised by government anyway?

Pontiac G8 from jalopnik's photostream

Via Kicking Tire's movers and losers, the Pontiac G8 has been sitting on lots for 16 days; tieing it with the Toyota Camry Hybrid and only the Toyota Prius beating it with 15 days spent on the lot. As Kicking Tire's notes the Pontiac G8 is still new to the market having only been on sale for three months in the US.

More July 2009, Commodore coming to the US as a Chevrolet with the death of Pontiac.

It appears that Holden may have lost the engineering for the RWD Alpha platform. This was to be a smaller sized car than the Commodore, probably 3-Series BMW sized, which now seems to be going to GM North America as Cadillac has more control over it.

This is a blow for Holden, in my opinion, as they transitioned to an engineering company with the Zeta platform and provided a high quality and extensible platform which is used in the Commodore, Camaro and the stretched platforms such as the Buick in China.

GM has been making decisions all over the place recently; cutting this, cutting that, project so-and-so is on, project so-and-so is off, project so-and-so is on again, etc, etc. Not confidence building for an industry with high capitalization requirements and long lead in times.

Currently the moving of the Alpha engineering to North America is rumored, so maybe Holden will be able to get that business back;

In another rumored move, Global Product Board has taken development of Alpha from GM Holden and has given it to the GM North America and GM Europe operations. This was done to placate Cadillac, who does not want to compromise on Alpha's development for their planned BLS-replacement. What Cadillac hopes to achieve is to get a flexible enough platform to support 4, 6, or 8 cylinder engines, as was deemed necessary by the Wreath & Crest brand.

Holden is in a tough spot. The manufacturing numbers are too low to be sustainable for any long term - though government has been happy to throw money at Holden in Australia - and permanence will most likely be based on niche engineering ability, much like Lotus survives. Losing the Alpha platform's engineering would be a nasty loss.

The Pontiac G8 GXP is starting to make the rounds of the US automative magazines, websites and blogs. It is to pretty much universal acclaim, and why not, it is a kick-ass muscle car with all the functionality of a large four door sedan. This is the same reason why it is popular in Australia as the SSV and the various HSV models.

Pontiac G8 GXP via Autoblog.

Holden's focus on quality in the 90s is paying off as well. Prior to the adoptions of the Deming Way in Australia, manufacturing was shoddy, of high variability and consequent poor quality. That has largely been fixed in Australian manufacturing:

Inside, the car is nice - and we don't mean "nice for a Pontiac." Since it will probably come up at some point, no, the interior isn't fastened together with the Absolutely No Play Allowed tolerances and super soft touch materials for which the Germans are credited.

The Pontiac G8 GXP is carrying the LS3 engine. This is a small block Chevrolet V8 that pumps out 415 hp in the GXP's case. The same engine in the Chevrolet Corvette is tuned to 430 hp. The small block chevy is a fantastic engine. It has tonnes of torque, is pretty much effortless in its application of power and is extremely economical for what is a V8 engine. I regularly get 23 mpg in normal driving. With highway driving it is often in the 29-30mpg.

HSV GTS via Steve Kay's photostream

The Pontiac G8 GXP is a mix of the Holden Commodore SSV and some of the HSV bits and pieces. With the price of a gallon of petrol dropping it may be more appealing to American car buyers, then again, those that buy muscle cars or sports cars tend not to be too concerned about the cost of gas. By American standards it is an expensive car, clocking in around the 40K mark; but for someone who wants a four door muscle car, as opposed to the Mustang-Camaro-Challenger style, then there is not much choice; the Cadillac CTS-V, the Dodge Charger and now the Pontiac G8 GXP.

It will probably find a durable niche in the American car buying public.

Kicking Tires has an interesting run down of inventory for the remaining Pontiacs:

Pontiac G3: 617 days of inventory
Pontiac G5: 443 days of inventory
Pontiac G6: 83 days of inventory
Pontiac G8: 92 days of inventory
Pontiac Solstice: 276 days of inventory
Pontiac Vibe: 149 days of inventory
Pontiac Torrent: 99 days of inventory

Considering that Pontiac is being killed for 2010 several of the plants making those cars will probably be stopping manufacturing right now. It is also probably why Holden is concerned and trying to do deals to get the Commodore imported to the US as a Police Car or as a Chevy or Buick/GMC.

Holden pretty well got screwed by being matched up to Pontiac, then again Opel cannot be too happy about having their fortunes tied to Saturn either. Both were damaged brands that were on the verge of failure. Chevrolet and Cadillac are the only invigorated brands in the US for General Motors.

The auto blogs are agog with the statement from Bob Lutz that the Holden Commodore nee Pontiac G8 won't go the way of the dodo with Pontiac and will be slotted into the Chevrolet line up as a Caprice. Bob Lutz was quoted as saying:

The last time we looked at [the Pontiac G8], we decided that we would continue to import it as a Chevrolet. It is kind of too good to waste.

David Welch at business week bemoaned the passing of the Pontiac G8 stating that it was an example of all that was wrong with GM and why it was in such a state. The G8 was an excellent car on a new platform that was selling well and it was going to be junked along with Pontiac. Welch writes:

As General Motors barrels through bankruptcy and ditches the long-troubled Pontiac brand, along with it goes the G8 sports sedan. What a shame. The car started in price at $28,000 and the sticker price got close to $40,000 if you bought the high-powered GXP model. When is the last time a Pontiac sold for that kind of sticker price? You'd have to sell two G6 coupes to get that kind of money.

Not only is it a premium car, but it is selling well to:

Sure that last-minute rush pushed sales up. Still, G8 sales rose 150% last month. Pontiac, which everyone knows is dying, sold nearly 16,000 G8s this year. That's more than Acura sold of its top-selling TL sedan and Infiniti sold of its G37 sedan. In other words, GM had a sporty sedan that was appointed with luxury amenities and sold at top-shelf prices. And out it goes.

I am sure Holden will be happy that the Commodore will continue to be imported to the United States. To be truthful it made more sense as a Chevrolet than a Pontiac anyway.

Update: Not so fast. Official corporate speak:

As part of its reinvention, General Motors is exploring every opportunity of effectively utilizing its global portfolio of vehicles, facilities and talent. While this exploration includes the possibility of extending imports of Holden vehicles (such as the recent Pontiac G8) to North America, no decision has been made at this time.

Basically nothing. Sounds like Bob Lutz and Fritz Henderson are having a power battle.

Update II: And now it isn't coming to the US at all. Lutz is quoted as:

The G8 will not be a Caprice after all. I'd mentioned it, and said we were studying it, giving it a serious look, because a car like the G8 was just too good to waste.

That's all still true. But I have to say that, with my new "marketing" hat on, upon further review and careful study, we simply cannot make a business case for such a program. Not in today's market, in this economy, and with fuel regulations what they are and will be.

The existing Pontiacs are it. Looks like Henderson won that internal power struggle.

It looks like Holden have managed to sell the Commodore into another niche market since Pontiac was axed. This time it is being sold as a fleet vehicle to the Police Forces in the United States as a Chevrolet Caprice fleet car. Rather than the Commodore it is the long wheel base version.

Apparently the Chevrolet Aveo RS that is currently on display in Detroit came out of the Holden Design Studios at Fisherman's Bend.

Not a bad design for a small car. They tend to be difficult to look mean and angry, or get a decent stance on the road for that matter. This car seems to have it.

Quite interesting that Holden's design is being acknowledged around the place. Holden produced the Effy FJ re-imagination as well as the Commodore Coupe 60 concept in recent times that made their way to the United States.

The Holden Coupe 60 which was supposed to be the next generation Holden Monaro and Pontiac GTO ended up being still born. Wonderful lines though for a big two-door coupe.

Apparently Buick may get a coupe. Almost immediately after that speculation, old photoshops of the Holden Coupe 60 start appearing in threads.

I am not sure why Buick is still around. Apparently sales in China are going strong, Holden after all exports the Statesmen to China as a Buick, but in the US it is a stale old line-up with little cache that now appears to be getting the cars that the defunct Saturn once had.

Toyota added Scion to its lineup and that really went nowhere, however Toyota and Lexus are still pretty strong. There is really little use for any brands other than Chevrolet and Cadillac from General Motors. Buick and GMC should have been shedded at the same time that Pontiac and Saturn were.

There is always some speculation that the Holden Commodore will make its way back to the US. It appears that the Statesman will come over as a Chevrolet police car and you still hear comments of a the Commodore being sold as a Chevrolet that is a four door Corvette [via motortrend]:

"There's a possibility of [the Pontiac G8 coming back as] a high-end Chevrolet sedan that would be sold in limited numbers," Lutz told international media at the Detroit auto show. Volume would be limited because "with the U.S. fuel economy legislation, we just can't afford to sell too many of them."

Lutz is a great fan of Holden's rear-drive Commodore sedan, which is available in several high-performance variants. "The thrill of high-performance driving is unmatched by anything that doesn't have rear drive, bags of torque, and a nice transmission," he says. "I think of it as a four-door Corvette."

I drive a Corvette, which is a wonderful car, but it is highly impractical for a lot of stuff, such as carrying passengers, kids, putting things in the boot [trunk], getting stuff from the hardware store, etc. I think a performance car or ute with the Chevy small block shoved in it is a great idea. If I ever had to give up my 'vette that is what I would go to. Who knows.

The new Managing Director of Holden Australia dismisses nationalistic claims to automotive manufacturing;

"The Cruze is going to be built in the United States, in Russia, in South Africa, in Australia, in China -- and in Korea..." he explained.

"That is a global car; our home room for that car is in Korea. The Chevrolet Camaro being built in Ontario [Canada] and sold into the United States -- the home room for that car happened to be here at Holden. The manner in which General Motors designs and develops cars is global and, just like the folks in the States wouldn't say that the Camaro is Australian or Canadian, I don't say that the Cruze is Korean. It is home-roomed in Korea and it's a global product, and that's how we develop cars now.

I can recall when the Pontiac GTO (the Holden Monaro) was brought over to the United States that the stickers on the side of the cars that explain where it was built and where the parts came from had 50% American. The reason was the engine and transmission which were sourced from the US despite the car being manufactured in Australia on an Australian designed chassis. Despite it being an "Australian" car, due to globalization, it was still half-American.

Manufacturing is now a global concern and Devereaux is dismissing the idea that quality has a nationalistic basis. Since the Japanese manufacturers adopted the Deming Way in the 1960s where quality control is based on statistical analysis then quality has become and engineering and empirical form. Nationalism does not come into it.

About the 1990s Australia and American adopted SPC [Statistical Process Control] under numerous guises such as TQM, TQC, Six-Sigma etc. Since then quality has become independent of nationalist character, or the work force and labor force that builds the products. A factory in Mexico can produce something the same quality as in Japan, Kentucky, Munich, the British Midlands or Port Adelaide.

It is ironic as the political strand of neo-liberalism has adopted nativism and nationalism in order to sell a conservative brand of politics which directly under mines the globalist capitalistic order. Both left and right governments have used this in Australia and the United States, though less in the latter. This has led to inefficiencies such as subsidies for automotive manufacturing in Australia for Holden with the Cruze and in the United States for the bail outs of Detroit.

The politics of neoliberalism are distinctly at odds with the globalist character of modern manufacturing and world wide supply lines. If the Cruze is more efficient for being built in Korea and exported to Australia then government subsidies should not get in the way of that occurring.