Come 2017, Holden will cease producing cars in Australia, ending a decades long lineage of big, rear-drive, V8 powered sedans. But their high-performance HSV division is expected to survive the transition, albeit in a very different form.
The re-hiring of HSV Chief Engineer John Stoddart is seen as a positive move by the Australian Motor Press, who took his departure to be a sign of a bleak future for Holden’s performance shop. But as Carsguide rightly points out, there is no V8 slated for the post-Commodore world, and Holden’s next sedans are said to be front-drive models with four and six cylinder engines.
What could be in the cards? Apparently, an Opel Insignia mule with a twin-turbo V6 has been spotted, which would mean something like an Aussie Rules version of the Insginia OPC. I’m still holding out hope for something on the Alpha platform…even if it does come with two fewer cylinders than I’m hoping for.
The front of that looks like a previous gen C-Class. And in black, it looks odd with the greyed out wings flanking the valances.
I’m sure every commodore fan out there would appreciate killing the name versus putting it on an economy sedan.
Honestly your not going to trick anyone. You’ll reuse the name, it cannot compete with its predecessors and will end up failing. The commodore name will be soured and hurt people’s idea of Holden forever. Name it a different name so it doesn’t have to live up to the commodore and can succeed and keeps the brand from being a mess.
Hey man, you want a Commodore? We’ll sell you an Opel.
You want a Buick? We’ll sell you an Opel.
Are you Chinese? We’ll sell you a Commodore, or a Buick.
Are you American? We’ll sell you a Daewoo.
I want an Oldsmobile.
Well then, especially for you, an Opel.
Pretty damn spot on.
If the market wants the vehicles, offer them, but for goodness sake don’t try to sell vehicles using the shadows of their predecessors to do it.
Its like manufacturers think they can cheap out a vehicle as long as they are able to use its predecessor to sell it.
No one that dreams of or makes reality of a dream for a 6.2 commodore is going to have any positive feelings for a twin turbo FWD wreck, it simply cannot carry on the legacy it built.
It worked for the Malibu, impala, maxima, I’m sure there’s others. An established nameplate is better than a new nameplate.
No would not work here.
Yeah except that Toyota Camry that’s doing so well is FWD. Turns out consumers could care less about FWD or RWD so long as the car is good.
The Camry has never been a consistent top 10 performer. The Hilux, yes. Toyota’s
star in Australia. The current Malibu is struggling. Pickups and SUV well and truly outsell midsize sedans of any stripe.
Long live the RWD V8 Holden. Shame on GM.
The only RWD V8 Holden I ever did see was in South Korea, as a Daewoo Statesman.
Big car!
http://s1.cdn.autoevolution.com/images/gallery/DAEWOOStatesman-2196_7.jpg
The earlier one actually looked like a Catera at the front.
The other Holden is the Chevrolet SS. I cannot see it surviving after 2017. Yes the Statesman is a big car by US standards.
There should be plenty of opportunity for HSV to put their hot sauce on a range of GM vehicles. Once the Commodore is gone the Camaro will most likely be sold in Australia and there is a good chance that Cadillac will also enter that market.
What a shame–I guess now we’ve truly seen the “last of the V8 interceptors.”
Gosh, I bet that wagon comes with a six speed manual and a diesel…
No 6.2 V8
I still think GMH could of have been retained, but not in it’s current form.
GMH and HSV could have produced prestige performance vehicles for the global market to compete with the Euro marques.
Holden has designed some great handling cars in the recent past.
But, economic realities are just that. Why produce a car if the taxpayer needs to subsidise the industry? It’s wasting money that could better used.
So Australia can have a V6 Insignia, but we still can’t?
Take the LT1, knock off two cylinders off, add forced induction, call it the 3800 Series IV, embroider the Buick-6 logo on the seats and under the hood, sell it in NA and AUS, and make a few people on TTAC happy.
I have owned a few Commodores and HSV’s, all bought because of the V6 or V8, and all rear wheel drive. Before them I owned Kingswoods and Sandmans, again 6’s or 8’s, and rear wheel drive.
But now it seems I will never buy another (new) Holden post 2017. And a double never for a faux commodore with FWD. My heart is saddened.
Come 2017, Australians will be holding onto their older home built cars longer than they would have before. I’ll be keeping mine for life. At least the Insignia isn’t chinese made, not yet anyway.