GM’s gender equality push

‘Greater inclusiveness can only lead to better outcomes’

Jodie Lennon and Joanne Stogiannis.

IN recognition of today being International Women’s Day, General Motors Special Vehicles’ has highlighted that three women are front and centre in their organisation.

“It is common knowledge that the auto industry is skewed heavily towards male representation, so it’s incredibly heartening we’re making gains in changing this balance, albeit as part of a relatively small team,” says Joanne Stogiannis, the director of GMSV, which represents in New Zealand with the Chevrolet Silverado and will also likely have the Corvette here before year’s end.

“This is demonstrated as part of the leadership team, where myself as head of GMSV and my colleagues Jodie Lennon and Dahlia Shnider work hand in hand on this new and exciting business,” she comments in a media release from GMSV, continued verbatim from this point.

“At GMSV, females account for 45 percent of all personnel in the team.  This diversity is incredibly important as studies have shown that company performance can be enhanced through greater gender balance.  Greater inclusiveness can only lead to better outcomes.”  

Stogiannis has been part of General Motors for almost 25-years, working through a variety of ever-increasingly senior roles including her present position of director of the recently established GMSV business.

“Since starting in the automotive industry, I’ve seen a shift from being one of the only women in the room to a place where we have greater diversity and balance," she says.

“Pleasingly, GM encourages and supports women on our journey through the business and affords the same opportunities to everyone as part of the corporation’s aspiration to be the most inclusive company in the world.”

GM is led by Mary Barra, the first female chief executive of a major automotive company, who has held the position since 2014.  

“Mary Barra is an inspiration to women all around the world, not just for those of us employed at GM,” said Stogiannis.

“She is an example of what can be achieved and is evidence that, when it comes to getting a job done, gender is no barrier to success.”

For 2021, the theme of the International Women’s Day is ‘Choose to Challenge.’

“While female representation in automotive is improving, there is still plenty of scope to challenge the status quo,” said Stogiannis.

“To use an auto analogy and something close to our Corvette hearts - as females in the auto-industry, we’re only just now moving through first and second gear and are yet to hit top speed.  

“There’s plenty more left in the tank when it comes to gender equality, we’re not stopping yet.”

Holden taking stock

If you’re up for a new Holden fresh off the boat … then, good news.

SOME have moved on from the franchise, many have pulled down the signage – but for the few yards still sticking by Holden, there are still cars to sell …. including a surprise final shipment.

Talk about a last-minute consignment of Astras and a couple Commodores from Opel has been circulating the traps.

It’s thought these are cars Holden tried to cancel, only to be told by the Germans ‘you ordered ‘em, you’re getting ‘em’.

They should have been here well before now but had been further delayed by Covid-related assembly and shipping issues.

What happens next to the cars has not been made clear. Unsold Holdens here already are subject to clearance sale. There’s talk that this stock might be registered by the end of the month, then on-sold – perhaps firesaled – as used vehicles. 

It’s no use asking Holden New Zealand: That operation is down to skeleton staff and one of the first out the door, at the end of June, was its corporate affairs manager. It was just how the redundancy schedule rolled.

All this occurs as Holden goes into its death throe. While the brand doesn’t officially cease until December, the new vehicle sales side might well have resolved by then.

Certainly, quite a few franchises have also moved on. The country’s oldest Holden outlet, Wagg Motors in Masterton, is now selling Hyundais. The Auckland and Wellington retailers have pulled down their hoardings. It’s thought fewer than 10 franchises are still operating as sellers of new Holden cars. 

The special vehicles operations responsible for the Chevrolet Silverado truck and incoming product including the Corvette and – according to rumour – a hot Cadillac sedan, has yet to transfer from Holden Special Vehicles to new operator General Motors Special Vehicles. Some current HSV dealers in this country are already lining up to be GMSV agents. And GMSV has already appointed a general manager for New Zealand.

Appointed by GMNZ in August, Matthew Taylor is a former Holden NZ employee. HE joined that operation on 2017 and was product marketing manager then national sales manager. Prior to that, he was with Bayford Group and had positions with BMW and Volkswagen in Australia. He has declined to be interviewed.

In Australia, meantime, the winding down process has included the sale of the iconic GM Holden Proving Ground at Lang Lang in Victoria to Vietnamese automotive maker Vinfast, which has employed a number of Holden engineers.

Also, here and there, Holden's customer-facing website has dropped all references to its vehicles and now delivers the most basic information about the brand, including warranty and service information.

The company’s Melbourne head office has been silent about plans to farewell the brand internally. 

The upcoming Bathurst 1000 will mark the last Supercars race where Holden will feature as a factory team.

Goodbye HSV, hello GMSV?

Is HSV about to disappear? The famous performance make’s New Zealand boss is coy about rebranding talk.

 CONJECTURE about Holden Special Vehicles being set to soon morph into a new set-up involving General Motors has garnered a cool response from the New Zealand operation.

 Andrew Lamb, the specialist make’s New Zealand regional manager, was approached for comment on media speculation across the Tasman that a public announcement on a new branding and direction will be revealed very soon.

Talk about a re-emergence as General Motors’ Speciality Vehicles traces back to comment aired during GM’s announcement on February 17 that Holden was heading for the grave.

References were made to GMSV that day in a media release and during a subsequent trasntasman press conference.

Yesterday Australia’s top car mag, Wheels, ran a story on its website suggesting this scenario has progressed to a deal between GM and Walkinshaw Group, the powerhouse behind HSV, which dates back to 1988.

According to the Wheels report: “GMSV is expected to be a joint venture between Walkinshaw Group and GM and its task initially will be exactly what HSV does now; take North American-built, left-hand-drive GM product and convert it to right-hand drive in Melbourne.”

It also cited that those vehicles will then be distributed through a revised, slimmed-down dealer network. Currently, HSV has 56 dealers in Australia and eight in New Zealand, all but two in the North Island. 

The speculation is that GMSV’s focus will initially be on Chevrolet pick-ups, SUVs and performance vehicles. The new mid-engined C8 Chevrolet Corvette is expected to be part of the line-up. 

As for the Camaro? HSV last week acknowledged it has ceased remanufacturing of that vehicle into right-hand drive and has no plan to restart this.

Chris Polites, HSV’s executive director of sales and marketing, is reported by the CarAdvice website as saying: “There are no plans to bring back the Camaro. Once these cars are gone, they are gone.” 

Questions for Lamb included what was the status of HSV here presently and are HSV Camaros still available here and, if so, for how much longer?

He was asked if he wished to share any thoughts about emergent conjecture about the future of HSV and the likelihood of it becoming GMSV and if he had any messages for HSV customers and potential purchasers.

In response to this, he indicated no change to business. “We continue to sell vehicles through our specialist HSV and Chevrolet NZ dealer network and plan for this to continue for the foreseeable future.”

In respect to Camaro and its stock count and ongoing availability here, he offered: “HSV re-engineered RHD Camaro 2SS and ZL1 models are still available through HSV dealers in NZ.”

In respect to the potential for GMSV, he contended: “That is being discussed well above my pay grade and when finalised appropriate announcements will be made”

He said HSV owners and intending purchasers could be reassured that all HSV and HSV re-engineered Chevrolet vehicles in NZ “are fully backed by HSV with a three-year warranty and three-years’ roadside assist so owners can buy with confidence. 

Lamb also confirmed the Silverado 1500 pickup released in Australia several weeks ago has now been priced for New Zealand – it’s a $123,990 ask before options - and would soon be available.

“First vehicles are already built and should be with NZ dealers later next month.”

Just a single version, a feature-laden LTZ Premium Edition, is being converted by the Melbourne operation with the RAM 1500 cited as the primary rival.

The Chevrolet is slightly larger but gives away a little on payload capacity, 845kg vs 712kg.

Under the bonnet there is a naturally aspirated 6.2-litre V8 petrol engine producing 313kW and 624Nm, driving all four wheels via a 10-speed automatic transmission and resulting in a maximum braked towing capacity of 4500kg.

Drivers have four different driving modes at their disposal depending on the journey at hand, those being Touring for everyday driving, Sport for increased throttle response, Off-road for slippery conditions and Tow/Haul for towing duties.

Features include 10-way power adjustable, heated and ventilated leather front seats with memory function, heated leather steering wheel, leather rear seats (outboard seats also heated), dual-zone climate, keyless entry and start, powered sunroof, express front and rear windows, tyre pressure monitoring, 60:40 split-folding rear seats, auto-dimming rearview mirror and dual-zone climate control.

On the safety front, lane change alert with side blind zone alert and rear cross-traffic alert, forward collision alert, low speed forward automatic braking, front pedestrian braking, Intellibeam automatic headlamp control, following distance indicator, front and rear park assist, safety alert seats, six airbags, electronic stability control, trailer sway control and hill-start assist are all fitted as standard.