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From www.news.com.au
THE mighty Monaro, the most charismatic car in Holden showrooms, is doomed.
It is the victim of a tumultuous shake-up of Holden's whole Commodore family to make way for new-age models including all-wheel drives.
Holden's production plant in Adelaide is being restructured, building up to the arrival of the all-new VE model midway through next year.
Monaro sales have been slowing, which points to a coming plateau in demand in Australia and also for the export model of the car, the Pontiac GTO, which was developed at Fishermans Bend for sales in the US.
As yet there is no successor to the Monaro in the VE line-up, although Holden is working on several plans, including a heavyweight sports car similar to the Chevrolet Corvette.
Holden is painting the decision to end production of the Monaro later this year as a win for the company, even though it will be a big loss for fans.
"This is still the best-selling sports car in the country," spokesman Jason Laird said. "We wanted to go out with a bang while it was still on top.
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"It was a question of us choosing the timing. Champions retire on top."
The Monaro was a 1960s marque, born again in the late 1990s. There was a deafening roar from customers when Holden displayed a Monaro Coupe at the Sydney Motor Show in 1990, and the car was fast-tracked into showrooms.
Only 11,000 have been sold since then in Australia, with overseas sales to Britain and the US taking the total beyond 40,000.
The numbers do not make long-term sense when Holden is struggling with back orders on more popular models, including its all-wheel-drive Adventra and V8-powered Commodore SS.
Holden plans to farewell the Monaro with a limited edition car called the CV8-Z due on sale next month. But it may not be the end for Monaro.
"Everyone at Holden is certainly committed to delivering a new-generation Monaro in the future, but there is still a lot of work to make that happen," said Denny Mooney, chairman of GM Holden.
THE mighty Monaro, the most charismatic car in Holden showrooms, is doomed.
It is the victim of a tumultuous shake-up of Holden's whole Commodore family to make way for new-age models including all-wheel drives.
Holden's production plant in Adelaide is being restructured, building up to the arrival of the all-new VE model midway through next year.
Monaro sales have been slowing, which points to a coming plateau in demand in Australia and also for the export model of the car, the Pontiac GTO, which was developed at Fishermans Bend for sales in the US.
As yet there is no successor to the Monaro in the VE line-up, although Holden is working on several plans, including a heavyweight sports car similar to the Chevrolet Corvette.
Holden is painting the decision to end production of the Monaro later this year as a win for the company, even though it will be a big loss for fans.
"This is still the best-selling sports car in the country," spokesman Jason Laird said. "We wanted to go out with a bang while it was still on top.
Advertisement:
"It was a question of us choosing the timing. Champions retire on top."
The Monaro was a 1960s marque, born again in the late 1990s. There was a deafening roar from customers when Holden displayed a Monaro Coupe at the Sydney Motor Show in 1990, and the car was fast-tracked into showrooms.
Only 11,000 have been sold since then in Australia, with overseas sales to Britain and the US taking the total beyond 40,000.
The numbers do not make long-term sense when Holden is struggling with back orders on more popular models, including its all-wheel-drive Adventra and V8-powered Commodore SS.
Holden plans to farewell the Monaro with a limited edition car called the CV8-Z due on sale next month. But it may not be the end for Monaro.
"Everyone at Holden is certainly committed to delivering a new-generation Monaro in the future, but there is still a lot of work to make that happen," said Denny Mooney, chairman of GM Holden.
stu harris said:
Sad but true. No more CV8's apart from what we have in stock. VXR (HSV) versions continue into 2006.
Stu
ye ha, that should help keep the car exclusive and the residuals strong!! Think I will need to keep mine permanently if it isnt going to be replaced.
My cv8 is amongst the best cars I have owned, and that includes a Ferrari 456, several 996's, M3 / M3 CSL, M5, Cerbs, Griff, t350, AMG C36, BMW 740i
I always said I would buy a Corvette if it had room in the back to enable a v8 to be combined with rear seats for the kids.
Other than a Monaro which other car enables you to kick M3 asses, cruise 4 up in comfort (with the kids unable to kick the seat backs) with all of the luggage you could want and still stop at Carreforre on the return leg and fit a trolley full of booze in the boot...
Oh well, pay off the lease in a year, fit a supercharger conversion and keep it.
Bennno
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