Holden puts its money where its mouth is

GM HOLDEN has launched a new incentive aimed at luring more buyers to the brand, with the car-maker promising to pay $500 to anyone that test drives a Holden but still ends up buying a car from one of its competitors.

The Test Drive Challenge will be backed up by an advertising campaign that will feature some of the company’s highest ranking engineers.

Recently appointed Holden marketing director Kristian Aquilina said the new program highlights how confident the company is in its current product line-up.

“It’s a bold move but one we do with confidence,” he said. “We know this is the best range of cars we’ve offered and in terms of safety, technology, customer service, value and that famous Holden driving spirit, we can’t be beaten.

“Holden is evolving, no question. The new vehicle line-up is fantastic and we challenge new-car buyers to experience how good they are and form their own opinion. We’re so confident in them, we’re willing to put $500 down if they go on to buy something else.”

The advertising campaign will feature some of Holden’s most senior engineers – including Rob Trubiani, Melanie Pollock and Ben Stephens – putting Holden’s latest models to the test in various conditions.

“Who better to talk about how good our cars are than the local engineers who play a huge role in developing all Holdens, getting them just right for Australian drivers,” Mr Aquilina added.

Mr Trubiani, who is Holden’s lead dynamics engineer, said the company spends considerable time and money ensuring that the range of cars are well suited to Australian conditions.

“I’ve certainly got the best job in Australia, it makes for some cracking stories at barbecues,” he said. “But in all seriousness, I know that every Holden engineer puts a lot of time and effort into making our cars fine-tuned for Australian conditions. We pride ourselves on knowing Australian drivers best.”

It is the latest program Holden has rolled out to try and generate more interest in its line-up following the closure of its Australian manufacturing operations in October last year and subsequent sales decline.

Earlier this month Holden introduced a permanent five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty across its line-up for all private and ABN buyers, which followed retail offers of seven years/unlimited kilometres that kicked off in October last year.

After Holden sales increased in the last quarter of 2017, sales have dropped off by 22.6 per cent in the first half of 2018 compared to the same period last year.

The company has also made key changes to its sales and marketing team in recent months to help strengthen its marketing activities.