Holden offers 99¢ per litre fuel

By Derek Fung on 03 September 2008

Tags: astra | colorado | commodore | diesel | fuel | holden | unleaded | petrol

Holden has launched a 99¢ per litre fuel offer on all petrol and diesel cars delivered to private buyers from the beginning of September through to the end of October.

For eligible purchasers, Holden will subsidise, within the first two years, the price of fuel required to travel 20,000km according to the official combined fuel consumption rating. This offer is only valid for regular (91 RON) unleaded and diesel, and is not available on HSV vehicles.

As our analysis shows, this offer is of greater value to buyers interested in a thirsty petrol model, say a Commodore V8, or a diesel-engined car, because of the higher cost of diesel fuel. The following table assumes that the price of regular unleaded is AU$1.453 per litre, while diesel is calculated at AU$1.699 per litre — the average metro Perth price for Tuesday, 2 September 2008 as listed on Western Australia's Fuel Watch website.

Model Fuel type Fuel economy (L/100km) Fuel cost at street price Fuel cost at 99¢ Saving
Epica 2.5-litre Diesel 9.3 AU$3,160.14 AU$1,841.40 AU$1,318.74
Commodore V8 Petrol 13.9 AU$4,039.34 AU$2,752.20 AU$1,287.14
Captiva 2.0-litre Diesel 8.6 AU$2,922.28 AU$1,702.80 AU$1,219.48
Colorado V6 Petrol 13.1 AU$3,806.86 AU$2,593.80 AU$1,213.06
Colorado four Diesel 7.9 AU$2,684.42 AU$1,564.20 AU$1,120.22
Colorado four Petrol 11.8 AU$3,429.08 AU$2,336.40 AU$1,092.68
Epica 2.0-litre Diesel 7.6 AU$2,582.48 AU$1,504.80 AU$1,077.68
Captiva V6 Petrol 11.5 AU$3,341.90 AU$2,277.00 AU$1,064.90
Commodore V6 Petrol 10.8 AU$3,138.48 AU$2,138.40 AU$1,000.08
Astra 1.9-litre Diesel 7 AU$2,378.60 AU$1,386.00 AU$992.60
Viva Petrol 8.1 AU$2,353.86 AU$1,603.80 AU$750.06
Astra 1.8-litre Petrol 7.8 AU$2,266.68 AU$1,544.40 AU$722.28
Barina Petrol 7.6 AU$2,208.56 AU$1,504.80 AU$703.76

It seems likely that this move has been made by Holden to give sales of its flagship Commodore line a boost, while it waits for fuel saving technologies to come on stream. According to reports, cylinder deactivation (already made available on US-bound Commodores) will debut later this year, while a diesel engine is also in the pipeline. For a few months this year Toyota's family hatchback, the Corolla, has taken away the number one sales position away from the decade-long holder of that crown, the Commodore.

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Conned
07/09/2008 07:23 PM

The price of the fuel offer is built into the price the dealer will offer you the car at. Let's not kid ourselves there is no such thing as a free lunch. I found all this out when purchasing a new Holden on the weekend.

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