Trademark Filings Suggest Chevy-Badged Holden Commodore To Be Called SS

by Alex Luft
— Apr 19, 2012

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Like a zombie, the rumor of the Holden Commodore making its way (back) to North America following the demise of the Pontiac G8 has been relentless. Unfortunately, all automotive enthusiasts had to go on was a bag of hope mixed with a healthy dose of optimism. Until today.

GM Authority just discovered an April 13, 2012 General Motors trademark filing for the word “SS”. The filing has a serial number of 85597402 and a brief description that reads: “The mark consists of the letters SS in a fanciful design.”

Now that GM has filed for the SS mark, we can start putting the pieces together in figuring out exactly what’s in store from The General. To start, let’s travel back to the end of 2009, when an unassuming email from General Motors support to a dealer service department contained the following clue:

“…a fix is planned for MY11.5 Chevy Police Program and MY12 Chevy SS. The fix will involve a protective sleeve that covers the buckle and section of the buckle stem that rubs on the plastic trim.”

But that’s just the beginning. Barely a month into 2010, we got wind of the following quote from none other than Maximum Bob Lutz himself:

If we can pull that off and we have the next generation Commodore in as a police vehicle then we want to take a look at reintroducing a civil version as a high-end Chevrolet. Because when you get down to it the thrill of high performance driving is unmatched by anything that doesn’t have rear-wheel drive, bags of torque and a nice transmission. So there’s a possibility of a premium Chevrolet sedan that would be sold in limited numbers. Think of it as a kind of four-door Corvette.

Combine these tidbits with the upcoming VF refresh of the Holden Commodore for the 2014 model year, a new NASCAR model that will not wear the Impala nameplate, as well as the trademark filing for the SS name, and what we’re starting to see is rather clear: GM decided to delay until the Commodore VF update to bring the vaunted Commodore to the States as the Chevrolet SS. Sure, a trademark filing by itself doesn’t confirm anything — but given the hushed nature of the project and the amount of surrounding evidence presented, we’d wager than the Zeta-based Commodore will land Stateside shortly.

Be sure to stay tuned to GM Authority for the latest GM news surrounding this car… and much more!

Update: several folks have suggested that the name of this vehicle will be Monte Carlo or Commodore; while that’s not out of the realm of possibility, we’d like to note that — at this time — GM doesn’t seem to own any trademark rights to those names.