The car that killed Holden in Australia

The story of Holden’s dizzying decline from number one brand status to complete disappearance is a long and winding one.

There are many reasons it lost its lead, but one car encapsulates them more than most: hold tight captivaor Craptiva as it is mockingly known.

Holden has had a long history of swapping mid-range horses with anything that wasn’t called a Commodore.

For example, Barina went from Suzuki to Opel to Daewoo. We went from an Isuzu-based Gemini to a Nissan-based Astra and then a Toyota-based Nova, before using the Opel Astra, ditching it for the Korean Cruze, and then back to Opel. .

Then there’s Holden’s medium-sized mess. After Torana, Holden went from Camira to Apollo, Vectra, Epica and Malibu, with Insignia very well included.

In contrast, Holden is consistent with Captiva. But this time they over-tuned, sticking to the same model and trying to keep it fresh for 12 long years.

The Ford Territory has come a similar long way, but it is a more impressive vehicle designed and built specifically for Australia.

In contrast, Captiva is a product of GM Korea designed for the global market, commonly sold as Chevrolet Captiva but also sold in Korea as Daewoo Winstorm.

You can argue the rot in Holden with Korea’s first Barina, TK.

General Motors bought Daewoo in 2002 and wasted no time using its cheap and cheerful (or tasteless) products to plug holes in its product line both at home and abroad.

The Daewoo Kalos became the Chevrolet Aveo in the US (plus the Suzuki Swift+ and the Pontiac Wave in Canada) and replaced the critically acclaimed Opel-derived XC Barina in 2005.

As a more budget-oriented model, the TK Barina allowed Holden to offer a lower base price, and it’s worth noting that the Opel’s reliability and build quality weren’t at their best in the late 1990s. and early 2000s. However, the TK is based on a car that is several years old and is no better than the XC – and in many ways worse.

The Daewoo Lacetti-based Viva is at least brought in as an additional small car, not a replacement for the Astra. But the Epica – the inline six-cylinder co-developed with Porsche – is a surprisingly bland midsize sedan at a time when the segment is undergoing a resurgence, led by the Honda Accord Euro. and the desirable Mazda 6.

Then there’s Captiva, GM Korea’s newest and most beautiful product. It used a new GM platform called Theta and was housed in Commodore-based Adventra.

The locally produced Adventra is not what the market is looking for, forever in the shadow of the Ford Territory looking more like a dedicated SUV than a convertible wagon. But Captiva, while relatively appealing at launch with its sleek SUV styling, persists as an unpleasant smell – if a surprisingly common one, like a can of Brut.

It seemed promising at first. There’s a 3.2-litre V6 Alloytec 169kW/297Nm under the bonnet and a choice of five and seven-seat configurations. At the top is the more luxurious Maxx, also sourced from Korea but using a shorter, sportier-looking body and a unique interior by the Opel/Vauxhall Antara for the European market.

The 110kW/320Nm 2.0-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine sourced from VM Motori joined the lineup in 2007, beating the Territory on diesel offering for four years (despite the V6’s diesel engine). Ford is on another level).

2009 saw the V6-powered Maxx scrapped, replaced by the Captiva 5 packing a 103kW/220Nm 2.4-liter four-cylinder and repositioned as a Toyota RAV4 rival. The car with the larger body was renamed the Captiva 7.

An upgrade debuted in 2011, with refreshed styling, $2,000 off most variants, more standard safety equipment, and a new range of engines.

These include the 123kW/230Nm 2.4-litre, the VE Commodore’s 190kW/288Nm 3.0-litre SIDI V6 and the more powerful 2.2-litre VM Motori turbocharged four-cylinder with 135kW and 400Nm.

While that’s a pretty significant mid-life refresh on paper, at this point GM should have (or almost) a new generation – such as the relevant first-generation Chevrolet Equinox. has completed its 5 years of operation by this point and has entered the second generation.

Captiva is not. There was another minor update in 2014, along with a price cut with the seven-seat model’s base sticker at $29,990 pre-road, which is a significant $6000 less than at launch. Captiva.

Finally, GM gave the Captiva another facelift for 2016, removing the shorter body style and the 5 and 7 suffixes, upgrading the infotainment system and adding key safety equipment. new action on the most advanced LTZ version.

Honestly, the Dodge Journey or the Fiat Freemont were the better pick in 2016, but the Captiva was still the second-best-selling three-row crossover that year, behind only the premium (if more expensive) Toyota Kluger.

Long-standing Captiva helped establish (or arguably cement) Holden’s reputation as a purveyor of low-priced, old-fashioned products. It is always popular with new car buyers, then the car catches on fire.

There have been multiple recalls due to fuel leaks, as well as other recalls for issues like steering shaft failure and brake valve problems.

There are numerous reports of timing chain problems in V6 models, with diesel versions also experiencing oil leaks and turbocharger failures, as well as several widely reported transmission problems. There’s nothing like some item that fails badly to alienate customers.

Unfortunately, the newer but similarly popular Cruze has also had a bad reputation for reliability issues. As with Captiva, there are models that don’t have the expensive problem, but there are also many models that do.

The price drop has helped boost already strong Captiva sales, and in 2013, Holden sold 20,033 units – nearly double what it was in the first full year of sales.

Indeed, in most years, Holden sold at least 15,000 Captivas, with the seven-seat models being the most popular, and it was only in the last years of its life that it fell into decline. Holden finally scrapped it in 2018.

Holden sales fell below the 100,000 mark in 2016 to 94,308. They fell slightly again to 90,306 in 2017, before dropping rapidly: the brand sold just 60,751 vehicles in 2018, 43,176 in 2019 and 16,688 in 2020, the year it announced its closure.

So how can a car that is clearly a major driver for Holden be seen as a nail in the brand’s coffin?

Simply put, Captiva seems to be just the best Holden can get from a global portfolio and is only sold in metal for money.

Rival Ford has developed an acclaimed Falcon-based crossover for Australian conditions, Holden has adapted a more affordable Korean car.

Philosophical differences are also evident between their respective models: Ford is committed to sourcing its small and midsize vehicles from Europe, while Holden has switched from using Opel to GM Korean products. Quoc only to reverse course then. Unfortunately, a crossover based on the rumored VE Commodore to compete with the Territory never materialized.

You could argue that Holden doesn’t have much of a choice in this regard, and at least it has priced Captiva very high. Captiva’s Opel cousin lasted just as long, perhaps because GM’s bankruptcy hampered its production plans.

The second-generation Chevrolet Equinox was not built on the right-hand drive, as were the GMC Acadia, Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Enclave, and first-generation Saturn Outlook quartets. There’s nothing else for Holden to enter this popular segment.

Alas, the Captiva’s exceptional reputation for red spots makes it difficult for Holden to sell the larger, significantly more impressive Acadia – if customers are used to buying a seven-seat Holden for just $30,000, why they want to pay more than 40,000 dollars for one?

That’s a shame, because with the full-size Acadia and mid-sized Equinox, Holden finally has some truly competitive (if still not top-of-the-line) crossovers. They were simply too late.

Holden’s image had been significantly eroded by the time GM decided to turn off the lights.

Swapping out most of its lineup for models sourced from GM Korea only helped boost sales in the short term for the brand and ultimately created long-term reputational damage. The Opel cars they replace may have flaws in reliability and quality, but they are more desirable cars.

Captiva was pretty average from the start. Even if its reliability improved later in the run, there’s no disputing the fact that it’s a dilapidated old bus that sells for a price. Why would you buy a Holden when cars from the ‘budget’ brands are newer and better?

The move to the imported ZB Commodore has alienated Holden loyalists who appreciate locally built models and that is immediately reflected in sales figures. But it’s models like the Captiva that are said to have hollowed out the Holden brand’s image, leaving a weak foundation for it to stand on in the post-Commodity world – a world that sadly lasts only a few months .