Wrangling over Rodeo

It's not quite like the navy telling Holden the name Commodore has been taken, but the disappearance of the name from GM's local line-up means it's goodbye to a minor local legend. The popular model moniker will be withdrawn by mid-year after Isuzu, which owns the rights, forbade Holden its further use. In many ways it was inevitable — GM has not held a stake in Isuzu for almost two years.

Although widely perceived as part of the local landscape (it was once the nation's best-selling commercial vehicle) the Rodeo is, in fact, manufactured in Thailand by the Japanese vehicle company and then rebadged for local consumption.

The blow may be felt as keenly by Holden's marketing people, who have to coin a new name, as by its dealers. Sales of the five-year-old current generation Rodeo have been steadily surpassed by Toyota's all-conquering Hilux, although it continues to hold its own, racking up 9428 sales last year.

American replacement names are being touted, though surely perhaps a more 'Strayan equine motif could be employed. Subaru no longer makes the Brumby, though the Waler — of Light Horseman fame — might well cause some confusion abroad.

Later this year Isuzu will begin selling its own version of the current Rodeo, under its global model name of D-Max, through a national dealer network appointed by Mitsubishi.

Holden will stay the course though. “It's far too important a segment for us not to have a presence,” says spokesman John Lindsay. “We will still be in there.”

Last month there were 15,646 in the light-commercial segment for a total of 28,793 so far in 2008; an increase of 13.4 per cent year-to-date on the same period in 2007.