Horse 950 - Six Month Old Scoop!

I was walking through the newsagent this morning when I found this:



I find it a little amusing that Wheels Magazine are playing on the ignorance of the general public. I've already seen this trick before by Holden themselves, and perhaps this story was fed to Wheels Magazine by Holden simply for the publicity (I wouldn't put it past them) but nevertheless, Wheels have published a picture and emblazoned it with the word SCOOP as though it was a big deal.

Guess what Wheels, not only can I provide you with the details of your so called "scoop" but I can even provide a better still photo than what you can - this is why:

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mellor.nsf/story2/815A76AC6BD40BD3CA2574A2002037DC
HOLDEN is believed to be preparing a twin mid-sized family car attack that will cover both the cheap and ‘prestige’ end of the segment.

In the surprise move that is set to mirror Honda’s successful two-pronged Accord/Accord Euro strategy, the Insignia – Opel’s new mid-sized glamour car that debuted late last month at the London motor show – will arrive in Australia priced between $35,000 and $50,000.

I note that this was dated the 11th of August last year. Also of note is that the Insignia won the 2008 European Car of the Year Award over the Ford Fiesta 7 by a mere one vote - it's little wonder then that Holden are so antsy about getting the car over here ASAP.

Personally think that instead of the grille treatment shown on the Wheels cover, the Holden Insignia/Torana will probably look something like this:



We'll probably be getting the 2L in-line 4 at 101kW, the 2L Turbo diesel at 122kW, and HSV will probably run the 2.8L V6 Turbo at 197kW.

In due course the current Epica (Daewoo Tosca) and the Insignia will both converge, into the new car on the Epslion platform at about 2011. Maybe by then the Commodore will have faded into obscurity, who knows?

The big question on all of this though is what happens to Opel, Daewoo, Vauxhall and Holden if Big Daddy GM in Detriot carks it. Opel have already threatened to buy themselves out for €1 and are currently considering a €1bn bid from SolarWorld AG. Whatever happens, if Holden decide to get the Insignia, there'll be a lot of hype for it.