Although GM used the excuse of opting out of the RHD market as one of the main reasons for axing the Holden brand, it seems GM officials have confirmed that the RHD C8 Corvette will not be affected by the closure of Holden.
Chevrolet’s Communications Director, Kelly Cusinato, reported to carscoops.com that plans for sales of RHD C8 Corvette were still in place. Cusinato stated “GM sells vehicles in other select RHD markets and will therefore still develop the car with LHD and RHD options for applicable markets.” Carscoops.com also reports that Kevin Kelly, Senior Manager, Chevrolet Car and Crossover Communications at General Motors, stated, that as far as RHD C8 goes, the “plan remains in place”.
The above photograph has also been distributed by GM that proports to be of the first RHD interior. This does seem to be legitimate and not just a LHD flipped shot.
It is also widely believed that GM will establish a “Specialty Vehicles” division in Australia, which will sell, among other vehicles, the RHD C8 Corvette. Feasibility and operating plans are still being discussed regarding this option, but it is expected the Walkinshaw operation, HSV, will form part of the deal. This would allow the HSV RHD-converted Camaros and Silverados to be offered up for sale alongside the RHD Corvette. Whether HSV would be a partner, or GM take over the company, is part of the planning task.
The Specialty Vehicle concept would not be unique to Australia, as it already exists in other markets, most notably Europe. In Europe, GM sell Corvette, Camaro and Cadillac vehicles, an enterprise which GM International Operations Senior Vice President Julian Blissett describes as “profitable, high-end imported vehicles – supported by a lean GM structure”, again according to carscoops.com.
The difference in doing this for Australia is that the market is only open to RHD vehicles, unlike RHD markets such as Japan and the UK, where LHD cars can be sold and registered for everyday use. This becomes an issue in Australia, particularly for the Camaro, which must compete against the factory built RHD Mustang which Ford can sell for a considerably lower price.
Simulated Dealership
It is possible that the situation could be improved somewhat if GM themselves were involved in the RHD conversion operation. For a start, the donor cars could be sourced at a much lower base price than currently available to HSV. To further lower the price, the donor cars could be provided in some sort of partially completed build level, for instance without the dash panel, which could be built up and installed locally as RHD. This would save not only the cost of the assembly but would also save the tear-down operation.
Since most of the wiring harnesses are built in Australia for the RHD conversion, the donor car could come without these harnesses. This would provide the same double saving as for the dash panel.
As an extreme plan, the cars could be imported as a CKD (Completely Knocked Down) kit, including a complete body-in-white, but less the LHD components not required. Add the RHD components and assemble the car locally. Job done!
I’m sure there are many ways of setting up a better system for converting the Camaros, along with the converted Silverados, that would lower the price considerably. Let’s hope something like this can happen.
