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It Lives! Holden Chief Confirms All-New Commodore For 2016

This morning, managing director and CEO of GM’s Holden division Mike Devereux confirmed that the Holden Commodore nameplate will live past the (not-yet-released) VF Commodore model due out later this week. The all-new vehicle, according to Devereux, will be released in 2016 and will be entirely redesigned and re-engineered as compared to the VF Commodore, which itself is derived from the current VE model. The comments bring months, if not years, of fervid speculation about the future of the storied rear-wheel drive vehicle to a screeching halt.

According to Devereux, design and development of the all-new 2016 Commodore is already well underway by General Motors and Holden, with the new vehicle destined to be built alongside the next-gen Cruze (and its variants) at the GM/Holden Elizabeth plant in Adelaide.

Upon hearing the news, enthusiasts and publications alike have begun referring to the 2016 model as the “VJ”, since the VG was the 1990 Commodore ute, the VH launched in 1981, and the VF will be the model that will be unveiled later this week (while being offered until the all-new model arrives in 2016). As of this writing, the “VJ” codename hasn’t been confirmed by Holden.

Unfortunately, Devereux didn’t share any details about the vehicle architecture that will be used by the “VJ” Commodore, or about the vehicle’s drivetrain. The executive did, however, say that there was never any doubt or debate about the future of the Commodore nameplate within Holden.

“Well, I can categorically tell you that we have already begun working on the Commodore that comes after this one”, said Devereux. “The interesting thing about the fascination of the Commodore name – and frankly it’s the reason why I wanted to lay that down today to end any speculation – is that people love this nameplate, and that we are going to have another one of these.”

Australia’s GoAuto reports that design mock-ups for possible VJ proposals are already underway, with a senior member of the Holden team verifying to the publication that the design process has been in motion.

Ironically, this news comes days before Holden’s official unveiling of the VF Commodore, meaning that with the VJ, we’re discussing a vehicle that’s two generations away.

“Right now we haven’t even launched and haven’t even started building the one we call VF, so we’ll leave all that speculation for years from now”, said Devereux. “The (VF) will run to the end of 2016, and after that time we will be putting two global architectures into the plant, and one of them will underpin the next Commodore … the Commodore that replaces the VF.

And even though Holden chief declined to discuss the platform in store for the VJ Commodore, he did describe it as “fantastic”, saying, “We’re going to build a new Commodore coming after this one, we’re going to build it in Adelaide on a fantastic architecture, and you will have to wait about three years to find out what that is.”

Keeping this in mind, the only logical conclusion we can come to is that the architecture set to underpin the VJ will be a variant of GM’s new rear wheel-drive Alpha platform that currently underpins the award-winning Cadillac ATS. In the near future, Alpha will underpin the next-generation 2014 Cadillac CTS and 2015 Chevrolet Camaro.

Furthermore, the fate of the Commodore after 2016 was never up for debate, or any kind of discussion, according to Devereux. “We had absolutely no debates over it … zero debates about it.”

The news flies in the face of reports predicting the discontinuation of the Commodore nameplate by 2016.

Lastly, Mr. Devereux wouldn’t confirm speculation surrounding the production of a compact crossover alongside the next-gen Cruze in Australia. But all signs point to the vehicle being the next-generation Equinox/Captiva — which will share the D2XX architecture with the next-gen Chevrolet/Holden Cruze and Opel Astra.

And since the Holden Commodore VE will make its way over to North America as the Chevrolet SS, chances are that the upcoming Commodore VJ will also be sold as a Chevrolet across the United States and Canada; in fact, such a vehicle might even be manufactured in the United States, especially given that the next-gen Camaro — which will likely share its architecture with the 2016 Commodore — will be built in the US of A. And the possibility of a four-door Camaro is something all of us can be excited about… right?

GM Authority Executive Editor with a passion for business strategy and fast cars.

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Comments

  1. Wonder what Ford will do with the Falcon.

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  2. Never a doubt in my mind about commodore’s fate, the commodore is to austrailians what the vette is to americans in terms of its iconic status so to speak. The commodore has years of heritage and a name recognition thats well established with the aussies its just looooong overdue for a refresh @ the very least to update its styling and tech but holden was short stopped due to gm bankruptcy ..well this 2016 commodore reeks of alpha and will definitely benefit from the upcoming TTV6 and gen 5 smallblock architectures and the 8 speed auto will surely be in full swing by then so thats definitely a shoe in for holden as well on top of a complete clean sheet design! So this should also mean that we’ll get another version of the commodore if ss bodes well..hopefully we’ll get a complete lineup this time!!!!
    sn: i wonder if there is a possibility of seeing 4 wheel steering as an option on alpha..it would take its handling to the next level with mrc suspension!!!!!!

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  3. Reply
    1. @Zaphod not sure if that’s accurate… All signs, so far, point to the new “global” architecture for the VJ/2016 Commodore being a variant of the Alpha:

      1. 2015 Camaro will ride on an Alpha variant
      2. Why not place the 2016 Commodore/Chevy SS in the same architecture?

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      1. Just because Camaro is on Alpha (at LGR), what says that GM will set up an Alpha assembly line at a second worldwide plant? Would it make sense to do so in high-cost Australia, where they could _maybe_ produce 60k vehicles (into a competitive market)? Remember all of the talk a year or two ago about Holden helping work on “Super Epsilon”? You’d have to figure running an Epsilon line would be easy to add onto a plant producing Delta-based Cruze… Maybe Holden figures, if Toyota can make $$$ by producing and selling FWD Aurion’s in Oz, they can too. Don’t forget the Falcon’s a goner, to be replaced by a FWD Taurus or Mondeo produced elsewhere…

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  4. This is truly great news!! Everyone in Oz will sleep a little easier tonight. Really happy they made this announcement before the VF reveal, but on the other side of the coin it would have been pretty exciting to hear it AT the actual VF reveal.

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  5. Is the SS based on the VE or VF Commodore?

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    1. SS will be on the VF.

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  6. SS is based on the VF Series..which is a refresh for the commodore until the new model arrives in 2016
    I highly doubt the commodore will move to epsilon 2..I do recall tim lee who oversees global vehicles when asked about commodore possibly using alpha saying “commodore can absolutely use alpha because alpha is a global platform so i highly doubt a fwd commodore..but I never thought I’d see a fwd impala ss either! Hahaha

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  7. SS is based on the VF Series..which is a refresh for the commodore until the new model arrives in 2016
    I highly doubt the commodore will move to epsilon 2..I do recall tim lee who oversees global vehicles when asked about commodore possibly using alpha saying “commodore can absolutely use alpha because alpha is a global platform” so i highly doubt a fwd commodore..but I never thought I’d see a fwd impala ss either! Hahaha

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  8. In a word…..HOORAH !!!!!!!

    Reply

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