June 12th will see Australia's premier motorsport event race for the first time in China. Ted Bullpit will be hopping mad though, the Holden Kingswood has become the Buick Royaum. Holden and Buick are both in the General Motors stable and in China the Holden Statesman and Caprice are sold by Buick. It appears only the car of Rick Kelly will be in Buick livery , which comes at the cost to Buick of sponsoring the car and its operation. The V8 supercars are attempting to establish themselves as a regional sport, General Motors wants greater branding in China, while Chinese officials want Shanghai to become the next Detroit. What about Holden vs Ford?

Chinese Car Culture

In modern society cars are one of the few places that mix isolation, time to one's self and the freedom of the open road. To many people, cars become an expression and extension of themselves. Chinese car lovers are no different. Major car manufacturers recognize this and are training Chinese car designers in Europe and Japan to supply cars for this market. Existing Chinese designers are branching out and seeking new opportunities.

It is inevitable that China will develop a unique car culture, probably quickly as it is the fourth largest automotive market already. China will have its versions of the Monaro, GTHO PhaseIII, Sandman, One-tonner etc. Is there a place for the Australian Holden's and Ford's in there? Judging by GM's thrust into China , which includes Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Opel and Saab, maybe not. If there is a place for them it is in niche cars like the Statesman and Monaro.

Ford Australia has been unsuccessful exporting its cars. Holden has had more success, apart from the above-mentioned Buick Royaum , there has also been the export of the Monaro the US market as the Pontiac GTO. The sales fell short of expectations however as the US market thought the GTO a bit plain and frumpy. Holden also exports the Commodore to the Middle East and South America, but the sale of engines have been Holden's strongest export market.

Parochial Aussie Motorsport

With the lack of sales opportunities for Holden and Ford Australia in China, the V8 Supercars must be seeking the establishment of their brand of motor racing in China. The establishment of the V8 Supercars series in 1993 was parochial. The Group A and Group C racing had plenty of diversity in it, with smaller BMWs, Alfa Romeo GTVs, Jaguar's and Godzilla - the mighty Nissan Skyline. The openness of the previous classes are gone now, in preference for a V8 only series that comprises only Holden and Ford with their Commodores and Falcons.

The V8 Supercars series has not expanded beyond Australia and New Zealand where the tribal difference between Holden and Ford is well established culturally. Dave Richards of FPR was quoted as saying;

I am concerned about how far you can stretch the championship. This championship has worked on a very successful formula of two great brands fighting it out against each other on the Australian and New Zealand markets where there is a great following and great passion for it, and it has worked, very, very well.

Richards was speaking on this year's trip to Shanghai, and the speculation that a Middle Eastern race may be run in the future. The parochial nature of the V8 Supercars is probably limiting the wider appeal of the sport. Richards has a point; why would someone in China barrack for Holden and Ford when they will never own a Commodore or Falcon. At least in the Middle East they do have Commodores, even though they are sold as Chevrolet Lumina's.

More Cars, More Cars, More Cars

If Australia wants wider appeal for their premier motorsport then they can probably look to the safety car for this year. Chrysler is making a run at the Australian market with the 300c [Flash Warning]. A car which will compete directly with the Holden Statesman and Ford Fairlane.

Maybe this can be incorporated into the highly restrictive rules of V8 Supercars, but then again Chrysler is probably getting the exposure they want as a pace car for a niche luxury car - and doing so without running the risk of copping a hiding from a much cheaper Commodore or Falcon on the track.

It is probable that the parochial decision to restrict powerful cars such as Godzilla and V12 Jags from Group C racing has left Australia with a highly localised sport that will have trouble sustaining interest outside of Australia and New Zealand. The American Speed channel during 2004 televised the V8 Supercar series, but I don't see it on their current program listings .

Good luck to the drivers and teams in Shanghai. I remain uncertain what benefit V8 Supercars, Holden or Ford will derive from it though.

cam
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Cam Riley: South Sea Republic. Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic.

Comments
  • Niche: If there is a place for them it is in niche cars like the Statesman and Monaro.

    A lot of the sedans outside Beijing and Shanghai seemed to be company cars, driven by a full or part-time driver.  I guess the Statesman would fill this niche pretty well, but US and Australian cars seem like tanks on the busy Chinese roads, where lanes are more general advice than firm channels of traffic ...
  • cam . # .
    Business Cars: One of the articles I saw said that an unusual part of Chinese car culture was that people would be chauffer driven during the week, then on weekends drive themselves in the same car. So the limous cant be super-huge tanks as a non-professional is driving them two of seven days.

    It also said that the same car often serves for a wider family as well. So it gets shared out. I was also interested to read that foreigners cant drive in China either. I assume this means tourists? Australians travelling over to see the V8 race cant get Chinese drivers licenses and have to use public transport.

    As to Holden\'s fortunes - if I was Bob Lutz I would remove the Pontiac mid-size and large line (Grand Prix and Bonneville) and just replace them with the Commodore variants. Pontiac is having trouble defining themselves. They are supposed to be the down and dirty Detriot brand. But they have the Aztec , which must be the ugliest car alive. Dreadful. Others arent much better.

    The Bonneville and Grand Prix lines can be set up to make Commodores with all their variants, Monaro, SS, Ute, Crew-cab, 4WD station wagon etc etc etc. Maybe even get an HSV involved. It is expensive to develop a car, and Holden has done that with the RWD platform. It is cheaper to set up a production line for that platform. Having the factories in the US would work IMO. IIRC I read somewhere that SAAB is thinking of setting up a Commodore production line in Sweden so they can sell a large platform RWD car into the US market.

    cam
  • Motorsport Mundial: has V8 Supercar news coverage on Speed.  There\'s not much of it, but at least the quality is good.  Last year\'s video looked very pixelated and had all sorts of digital artifacts.  I expect the conversion for Speed was done on the cheap.

    I really would like to see the China race.  I haven\'t see a \"Buick\" stock car since Darrell Waltrip drove one for Gatorade back in the early \'80s.
  • cam . # .
    Anonymous GNX fan writes: ... that back in the early 80s would be when production cars that raced in NASCAR looked like NASCARs, right? I prefer race cars to at least look like cars on the road. I dont see how a Chev/Ford winning a NASCAR race can translate to selling more next week. With the trucks I can, but not the cars.

    cam
  • I would say: they looked like the street cars back then.  I tried to find a photo of one of the old Buicks to link to,  but all I can find are models !

    A correction from my previous post - Waltrip drove for Gatorade in the late \'70s, but the Buick Regal was sponsored by Mountain Dew.
  • cam . # .
    Some pics of Buick NASCARs: Grand National NASCAR . Grand National and GNX were the same thing werent they?

    cam
  • Thanks for the link!: Man, that brings back memories.

    The GNX had various upgrades over the Grand National, like a higher flow turbo and revised transmission and rear end.  The shop near my office is turning a Regal T-Type into a GNX clone right now.