Our local paper has a story about Waitakere City Council (WCC) cancelling a 32 car order for Holden Barinas after learning of it’s dismal ANCAP 2 Star crash test rating.
WCC run the previous model Barinas which were based on the EuroNCAP 4 Star rated Opel Corsa. In Europe the Corsa has recently been updated, sharing much with the Fiat Grande Punto, and now has a EuroNCAP 5 Star rating.
In New Zealand Holden chose to replace the Euro sourced Barina with the Daewoo sourced Kalos:
New Barina's price calms sentiment - Road tests and Car reviews - CARSguide
You do not even have to give the Holden Barina the courtesy of a drive around the block to realise just how spoilt we once were.
The high quality and smart looking Opel Corsa-sourced Barina is now gone and just looking at the replacement is enough to send a shudder. Holden has replaced the well-designed and engineered Barina with a GM Daewoo product from Korea which starts life as a Kalos.
The difference in quality between the now dead and buried Opel Barina from Europe and the Daewoo jigger is a bit like the difference between a cold pie and a hot one.
Holden are extremely sensitive about the adverse reactions to the Barina, which has gone down in quality but, at the same time, has also gone down in price.
The Western Leader report – “Holden deal off after poor safety rating” Oct 12, 2006 – that WCC scrapped a decision to order 32 vehicles for $458,000 after learning of the ANCAP LTSA results;
New Holden Barina slips to two stars in crash tests - www.LTSA.govt.nz
The new model Holden Barina has received a poor two star rating in the latest Australasian crash test results, released in New Zealand today by Land Transport New Zealand and the AA.“Car buyers need to be aware that the new model Barina is a completely different vehicle to the previous four-star model. It is built in a different country and it does not provide the same level of occupant protection in crash testing as the previous model. New car buyers would not expect the new Barina to be a two star vehicle when the previous model achieved four stars.”
Although the process is now the same as EuroNCAP I’ve read that ANCAP results can be criticised due to the small sample size tested. It’s difficult to compare cars from different markets & tests from different organisations but EuroNCAP Kalos ratings are not much better:
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2006 Chevrolet Kalos: 3 Stars Passenger, 2 Stars Pedestrian
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2002 Corsa: 4 Stars Passenger, 1 Star Pedestrian
It’s good to see WCC considering more than price with this deal even if they have to spend a bit more. I’m sure the new Barina delivers more profit/vehicle for Holden, compared to a Euro sourced version, but at what cost to it’s brand integrity & customers? It’s already lost them some sales.
