Holden New Zealand’s managing director Jeff McMurray said he has already shown the car that will replace the current VF Commodore to dealers in the country, The New Zealand Herald reports. General Motors announced last year it would cease its production operations in Australia from 2017, putting an end to the Australian-made Commodore sedan.
The new sedan will be an existing product from Opel Europe or GM US’ product lineup. McMurray wouldn’t say which model it will be, but added it was one of the three large sedans available overseas. The Commodore replacement will also be available in both sedan and station wagon variants. To us, the most likely candidate for replacing the Commodore is the Opel Insignia.
McMurray also said the new model may keep the Commodore name. Some Holden fans want the Commodore nameplate to stick around, while others feel it doesn’t belong on a non-rear-wheel drive car that isn’t built in Australia. Holden says a decision in regards to whether or not the Commodore name will stay be made in “in six to eight months”.
Comments
If the Commodore remains RWD, the name should remain. I hope a Zeta II platform’s in the works. Perhaps it’ll share structural components with the upcoming Omega platform; this way production costs can remain low and the Omega platform can maintain some exclusiveness.
None of this rules out a CTS rebadge, especially with Cadillac taking some production to China.
Much as Park Avenue in China was a rebadged Commodore, the Commodore could become a rebadged CTS.
Slight correction: the Chinese market Buick Park Avenue was not a rebadged Commodore; instead, it was a rebadged Holden Caprice/Statesman — which is larger yet still shares most of the Commodore underpinnings and technology.
Zeta is gone and say good bye as it was extended as long as it was viable. Today it is cheaper and easier to start from scratch to build a new car with hard points where you need them and not have to adapt to them. This makes it much easier to remove weight as in the Alpha.
The Omega if it shares with anything will be the Alpha.
I agree that if the new car is not RWD change the name. It is not fair to either car to carry the name on in FWD.
Isn’t the Omega platform probably too premium for a Chevy/Holden vehicle? Seems it more likely will be Alpha, about the same size as the CTS?
Omega needs more product on it than the LTS. GM can spread out the cost over other vehicles and make less expensive. The question is in this day and age where can you hide a large chassis like this when you adown sizing everything in the fleet.
SUV models!
I expect it to show up in a SUV or larger CUV model.
Coupe of the LTS is being looked at but the wheel base is an issues if they want to keep it close to the Elmirage as the reports are saying.
I think the Omega could go to the Caprice in the non NA markets as they do not have as many restrictions on MPG in many of these countries like the middle east.
I wish the article mentioned what the dealers thought of the new model, otherwise who cares? Could of been an article saying holden dealers looked at the moon for all anyone will care.