Holden Waves Goodbye to Astra

Holden is going to discontinue the Astra small car despite the high sales this particular model has recorded over its 22-year lifetime. Wondering what's the reason? The company has hundreds of unsold cars, drive.com.au reported today, contrary to what you may expect for Holden's second best-selling model after Commodore. Most of these cars were built in 2008 and are currently available at special prices and benefit from several discounts.

What's more interesting is that after the Australian brand will abandon Astra, its product range won't include a small hatchback for approximately one year until the company debuts the Cruze. And speaking of Cruze, the car is already available in Australia but only as a sedan, with new flavors expected to arrive sometime next year.

“Astra’s been a great car for us … but the reality is … we have to do what we have to do to get profitable in the marketplace,” said Holden marketing director Alan Batey. “We’re not going to build cars here to make a loss.”

“Your marketing dollars can only go so far. We had a Viva in a sedan, hatchback and wagon. We had an Astra hatchback, coupe, twin-top, sedan and wagon. Half of our problem was proliferation.”

The Cruze is going to play a very important role in Holden's market strategy, with the Australian brand planning a locally-built version of the car due in 2010. Things are still sketchy at this time but according to the aforementioned source, the company plans to manufacture the Cruze alongside Commodore.

“150 per cent of our focus is on launching this car (Cruze)," Batey explained in the statement. “They were bought in before the (foreign exchange) rate turned."