You may recall that back in December, 2013, General Motors announced that all Holden production in Australia would cease as of 2017. While that gives us more than two years yet to celebrate and enjoy the wonderful super-sedan that is the Chevrolet SS (a.k.a. Holden Commodore, built by the Aussies), some concern over where a possible replacement may come from still lingers.
The latest rumor on the matter comes to us from Auto Guide, whose report cites an assertion from Motoring that the Chevrolet SS may not have a successor at all. Other sources speculate that a follow-up to the SS may be built upon the ho-hum Impala. While it’d been previously suggested that the Chevrolet SS might migrate to the Alpha platform after 2017 and be produced here in the United States, that no longer seems to be more than a distant fantasy.
Assuming the successor to the Chevrolet SS were to be badge engineered on the humble Impala, what would be the point? The two biggest bullet-points for the Chevrolet SS are, of course, the 6.2 liter V8, and the rear-wheel drive layout. The Impala may bear a similar-enough looking shell to the Chevrolet SS, but the recipe is far from gourmet.
Ah, well. At the very least, the Chevrolet SS will be around until Australia’s Holden plants shut their doors in 2017.
And now you can get one with a stick.
Comments
The SS could come from the Grand National, and serve as Holden’s Plan B should Epsilon II Commodore sales fall completely flat in Oz.
That would also give Chevy an out to its own Epsilon II flop, the Impala.
My position that Epsilon should be absorbed into Alpha remains a strong option for GM. That would reduce the platform count to three (Alpha, Gamma, Delta) and allow GM to wipe the floor with Hyundai and Dodge’s (now superior) non-luxury RWD offerings.
Think how many more people would buy a Regal if it were on Alpha? I can tell you, Dodge is working on that equation right now.
Alpha commands a premium that a mid-size Epsilon doesn’t. You may have dropped the Impala in your haste, but the last thing the struggling EP2 Malibu as a replacement needs is RWD and a $5,000 price increase. The segment simply doesn’t demand it, especially given how crossover sales are going.
Dodge disagrees, and has made public their plan to offer a RWD (and AWD optional) car that sits between Dart and Charger. FCA will offer FWD and RWD options across mid and full-size segments domestically, and globally (Dodge in USA, Alfa globally).
Hyundai sounds like they have similar plans and, Toyota now has a platform to do it quickly if they wish to.
To say the segment doesn’t demand it, flies in the face of FCA’s last corporate filings. They have spent a lot more research on it than you or I. The only question is if GM will answer the call. I hope they do, regardless of badge.
That’s it , play with the proportions , change the look and interior dimensions and what do you have ? Just another GM model start-up . You have only to look at the Chevy SS forums online to discover just how much the SS is loved , as it is available now. I haven’t seen a GM car ever receive so many 5 star reviews before and the manual shift model which will be available next year and will just add to the excitement/popularity ! GM has given it almost zero advertising and it is not available in Canada , though here there is no lack of RWD vehicles on the market . Here’s a thought , fumbling Cadillac can sport two coupe models , so commit to a Chevy SS coupe , offer a small TT V6 as a lower powered version , and give it the media attention it deserves ! The NASCAR Chevy SS competes as a coupe model , and it won the manufacturers award this year , didn’t it ?? Wake up GM , if you can commit to this NASCAR entry and give the support through the SS forum websites to buyers and owners , you can make the right decision to bring this home to North America . You do not need to be washing your hands of another vehicle , this will not be popular with the buyers who love the product and are awaiting further good Chevrolet news , which except for Cruze , Equinox and 1/2 ton trucks has been less than exciting ! If you haven’t space ready made in the USA , I’m sure Oshawa Canada can make room !
If there can’t be a legitimate RWD replacement for the SS Sedan, then don’t even bother at all with trying to bring a full size performance sedan to the Chevrolet lineup! And don’t try to convince me the XTS-Vsport can serve as a good template for an SS Impala! Because it simply ain’t true!!! The problems associated with every FWD based sedan (that isn’t engineered by Audi and a few select high performance compact vehicles) are evident in that car’s performance! Nose-heavy, lots of under steer, unbalanced handling; not even magnetic ride control can save that car! The Impala is a family-friendly grocery getter now! Unless GM decides to return it to its RWD roots, I can’t see them applying the SS badge to this vehicle!!!!
We gotta do what we always do with uncertain situations: wait and see…….
The best thing to do is… Chevelle.
The Chevelle brand needs to return. The Chevette and Nova, not so much. I would vote for the return of the Blazer too.
I keep thinking, with Mark’s Holden background, that he will have a RWD replacement for the Commodore. I even think the Commodore badge would be a way better idea than Caprice for Chevy.
My wager is with Holden production slowing down, GM will need to find a way to not only fill the void of the loss of the Chevy SS for it’s NASCAR racing application (which the move to RWD for it was to create some product identity and excitement for the brand — why invest to bring a product to market as a niche “halo” vehicle only to kill it in short order as you establish the product? Makes little sense unless it’s going to be logically replaced over time)… but it will also need to produce a car to replace the Caprice police package (officers genuinely prefer the RWD police packages and AWD police packages to FWD offerings). With Cadillac already rumored to be killing off the FWD-based XTS and going RWD, where does this ultimately leave GM? Epsilon II for the next Impala? Okay… what about the next Caprice or are we moving the police back to a FWD sedan with the next Impala as a police car? I don’t know about you… but I don’t see as many Taurus police cars now as I do Chargers and Caprices. I do see quite a few Explorer’s but… you’re talking a price premium in that regard and not quite the same overall application.
I think the smart money might be on either Alpha or some form of Alpha LC (Low Cost) option. There’s nothing to say that the car has to necessarily be built around lightweight materials and components in all models. This could obviously affect the efficiency of the models but reap some of the financials back per unit and keep them competitive in the market. I’m sure some smart engineers working with high-strength steel can make a business case, esp. if the cars can be exported to Australia and/or the engineering and design used in multiple markets outside of the U.S. It could even be shared with Buick and Opel in some markets. Maybe even work in as a possible medium-large CUV (Tahoe/Yukon) to help move some of the larger “truck-like” models over to be more appealing to asphalt-driving consumers.
I think the Malibu, as time is going on with the redesign, is starting to bridge itself into the same form factor and role as the current Impala. So, what if GM were to retool the lineup to use an Impala/SS built around Alpha/Alpha LC? The lower end Impala offerings using 4-cylinder turbo and V6’s (NA and turbo) perhaps with a hybrid (or maybe ditch the separate “hybrid” model designation and start blending hybrid tech into all models and price points), perhaps using lightweight steel multilinks in the suspension to save costs, etc. Then for the SS you can swap the links out with aluminum, make it only available with a V8 in the base model SS (or just call it Impala SS) and perhaps a more exclusive top end model (SS-R) for limited production with a supercharger and built to sort of be a Z/28 for the family set. In Australia they can badge this car as the Holden Commodore. In Europe sell it as the Opel Omega. In the UK it can be sold as the Vauxhall Omega or Vauxhall Carlton.
The police package could be built as a long wheelbase model and also be sold as either a Caprice or Commodore XL to consumers on both continents. The police cars can get the engine from the SS (Caprice Interceptor), the consumer grade models could be tuned more for affordable “near-luxury” treatment and designed to have a more comfortable ride. Maybe rely on cylinder deactivation and even a V8 hybrid option. There’s also potential to broaden the lineup with some form of diesel/turbo-diesel option (there’s more and more interest in the U.S. about diesel even if there’s still concerns about getting clean fuel for it over here).
As far as driving in the winter… it’s already well documented that many of today’s RWD cars are fine in the snow. The advances in stability and traction control have more than overcome the obstacles. Obviously, some will make a big deal about a fat-tired BMW struggling… but a fat-tired FWD car struggles just as much. In wintry driving, having a thinner wheel/tire package gets much better traction as it disperses more of the weight over a smaller contact patch. Wider tires tend to hydroplane or float on top of the snow. You can see this when you look at a rally car with tarmac tires on vs. when they have to run in the mud or snow/ice. Yes, they do overcome with spiked tires for ice and knobbier tires for snow or mud, but they also switch to a decisively narrower contact patch tire as well. A RWD large sedan that isn’t geared for sporting like an Impala could be marketed as a “boulevard cruiser” and be treated as a much different animal than a fire-breathing SS, where the SS would likely have wider performance tires vs. the all-season narrower tires on the more posh Caprice/Commodore XL or Calais or whatever.
Even an Impala RS could serve to fill the gap between the higher powered SS models and a more sporting but still more cost-effective and fuel efficient model as well. Maybe sit it on 17 vs. 18/19″ wheels, give it the turbo V6. Keep it on the more cost effective Alpha LC variant with the steel control arms and some of the more cost-effective options in terms of interior and optional amenities. Granted, with nearly every car on the market moving to touch screens inside… it’s going to get harder and harder to differentiate product. Maybe a 7″ screen in the lower models, sat-nav as an option in all models (via software and add-on boxes) with something like an 9″ screen in upper models, dual zone climate control, rear control for rear passengers, rear set entertainment (built-in TV’s), etc. etc.
Bottomline… the Malibu can hold over a good chunk of the audience with FWD. I could even see a Malibu SS built similar to the OPC Regal with AWD and a turbo 4 making power in the range of a Camry XSE or Sonata 2.0T. I would say they could do an SS-R with a V6 option for it but… the question is, whether a sporting FWD with high power is still a desirable thing or if a sporting AWD model with a turbo would cost as much as my previously mentioned Impala RS or start to eat into the potential of SS or SS-R sales?
I think the Malibu as a FWD car and the Impala as a RWD, let the Malibu size grow to be nearly the size of the current Impala so it can almost fill the void that, that car would leave (at least in interior room/packaging, if not smaller in overall size/footprint). Let the Impala return to being the Chevrolet flagship with the SS being a designation for it vs. a completely separate model.
As far as 2-doors… I don’t think the market will be there for 2-door sales here. Time and time again, unless you continually refresh the styling every couple of years to radically differentiate it… sales spike and then shrink into nothing. The Charger/300 however, despite the Mopar fans freaking out… have maintained or even grown in success. Chrysler is running short on Hellcat engines and having to build more to meet demand. As good as the SS is, they don’t have anything in that ballpark and despite maybe even being the better all-around car, it’s still needing something to catch people the right way. Dropping the SS entirely… concedes that market completely to Chrysler. Granted, it’s in the Cadillac price range with the ATS-V and CTS-V… but I consider the 2 makes and models like Thai to Filet Mignon. Both are awesome, but both serve different palates.
A RWD’er is a must. All I can say. There’s too many significant gaps that I think need to be filled across too many makes not to find a way to make Alpha, Alpha LC or some form of Zeta II work. I don’t see Epsilon II working well on all continents. I think the lack of the Utes in Australia is a crying shame, but then again I’d love to see a limited market for a return of the El Camino here as well. I don’t ever suspect a RWD 2 seat pick up is going to be a huge volume sale… but I can see it being sold in a smaller #/% of vehicles on the platform to appease demand over multiple model years. I can see the Regal and Malibu staying on the same platform and the Lucerne and Impala moving to RWD with the Commodore. Buick might even warrant 2 models on it, 1 more of a 4-door coupe (Wildcat) in styling and the other being shared as a long wheelbase Commodore XL/Caprice/Park Avenue (for lack of a more modern name).
The bottomline… creating a platform for one application is probably not going to work well from a cost-effectiveness standpoint. Working it across various GM makes and models and potentially making it a world car could be huge. I’ve always thought how foolish it was that the Commodore sold in Australia in V6 and V8 variants and was sold as Utes and even had long wheelbase Calais/Caprice models. It’s silly that we have the Chevy Caprice as a police car when the car’s styling could be upgrade to be less utilitarian and yet work well in both a police officer’s role as well as for consumer use. I could even see Chevy being given a wagon model off of it to try and lure people in since the wagon, once a marquee of bustling America, has been put out to pasture by the Minivan and CUV. With Minivan’s disappearing and CUV’s taking over the “Soccer Mom” duties… the modern American wagon could bring back a sense of adventure and stand out from the pantheon of Active-wannabe clones. After all… people moved away from wagons to minivans to fight stigmas, now everyone’s moved from minivan’s to CUV’s to fight the stigma. Maybe it’s time to move people back to the good old wagon?
GM can market it as… “This isn’t your poseur wannabe off-road vehicle car thingie that the soccer mom and the aging male buy to pass off that it isn’t a Minivan in a different wrapper. No. This is the ultimate in urban utility. The all-original, undisputed king of vacation vehicles. The icon. The wagon. By Chevrolet. You’re welcome!”
The Wagon RS… here the manly men come.
Build it in the USA and promote it for what it is, and people will buy it. The American people want a perfromance sedan built here that will rival the sedans of Europe. It was engineered under GM’s auspices and can survive well. Market it properly and the American people will recognize it for what it is… the PERFECT modern iteration of the “sleeper”.
This is a “golden opportunity”. Don’t screw it up!