Holden Retirees Club

Sales and Service

Service:

With the introduction of the New Australian Car, General Motors-Holden's Pty Ltd set out to educate their Dealers througout Australia in the GM ways of selling cars, and how to provide Service and Parts for them. Although there had been service available for vehicles previously, it was much more ad-hoc due to the numbers of makes of cars produced and the sourcing of mechanical parts from overseas by individual importers.  Likewise, salesmen were largely self taught with little formal training available to them.

With the introduction of the 48_215, it was really the first time that there were Dealers selling high volumes of the one brand and model, supported by a strong local factory presence.

Dealers were instructed in how to approach potential customers, and how to present the finer points of the vehicle.  Basic 'How it works' instruction was included in monthly magazines circulated to all Dealers and staff to aid their ability to speak convincingly about the product.

Service Schools were introduced in 1948 where for the first time, mechanics from the Dealerships were brought to the Plants around the country and given formal instruction in how to repair and maintain the new car and its equipment. Monthly Service Bulletins were routinely sent out describing the latest problems found and the appropriate fixes for them.

Plus, there was a stream of literature sent to the Dealers, explaining how things should be done and pointing out opportunities for further sales growth.  Thanks to Graeme McDonald, a number of these are able to be reproduced below.

 Documents:

 Photographs:

Dealer Publications: