Can diesel save the Commodore?

Wednesday, 4 July 2018

Will the diesel version of the ZB Commodore help its dismal sales performance so far?

Holden is pinning its hopes on diesel to turn around weak sales.

The arrival of diesel engines for the only two model lines Holden has released since it pulled out of car-making in Australia represents a last chance to lift their desultory performances.

The US-sourced Equinox has equally failed to fire locally, despite seemingly hitting the sweet spot in the popular medium SUV segment.

Holden is the country's third best-performing brand year-to-date, yet the Equinox crossover and ZB Commodore are not contributing much in their petrol formats. Equinox, which with a January release came out two months ahead of Commodore, is doing it particularly tough, data from the Motor Industry Association showing just 390 sales, 90 in June.

Commodore has almost three times as many registrations but has nonetheless lost significant pace since the changeover to the ZB generation, which comes from Opel and replaces the VF that was curtailed when Holden ended car-making in Australia last October.

The petrol-powered Equinox does everything right, but punters aren't flocking to it. Diesel might help.

**READ MORE

* ZB Commodore lets tech do the talking

The Commodore's big sales boost in April after the ZB launched has been largely attributed to punters snapping up the last of the Aussie-built VFs.

* Life goes on - that's why we now have a 4-cylinder, FWD Commodore

* Holden Commodore bursts into new vehicle sales lead

Is the sun setting on the Commodore? Sales aren't great and the diesel comes at a time when other manufacturers are abandoning the segment.

* Last call for our long-term Holden Commodore VXR**

ZB's introductory month reaped 310 registrations, comprising not just the new car but runout VFs, but since then this historically solid performer has slumped, with 96 last month, 119 in May and 102 in April.

Even the venerable V6 engine hasn't helped keep Commodore buyers in the fold.

The market's cool approach to ZB is not unique to New Zealand – it also struggles in Australia – yet results are around 40 per cent down on Commodore performance for the same periods of 2017.

Holden NZ itself acknowledges that the year-to-date accrual of 936 Commodore sales between January 1 and today has been fuelled more by the rush to buy the last of Australian-made product, particularly the V8 models, than interest in the ZB, which failed to showed in the passenger top 15 last month and is the country's 13th most popular passenger product year to date.

Equinox? Launching the 1.5- and 2.0-litre variants at the start of the year should have been a sweet strategy: Soft-roader popularity has never been stronger, the type accounting for 12 spots in the June top 15.

Yet the MIA-provided data suggests Equinox hasn't fired.

What potential for diesel being a panacea? The fuel type could lift Equinox as it still has some attraction in the compact crossover category, but the situation for cars is simply black.

Holden is delivering its first-ever diesel Commodore into this sector at a time when almost every other sub-$70,000 competitor has departed, having determined the category is a wasteland, buyers having been turned off by the type's premium, servicing costs, Road User Charge and also negative perception from the Volkswagen emissions cheating saga.

Both the Commodore and Equinox ranges are nonetheless completed with availability, as of today, by arrival of the four-cylinder turbocharged diesel units.

Commodore's is a 125kW/400Nm 2.0-litre out of Opel, driving the front wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission and restricting to a $48,990 hatch and $50,990 sportwagon both in fleet-tailored LT trim.

The Equinox, which is designed by Chevrolet and comes from a plant in Mexico, runs with a 100kW/320Nm 1.6-litre, also running through an automatic, this time a six-speed. There are three choices – a $46,990 front-drive LT and a pair of all-wheel-drives, the $55,990 LTZ and $59,990 LTZ-V.

The cheapest editions of both lines are cited as being the most frugal and interestingly, even though it is heavier, Equinox is cited as being able to exact match the optimal economy of 5.6 litres per 100km cited for the Commodore LT five-door.

Holden NZ product marketing manager Ina Economopoulos suggests the Commodore's fuel efficiency is nonetheless best compared against the 2.0-litre four cylinder petrol Commodore LT Liftback model.

That assessment sees the advantage go the diesel, as the maker reckons the LT petrol is good for 7.4L/100km overall. She also mentions that the diesel produces a lower CO2 count.

Holden says the Equinox diesel is a family-oriented proposition whereas the Commodores could foremost have fleet appeal.