I am one of those people.
The reason is mainly because Holden are regarded as being the leaders, the first to market with design and features that make life tough for ford to follow. VE hasn’t really done that to the degree I was expecting but there are reasons for that, that GM are slowly getting around to explaining.
While they are the large car market leader they also make mistakes that cause discounting to sell that volume. Ford while trailing Holden to introduce an IRS when they did, it is generally been accepted that the Ford design is technically superior, at least in theory.
Holden still have an IRS and across the range, something Ford are still yet to achieve. To the market its hard to accept that one IRS is better then the other and if they are why pay for the weight penalty just for the privilege of saying my car has a better suspension.
The first generation which I regard as the best was fitted to some models in 98. In 2002 it was replaced with what is known as control blade. Holden improved on their system but the VE introduces a significant step up for them. Will it be better then what the Ford system is, that remains to be seen but it would be surprising if it were to blow us away.
In terms of quality yes VE should be well ahead of BF and people will appreciate and pay for it.
We know Ford have mono tubes ready to go so even if VE does have a slight advantage it most likely won’t be for very long.
When I said what I did I hadn’t read everything that has been said by Holden. As it turns out the GM agrees with my statements. The SWB cars are innovative by design. “We concentrated on the LWB cars†HSV have been left to show the way redefine the Aussie SWB models.
The appearance while hugely acceptable just has a confused look. It can look narrow and high while the side profile especially when these Photoshop wizards get hold of it looks stunning. Again the reason is Holden wont bee keeping this design for as long as they have previously done. When I said I was disappointed I was assuming it had a life cycle similar to what had gone before.
No split fold rear seat yet they said a design brief was to be as flexible as possible. No AC as standard No full sized wheel, interior themes that have mirrored Fords later designs and theories. That’s has happened because both companies for this market look to the same benchmarks.
It’s not the looking into the future some would have hoped but at the same time detractors like me acknowledge that is a safe design that won’t offend