Walkinshaw plans expansion

HSV's parent company plans to continue its high-profile relationship with Holden, but the Walkinshaw Group is also negotiating with a number of other car manufacturers to provide similar services here and internationally.

Company chairman Ryan Walkinshaw predicted the negotiations -- which are a conscious change of course for the company to be less “Holden-centric” -- could result in announcements “in the coming years which will surprise everyone.”

Walkinshaw Group and its predecessor TWR has an 27-year relationship with Holden building hot Commodores under the HSV, and also runs the two-car Holden Racing Team in the V8 Supercars Championship as part of the four-car Walkinshaw Racing squad.

Walkinshaw told motoring.com.au that those high-profile deals meant there was a misconception the group was exclusively tied to Holden.

“There is a surprising amount of car companies that would love to work with us and we have had discussions with them over the course of this year and the big thing is how surprised they are allowed to talk to us, that we are not just tied in with Holden,” said Walkinshaw.

“So there has been some enthusiastic discussions with some other people and we’ll see how they end up going forward.

“But they are the same sort of business case discussions (we have) with Holden,” he cautioned. “It’s got to work for both parties to go ahead.”

With its licensing deal for HSV due for negotiation soon and Holden ceasing manufacture of the Commodore – which has been HSV’s stock-in-trade – in 2017, there is no doubt an imperative for the Walkinshaw Group to be hunting for more opportunities to partner with car companies.

As reported yesterday, Walkinshaw is expecting the relationship with Holden to evolve substantially as it shifts from manufacturer to full-line importer. Already, Holden has impinged somewhat on HSVs territory by confirming it will bring the OPC Opel Astra and Insignia here in 2015.

Along with HSV and Walkinshaw Racing, other Walkinshaw Group divisions already provide design and development consulting to the automotive industry including in India and China, plus aftermarket tuning and even golf equipment distribution.

The Fusion Automotive subsidiary distributes the Indian Tata Xenon ute in Australia and has plans to expand the model line-up.

Walkinshaw said the recent return of former engineer boss Joel Stoddart to the company after a period at Jayco caravans was indicative of the group’s drive to snare more automotive partnerships both in Australia and overseas.

“Joel is a fantastic engineering director and with the amount of new work we have on and the amount of potential work we are pitching to manufacturers we really needed someone of his calibre,” Walkinshaw said.

“Joel spent his time working at Jayco and he got some good experience in something completely different to what he had done previously, but I think his heart and mind was still stuck in Clayton.

“He saw there was a new direction in the company and a new expanded vision of the group which moved away from just the Holden-centric business model that we had previously. I think he was genuinely excited by it, he could see what we were doing and as soon as we had a few discussions with him he was raring to go and come back and be involved.

“Particularly when you are pitching to a new manufacturer one of the key things they need to have some comfort in is that our engineering group has got clear direction and strategy and guidance and Joel Stoddart absolutely delivers that. He has shown that time and time again with what we have delivered with Holden.”

One of those products is the latest HSV GTS, which was launched to critical acclaim earlier this year and is this year expected to outsell HSV's traditional volume-seller, the ClubSport – despite its $96,900 pricetag.