[ozpacman]

I must admit to feeling quite a bit of empathy for the Holden dealers that employ thousands of people right across Australia. With the range of models they presently have access to, it must be very difficult for a lot of them to make ends meet at the moment.

Our local dealer has been trading since 1923 and has been a great corporate citizen for the town. I can't help but think they'd be feeling the pinch in the present sales climate though.

This ZB Commodore is probably not a bad car on its own merits, but I think it was a huge mistake on Holden's part to badge it as Commodore. All they've achieved by doing that is make potential customers suspect they're being played for fools.

I think if the car was given another nameplate, priced competitively and pitched against Camry, Sonata et al, it could have gone okay.

Brand loyalty is a big thing, but customers will drop it like a hot spud if they feel they're being bull****ted to.

Russ.