Holden plotting Ram 1500 rival? The brand evaluates the large truck market in Australia

Holden says he's evaluating the big truck market in Australia.

Holden closely monitors sales of American pickups in Australia, assessing the size of the local market for large trucks.

Ram's success in Australia has not gone unnoticed at Holden: the 1500 family, imported by Ateco and converted by Walkinshaw, is booming.

Ram's manufacturing facility in Victoria (where the re-manufacturing process takes place) has just introduced 400/20 shifts, five days a week, to deal with backlogs of around XNUMX pieces. At maximum capacity, the Ram plant is capable of producing more than XNUMX vehicles a day.

And Holden HQ has taken notice as executives are now exploring the potential for the large truck market in Australia. HSV already sells the Chevrolet Silverado here, which, like the Ram product, is imported into the country in left-hand drive and converted locally.

But GM's broader product portfolio is brimming with truck options, including the Silverado, as well as the GMC Sierra 1500 and GMC Canyon.

“There is a market and we are working on it with HSV,” says Holden's sales director Peter Kayley. “We evaluate a lot, but we won’t talk about particulars.”

Asked if the relatively small number of truck sales in Australia would fit the business case, he added: “I didn't say that. In the end, everything comes down to the business case - we evaluate many business cases for different products, then identify viability, prioritize, etc.

“At the moment we have the Chevrolet brand in Australia through HSV and that is where we are right now.

“There is a market for large trucks. There is no doubt about this. But just how big this market is remains to be determined.

"We are evaluating a variety of market opportunities."