The Holden for movers and shakers

More people are choosing people-movers to make their way in the world and Holden wants in, writes ALASTAIR SLOANE.

A United States survey of the personal attributes of car buyers found that owners of people-movers are "self-confident, other-oriented and more involved with family and community."

Four-wheel-drive buyers, on the other hand, tend to be "sybaritic, self-oriented people with concerns about crime."

Sybaris was an ancient city in southern Italy. It was a swish joint, say historians, inhabited mostly by well-heeled Greeks who liked to flaunt their wealth. They probably worried about crime, too.

Holden New Zealand hasn't read the study, relying instead on its own surveys. "There is an enormous amount of research done by carmakers," says its public affairs manager Aalbert van Ham. "They research brand by brand, finding out things like age-group preferences and why this sedan sells better than that sedan.

"Research is vital - there is so much choice for car buyers these days."

Holden is doing its homework on the New Zealand market this year. It knows that its share of new-vehicle sales so far is 15.6 per cent - up from 12.5 per cent at the same time last year.

It knows sales of the best-selling Commodore are up nearly 5 per cent over last year, that one out of every 12 new cars sold is a Commodore, that four out of 10 large-car buyers choose the Commodore.

It knows that its new Barina was the best-selling small car in May, with just over 28 per cent of the segment. It also knows that May was the best month for Barina in almost six years, since August 1995. Sales of the rebadged Opel Vectra and Astra are up, too. So are those of its commercial Rodeo range, from fifth last year to third so far this year.

Now it is starting to study the people-mover market. It doesn't have such a vehicle but it will in November, when the rebadged Opel Zafira arrives.

Zafira is a Spanish word meaning a light, westerly wind or veil of cloth. It has the same meaning as zephyr, as in the Ford Zephyr car of the 1950s and 1960s. Thankfully, that's the only link.

At the end of May, New Zealanders had bought 540 people-movers, or MPVs, for the year so far. These sales represented 2.9 per cent of the market. During the same time last year, 432 MPVs were sold, for 2.1 per cent of overall sales.

The 0.8 per cent growth echoes an international trend in people-movers: they are selling better than ever, and Holden wants to get in on the act.

The Zafira is being built at General Motors' plant in Thailand and exported to 16 countries, including Japan, where it will be badged as a two-wheel-drive Subaru under an agreement with GM and Subaru parent company Fuji Heavy Industries.

There is no word on the Zafira's price in New Zealand yet, but it will compete with France's Renault Scenic and Citroen Picasso, Italy's Fiat Multipla, and Japan's Nissan Tino, Toyota Picnic and Mazda Premacy - all priced between $34,000 and $42,000.

As a guide, the recommended price of the Zafira in Australia the other day was $A31,990 for the five-speed manual and $A33,990 for the four-speed automatic. At yesterday's exchange rate that works out at around $40,500 to $43,000. Expect Holden New Zealand to crunch the numbers.

New Zealanders would have first seen the Zafira on television at the Sydney Olympics last year. It was lightly disguised as Hydrogen1, the emission-free vehicle that led runners around the marathon course.

The Hydogen1 Zafira was powered by a three-phase electric motor, giving it a top speed of 140 km/h and a range of about 400km.

The electricity was generated by a fuel cell stack - similar in size to a conventional four-cylinder engine - fed by liquefied hydrogen stored in a 75-litre tank at -253 degrees C. The only thing that came out of the exhaust pipe was water vapour.

The Holden Zafira is powered by a 16-valve 2.2-litre four-cylinder engine, producing 108kW of power at 5800 rpm and 203Nm of torque at 4000 rpm. It isn't as clean burning as Hydrogen1, but emission levels are much better than European standards require.

It is 4317mm long, 1742mm wide, 1684mm high and has a wheelbase of 2694mm. A black moulding surrounds the vehicle's body to prevent things like stone chips. The rear loading sill is a handy 587mm off the ground.

Standard equipment includes dual airbags, ABS anti-lock brakes, seatbelt pre-tensioners, traction control, air-conditioning, power steering, cruise control, remote central locking, CD player, front power windows and heated side mirrors.

The Zafira, like most people-movers, comes with everything that opens and shuts.

Its third row of seats can be folded into the floor - and the second row can travel through 540mm (21in), backwards or forwards.