Buoyed by the success of the all new VE and WM ranges which are sold as Chevrolet Lumina and Chevrolet Caprice respectively, sales increased by 591 units over the previous year and have increased ten-fold since GM Holden began exporting to the Middle East in 1998.

The long wheelbase luxury Caprice model continues to excite drivers across the region, with the model representing 64 per cent of Holden’s 31,147 sales in the Middle East last year.

GM Holden Executive Director - Sales, Marketing and After Sales Alan Batey, believes that the Australian-made cars offer exactly what the Middle Eastern driver demands.

“Drivers in the Middle East are among the most demanding in the world. They appreciate luxury brands but also seek great performance from their cars - both Lumina and Caprice deliver with a prestige package that offers a great driving experience and fantastic value for money.”

This combination of luxury and handling was reflected last month when the Chevrolet Caprice won the prestigious award of best luxury car in the Middle East Autocar Awards.

“GM Holden is continuing to deliver cars that the world wants to drive thanks to the VE and WM ranges which were designed with the global market in mind.” Alan Batey says.

“Exports will increasingly become an integral part of annual sales for Holden, thanks to this global approach and we are very confident that we will be able to announce some exciting new export programmes soon.”

Total export sales for 2006 reached 46,074, following a record-breaking 60,518 in 2005.

The change reflects the end of the Pontiac GTO programme in June of 2006 and a one-off sales programme to China and South Korea in 2005 which boosted that year’s export total by 7,854 cars.

Alan Batey adds: “2005 was an outstanding year for exports and we followed that up with some ambitious targets for 06. Thanks to our strong performance in the Middle East we were able to beat those targets comfortably.”

Vehicles manufactured by GM Holden were sold overseas in 2006 under the GM brands of Chevrolet (Brazil, Middle East and South Africa), Pontiac (United States) and Holden (New Zealand).

GM Holden export markets in 2006

Market + Local model = Closest Australian Holden equivalent

Middle East - Chevrolet – LHD

USA – Pontiac – LHD

New Zealand – Holden – RHD

Brazil – Chevrolet – LHD

South Africa – Chevrolet – RHD