The story six weeks ago on this website that the all-American Chevrolet badge is almost certain to return to New Zealand on the 2020 Camaro sports car has gained further traction – General Motors Holden (GMH) has just registered the Camaro trademark for Australia.
But it hasn’t just filed protection of the car’s name – it taken extra steps to ensure that the Camaro trademark covers everything: merchandise, motorsport, advertising, servicing, and so on.
It has registered Camaro under Class 16, 25, 35, and 37. Australian motoring reporters say these cover …
Class 16: Stationery, pens, pencils, playing cards, posters, stickers, decalcomanias, flags and banners made of paper, promotional material in this class, coasters made of paper, magazines and publications; calendars and diaries; postage stamps; printed material in this class
Class 25: Clothing, footwear and headgear excluding clothing, footwear and headgear made from foam plastics and clothing, footwear and headgear made for water sports
Class 35: Advertising, promotion and public relations relating to motor vehicles, sports involving motor vehicles and the motor vehicle industry; wholesaling and retailing services in this class relating to the sale of motor vehicles and parts and accessories for motor vehicles; advertising, promotion and public relations relating to entertainment, cultural and sporting events
Class 37: Maintenance, servicing and repair of motor vehicles; maintenance, servicing and repair of parts and accessories for motor vehicles; roadside emergency services for motor vehicles; installation, maintenance, repair and servicing of vehicle theft detection, notification and tracking systems and apparatus
Class 35 and 37 registrations are the most revealing, because they cover the trademark for use on a vehicle, as opposed to just marketing material.
Australian reporters say the trademark means Holden plans to sell the Camaro Downunder, after directly importing left-hand-drive examples from the US and having them converted by the Walkinshaw group to right-hand-drive.
Why Walkinshaw? Earlier reports from Australia said Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) is to next year change its operating name to Walkinshaw. This could mean that the Camaro will sell as a Chevrolet under the Walkinshaw badge instead of Holden.
The Camaro model for the Downunder market is likely to be the ZL1 hero car, which uses a 6.2-litre supercharged LT4 V8 engine. It produces 484kW of power and 881Nm of torque.
