Holden New Zealand - Name Change

Name Change

From 1994, with Holden's future starting to look more secure, General Motors New Zealand changed name to Holden New Zealand.

The Opel name was dropped, and the Vectra was rebadged as a Holden, even though it was (at the time) not available in Australia. The Astra was introduced the following year, identical Opel-badged models, imported second hand from Japan, already being sold locally.

Early models of the Holden Astra and Vectra in New Zealand differed from those sold in Australia, in that they had a distinctive grille with a 'V' containing the Holden badge, similar to that used by Vauxhall in the UK. Later on this was changed to bring the New Zealand model range in line with Australia.

Similarly, the Isuzu Trooper off-road vehicle was rebadged the Holden Jackaroo, as in Australia, although owing to the widespread availability of the identical Isuzu Bighorn as a used Japanese import, that name was used on brand new models imported by Holden New Zealand. This policy of rebadging the Isuzu Trooper under another General Motors brand name was used by Opel in Europe and Asia with the Opel Monterey and in Latin America as the Chevrolet Trooper

For a short period between early 1998 and late 1999, the Holden Frontera was sold new in New Zealand as the Isuzu Wizard, although this range is now semi-identical to Holden Australia's line-up.

There are still differences between the Holden model ranges in Australia and New Zealand. It was only in August 2005 that the wagon version of the Holden Astra went on sale in Australia, while in New Zealand, the Astra wagon was not available until June 2008, like the Zafira in 2004. The Tigra was also released in Australia but not sold in New Zealand.