Pontiac's demise has left a lot of people in the lurch, including General Motors Company’s [NYSE:GM] own Australian subsidiary Holden, which lost a vital contract for the supply of its Commodore-based G8 sedans to the North American market. The Aussie subsidiary is not giving up on bringing the Commodore Stateside, however, as Pontiac’s demise may allow Holden to sink its claws into a more successful GM brand.
Exactly how Holden will go about accomplishing this is uncertain, especially considering GM CEO Fritz Henderson has confirmed that the G8 won’t be sold under any other brands in North America. One possibility that has a strong chance is the G8 being sold as a Chevrolet to different law enforcement agencies around the U.S. Another possibility that is starting to gain credence is the Pontiac Sport Truck (ST), a model based on the 'ute' class of vehicles popular in Australia, being sold through GMC as a niche model.
Other avenues for Holden into the U.S. market include attaching itself to Cadillac. Both GM brands are associated with large rear-wheel-drive cars and smaller customer bases than mainstream brands such as Chevrolet. According to GoAuto, Holden has gone so far as to develop business cases for the GMC and Cadillac deals but any green light is still a long way off.
The story doesn’t end there as Holden is also reportedly looking to export small cars to the U.S. through GM's Delta platform, the new global architecture underpinning cars like the Chevrolet Cruze and Volt as well as a new compact sedan to be manufactured in Australia by Holden. Whether or not this will help Holden’s case for bringing its Commodore back to the U.S., however, remains unclear.
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