New Holden Barina Makes Strong Debut in November

SYDNEY – Dec 5, 2011: Supply issues continued to impact Holden sales in November, with the company experiencing a challenging month in an increasingly segmented marketplace.

Supply constraints for local and imported carlines impacted availability of key Holden models, including the popular, family-friendly Commodore and Cruze ranges, which were Australia’s fourth and fifth top-selling models respectively.

Holden remained the country’s second highest-selling automotive brand, retailing 9,761 vehicles to achieve a market share of 11.0 per cent for month.

Holden recorded Commodore sales of 2,808 units in November, bringing the year-to-date tally to 37,803 units. Commodore continues to account for a lion’s share of the large car segment, capturing 55.7 per cent YTD.

Cruze was the third highest-selling small car in November, with total sales of 2,393 units and 12.4 per cent segment share.

Despite a softer month of recorded registrations for Cruze in November, Holden dealers are reporting strong interest in the model year 2012 Cruze range, including the Australian-designed hatch body style, which also landed in November.

Holden’s new-generation Barina also made its market debut in November, boosting Barina sales to 1,283 units – Holden’s best Barina result since February 2008. Combined with the youthful Barina Spark, Holden’s Barina range accounted for 1,462 sales and 13.1 per cent of the light car market.

Holden Director of Sales Philip Brook said despite a challenging month, public reaction to its growing small car range was extremely positive and indicated potential for further growth.

“We’re rapt with the response to the all-new Barina hatch, which offers customers more value and technology than ever before,” he said.

“We’re also extremely proud that more than half of the cars we sold were locally-made, with Australians responding positively to our Australian-made portfolio and capability.

“We certainly faced some challenges in November but we’ve got a great product portfolio with a balanced mix of models to respond to a broad range of customer requirements.

“We’re only midway through our product renaissance, which will continue in 2012 with the arrival of a new-generation Colorado LCV, dedicated LPG Commodore, mid-sized Malibu sedan and Volt extended range electric vehicle.”

Holden has sold 115,902 vehicles to-date for a total market share of 12.5 per cent.