NEW distributor for Peugeot and Citroen, Inchcape Australasia, has firmly pushed aside talk of importing any Opel or Vauxhall products, particularly the next Holden Commodore.
Inchcape Australasia chief executive Nick Senior said any decision about Opel and Vauxhall vehicles – now part of PSA Group that includes Peugeot and Citroen – “has not been discussed”.
Mr Senior refused to discuss the matter further when questioned at the launch last week of Inchcape’s first PSA product brought into Australia, the Peugeot 3008 SUV.
To be fair to Mr Senior, it is very much early days. PSA Group has only just taken over Opel and Vauxhall from General Motors, and the first of the Opel Insignia models that will become Holden Commodores in Australia are yet to start serious production.
But at the core of the question is the ability of PSA to import into Australia the Opel – also badged Vauxhall for the UK’s right-hand-drive market – Insignia as a Peugeot.
Does that seem a bit ridiculous to bring in a near-identical car made in the same factory into a small market like Australia? For Peugeot, awaiting its all-new 508 large sedan and wagon midway through next year, it’s unlikely.
Could it be badged a Citroen? With Inchcape pushing Citroen as a name to be associated with light-commercial vehicles, that is also unlikely.
Yet introducing the Opel Insignia to compete with the Peugeot 508 is exactly what is happening in Europe.
PSA is responsible for the profitable manufacture of products from the Opel plant (that supplies Vauxhall) and so increasing production theoretically should dove-tail with increased sales for increased profits.
The trick is when you also make models that compete with each other. Do you bias the models with the owner’s brand name and so erode potential sales of the cuckoo brand, or find the most profitable model and concentrate on its sales?
For Australia, it appears the Peugeot and Citroen badge products will not cross over into those produced by PSA’s ownership of the Opel factory. For us, the Insignia may be made by a PSA company but it’s being marketed by another company, Holden.
By Neil Dowling on 17th August 2017 Comment, Free Access Articles Citroen, Comment, Commodore, Inchcape, Peugeot
NEW distributor for Peugeot and Citroen, Inchcape Australasia, has firmly pushed aside talk of importing any Opel or Vauxhall products, particularly the next Holden Commodore.
Inchcape Australasia chief executive Nick Senior said any decision about Opel and Vauxhall vehicles – now part of PSA Group that includes Peugeot and Citroen – “has not been discussed”.
Mr Senior refused to discuss the matter further when questioned at the launch last week of Inchcape’s first PSA product brought into Australia, the Peugeot 3008 SUV.
To be fair to Mr Senior, it is very much early days. PSA Group has only just taken over Opel and Vauxhall from General Motors, and the first of the Opel Insignia models that will become Holden Commodores in Australia are yet to start serious production.
But at the core of the question is the ability of PSA to import into Australia the Opel – also badged Vauxhall for the UK’s right-hand-drive market – Insignia as a Peugeot.
Does that seem a bit ridiculous to bring in a near-identical car made in the same factory into a small market like Australia? For Peugeot, awaiting its all-new 508 large sedan and wagon midway through next year, it’s unlikely.
Could it be badged a Citroen? With Inchcape pushing Citroen as a name to be associated with light-commercial vehicles, that is also unlikely.
Yet introducing the Opel Insignia to compete with the Peugeot 508 is exactly what is happening in Europe.
PSA is responsible for the profitable manufacture of products from the Opel plant (that supplies Vauxhall) and so increasing production theoretically should dove-tail with increased sales for increased profits.
The trick is when you also make models that compete with each other. Do you bias the models with the owner’s brand name and so erode potential sales of the cuckoo brand, or find the most profitable model and concentrate on its sales?
For Australia, it appears the Peugeot and Citroen badge products will not cross over into those produced by PSA’s ownership of the Opel factory. For us, the Insignia may be made by a PSA company but it’s being marketed by another company, Holden.
Comment by Neil Dowling
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