Next-Generation Holden Commodore Reported To Be Imported From China
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Australia will not build the next-generation Holden Commodore. The next-generation Holden Commodore isn’t even expected to be rear-wheel-drive, and won’t feature a V8. Not enough salt in the wound, you say? What if we told you that the all-new Commodore will be imported from China?
The sting, oh the sting.
According to Australia’s CarsGuide, the 2017 Holden Commodore will be a variant of GM’s global next-generation Epsilon midsize front-wheel-drive platform, known internally as E2xx. The current-generation Epsilon platform underpins the Chevrolet Impala, Malibu, Cadillac XTS, and Buick LaCrosse and Regal, as well as the Vauxhall/Opel Insignia. In the case of the 2017 Commodore, it’s expected to be some variant of a new Chinese Buick model, assumingly much like the current and beloved VF Commodore spun off America’s Chevrolet SS performance sedan.
This move could also foreshadow what’s in store for GM’s South Korean manufacturing operations.
It is said that the vehicle will span as far as 16.5 feet (198 inches) in length and feature four-door coupe styling, over the conventional sedan styling we see today. The reported size will make 2017 Holden Commodore firmly in the full-size segment, with performance variants receiving all-wheel-drive and a twin-turbo V6.
So Aussies, with all the changes in store for Holden’s signature sedan, is it still a Commodore in your eyes? Rather, do you find this move insulting? Let us know what you think below.
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If you don’t like this, and you’re in Australia, here’s the fix:
1) The car hits showroom floors.
2) Walk in, test drive it. Talk nice to the dealer. Act like you know cars but you aren’t a GM zealot.
3) When they want to negotiate a price, say “Sorry, it’s not Alpha platform and it’s not RWD. Call me when you have one that is.”
4) Walk out of the dealership.
I recognize many will see this as a boycott. Many will see this as wasting a good dealer’s time. I agree with the former, not the latter. Dealers need to know why this vehicle is losing sales, they’re the ones that tell sales managers at GM what is wrong with their products.
The dealers will take the appropriate head-screaming to the appropriate source. This is how wrongs get righted in the post-government GM.
P.S. I do hedge this by saying we don’t know what GM has done with XWD post-Saab, and it’s possible there’s a symmetrical AWD system (a la Quattro) that truly shifts torque at lift off and at relevant performance intervals. If GM has pulled this off, I’m willing to reconsider. If not, I’ll be buying used G8’s and Caprice PPVs for a long time to come.
Boycotting at a dealer level won’t work, as it would be too late to change things. Dealers can do nothing except waste your time.
If you want a RWD Commodore, do something about it now. We’re fortunate to live in a period in which human comments on a product can reach the executive level in seconds via twitter, compared to months and years when news of the Mustang being FWD (the Probe) got out.
You act now while you have time. Not later when you didn’t do enough to show your disapproval.
How many of Australia’s vehicles are imported from China today? I would have thought they mostly came from Korea and Japan.
It makes sense it would be made in china and not Korea or US. The commodore is sold in china now as a buick.
It doesn’t make sense it will be fwd and essentially a rebadged impala. It does make sense Australia will get a rebadged impala, but also get a RWD alpha based commodore. I would expect it to be smaller, similar to the CTS.
RWD entry level vehicles (Chevy or Holden) are a pretty hard sell. Here in the states they do not sell well anymore due to many factors.
There SEEMS to be a market for high end RWD (BMW, Mercedes, Cadillac, etc) but I even wonder on those if most of the buyers even cares or knows which end is driving the vehicle they bought.
GM fans who like a full sized RWD V8 or V6 car (NOT A SUV) but a saloon are left confused. Do GM not want to compete with the German company’s? Yes the market is quite small for those wishing for a RWD big saloon, BUT there is a market for this & not everybody wants German. In Europe there is no Omega & it’s looking like Australlia will loose the Commodore, GM needs these models with RWD and a variety of engines including V6 and V8. Surly when you look at the worldwide market in sales there is a case for these models.
Yes they do want to compete with Germans. That is why they have excellent ATS and CTS vehicles and soon the “LTS”. Direct competition.
Well I would not get too crazy here as there is more going on than anyone is reporting. It is time to let this play out more and just see what all lands at Holden.
Drive a CTS and a new BMW and tell me that GM is not competing with the Germans. From the comments of BMW and Benz both are paying full attention to Cadillac so they must sense that they have a new challenger if so we should accept that GM is in the game.
Once a dog, always a dog. About the only accurate thing to come out of a lot of comments is BMW’s being compared to the Holden. BMW, also a dog, has always rated way above its weight.
I don’t live in Australia, never driven a comodore, SS or late model G8, but I’m still hoping to god this ain’t true.
It would appear that the SS will be an orphan unit…but with the low numbers coming into the USA it may well have both appeal as a driver and a speculative purchase.
Or am I missing followup production support for SS rear drive units after the first year’s arrival to America?
the ones who matter do; as in the ones who influence the know-nothings and posers into buying BMWs and Mercedes in the first place. Enthusiasts ALWAYS have some type of influence on a cars image to the unwashed masses, not the other way around.
If Holden leaves the V8 RWD formula that made the Commodore a legend they better have a serious AWD hi-po combo for it’s follow up, or it may be the end of the road for the nameplate.
A RWD chevy is hear to stay. First of all, this is mark ruess’s baby, and now he’s head of product. Secondly, gm has invested heavily in alpha, and they need more units on the platform.
edit
I would follow the time line here as to when the Zeta SS dies and the Camaro line starts. It is similar and I would not be surprised to see an SS sedan added to the Camaro line.
Watch what happens in NASCAR as they will have to work on the race car or get approved a new car before we would see the production car change. Sometime in 2015 we should see a new car testing on track. At least it should give us an idea what direction they will take.
If I were Australian… I wouldn’t be happy about this.
As an American… I hope GM doesn’t stick its neck out too far with China.
Nationalization can happen over night. Needless to say… Gun Boat policy won’t work with China.
Hmmm, latest from the media is the RWD Holdens will be imported from NA
Think I will wait for an announcement from GM.
http://www.autoblog.com/2013/12/19/chevy-ss-holden-commodore-built-in-america/
Things could change but this is what is planned as of now. Also watch for a version of the Camaro as a Monaro.
I have been hearing this for a while and I also not the time line for all this and the comments all match up so far.
I stated this all in several Holden threads here and I am glad to see that I am not the only one hearing this.
Like I said in the 8th post here there is much more to come we have not heard yet. There is a lot of things going on not public yet so keep watching.
Christopher Price looks for “a symmetrical AWD system (a la Quattro) that truly shifts torque at lift off and at relevant performance intervals.” (November 17, at 12:38am), so he should have a look at this December 13, 2013 Opel press release and full press kit on Opel 4×4: Intelligent All-Wheel Drive Systems Deliver Enhanced Safety and Efficiency
<QUOTE>
Opel’s all-wheel drive system has an electronic, multi-disk clutch which is flange-mounted on the rear axle differential. The disks run in an oil bath and their locking effect is seamlessly adjusted in milliseconds by an integrated control module. This solution gives Opel engineers the freedom to tailor specific control strategies which optimally adjust the all-wheel drive system to meet the different requirements of various model lines, even though they share similar hardware.
In addition to technical similarities in the electronic multi-disk clutch, the all-wheel drive systems in the Opel Mokka, Opel Insignia Country Tourer and Opel Insignia OPC also share similarities in complex networking across the vehicles’ CAN bus. Data from numerous sensors is constantly exchanged between the control modules and the Opel all-wheel drive system utilizes the same driving dynamics sensors which feed information to the ABS and ESP systems. Data about yaw rate, steering angle and wheel speeds is evaluated and included in the all-wheel drive control strategy. The system also captures other driving conditions.
Comprehensive networking and seamless power distribution, which is virtually delay-free, enable the Opel all-wheel drive system to function with foresight. For example, it reacts immediately to driver steering inputs and engine power measured by the throttle valve sensor, preventing wheel slip or vehicle instability before they occur. Basically, the intelligent Opel all-wheel drive system can be viewed as a form of reverse ESP: while the electronic stability program intervenes through the braking system in critical driving situations to keep the car on course, the electronically-controlled all-wheel drive system ensures ‘preventive’ vehicle stabilization before a critical situation occurs.
The differences between the all-wheel drive systems in the Opel Mokka, Insignia Country Tourer and Insignia OPC models are the result of different objectives in line with the specific requirements of each vehicle concept:
</QUOTE>
does that fit in with what you are looking for?
Well Australians are clearly done with their homegrown RWD V8 sedan love affair just as the product has reached its apex and coincidentally just as America has awakened from a decades long deep sleep in which most envisioned an oppressive landscape of dreary FWD Japanese sedans sprinkled with a few lifeless domestic and Korean knock offs. Be careful what you ask for because that’s exactly what you’re gonna get. As a stalwart believer in American design and ingenuity, witnessing our auto industry’s near fatal three decade free-fall and misplaced identity was just too painful for words but fortunately a renaissance is underway and Americanized Holdens have been at the forefront. It would be a true act of mercy to kill the Holden name if the next Commodore is intended to be a FWD sedan designed and built in China. Better dead than Un-Holden.
i was looking forward to the Chevy SS. As the owner of a CTS-V Wagon w/ 6spd manual i thought an automatic would be a nice option to the days when I would be sitting in traffic in SOCAL or other large Western /South Western cities my business takes me to.
i have now concluded that a 2 year old CTS-V Coupe with auto would be a better vehicle in that mileage is approx the same, price is approx the same, performace …especially suspension aspects (although i admit I have no emperical data to support) might actually be a bit better and I know where all the switch gear is located !!
Only issue I have had with CTS-V is headlight projection (distance and spread at night)..not a compelling reason to switch to a new vehicle platform.