June 30, 2005

Horse 364 - Viva Holden! ... or is that Holden Viva



Do you remember back in Horse 358 how I suggested that Holden had "long term plans to replace all the cars below Commodore with Korean built examples"? Well surprise, surprise, Holden has confirmed it will introduce two 4-cylinder produced in Korea later this year.

The new Holden Barina, read re-badged Daewoo Kalos, replaces the existing Corsa/Barina and Holden Viva will hit showrooms to cut Holden’s small car prices at the budget end of the market. Barina and Viva will include design and engineering influences from Holden, particularly in areas such as chassis and engine performance to ensure driving characteristics reflect expectations of Holden buyers and meet the harsh thumping conditions of Australian roads.

The TK Barina will replace the existing XC model while the JF Viva will establish a new nameplate for Holden between Barina and the AH Astra series. The TS Astra Classic will be phased out as Viva is introduced into dealers. The TK Barina will be available in 3-door and 5-door hatch variants while the Viva will come in 4-door sedan, 5-door hatch and 5-door wagon variants.

The two-way relationship between Holden and its South Korean counterpart is growing stronger it seems, this has been cemented with the introduction of Barina and Viva. Holden has exported 4-cylinder engines to South Korea for many years and this year began shipments of the Daewoo Statesman from Australia to South Korea.

So my Prawny Bard your baby Astra is set to miss out on seeing it's kids anymore, instead it will be saying hello to it's eastern cousins from Busan.

1 comment:

James said...

Boo! That sux... Not that I liked the new Astra that much anyway. Still, my baby would've liked to see her kids.