Some interesting news broke out of Detroit as we covered the 2015 North American International Auto Show. Word around Cobo Hall was a new V8 powered rear-wheel drive vehicle is heading to Australia to replace the Holden Commodore after 2017.
The word comes from Stefan Jacoby, General Motors’ head of International Division. Jacoby was quoted saying, “We will bring a true sports car to Australia for the brand Holden… It will be something which fulfills the requirement of a true Holden sports car.” He then divulged into a few other details saying it will be V8 powered, and it will arrive in 2018.
This means the 2015 Ford Mustang will indeed have something to worry about from General Motors, as it gears up to begin selling the Mustang in right-hand drive guise. It could be that Chevrolet has pulled a fast one and dusted off the right-hand drive Camaro program, ultimately resurrecting the Monaro nameplate. Option number two would be the mighty C7 Corvette Stingray will find its way down under.
So we ask, should Holden’s new V8 powered halo car be the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro, or C7 Corvette? Cast your vote in the poll below, and feel free to sound off in the comments section to let us know.
Comments
Alpha coupe with bespoke paneling and Xerox’d powertrains from the 6th gen Camaro; it’ll be called Monaro.
A “Holden C8” won’t fool anyone.
First thing I would do is offer the Camaro and a limited number of Corvettes.
Second I would not rename them Holden’s. Everyone In Australia knows what a Chevy is and these two Iconic names should just be left as they are named and sold via Holden.
As it is now I have many and I mean many customers importing older Camaro’s and other Performance Chevy’s down under and spend a ton of money on them to convert them to RHD where they are forced to and to restore and even race them.
I think they deserve both cars and should not be denied these products. They have been a faithful RWD market and should be given these cars in numbers they can support in sales.
As for the Holden name on the Corvette it would never happen it would remain a Chevy or would just be marketed as a Corvette.
Sounds like a viable option to me.
News has it (GM Authority seem to not have the same information as what a few of the Aussie motoring sites have) that it’ll be the Corvette which will be sold as simply the Corvette, as there are no plans to develop the Alpha architecture for RHD, whereas the next Corvette is slated to be designed for the world market. Pricing for said Corvette has been rumoured to be AU$100,000+ (about the same as it costs to privately import, convert and certify a current model Corvette), but will have to wait and see on that one. Stefan Jacoby was quoted as stating this.
Either way, neither of them will be able to come close to replacing the Commodore, as there’ll be no V8 ute, no V8 sedan and no true sports variant like the Commodore range currently provides to Australians.
Therefore, replacing such a wide range of basic, to luxurious, to mid range and sporting models in sedan, utility and sportwagon body styles with a two door coupe/convertible which won’t be anywhere near as practical, at least double the price and won’t be able to carry anywhere near as much all in an age where GM want to get back to returning massive profits in Australia is pretty pointless. GM will never see the highs they had in the seventies in Australia again, and are practically destined for doom. The Holden brand will only get lower and lower until GM either sell it off or kill it completely.
The current range has the high of the Commodore range, with the rest all being sub-par, far from competitive crap that some people only buy because they’re loyal to Holden and others won’t touch because they’re poorly made, poorly performing vehicles designed for anywhere but Australia and therefore mediocre at best. The reintroduction of Opel models within the Holden range is meant to help improve their position, but I think it may be a case of the damage being irreparable. The Colorado looks as though it’s designed for America and only America, with the off-road ability of a Captiva, the comfort of a Barina Spark and the refinement of a 1960’s Fiat. The Cruze (the only other car currently assembled by Holden apart from the Commodore) was obviously designed to be made cheaply in South Korea and drives like a 20 year old Daewoo. The Captiva is extremely poorly designed and their front ends can never be aligned properly, making them unroadworthy and therefore they should not be sold in any country, let alone Australia and the US. The Malibu looks just like a Camry that’s gone in the washing machine and shrunk, with a few lines drawn through it and a few circles for headlights and taillights, which like the Cruze, also drives like a 20 year old Daewoo and why they’ve barely sold any. And the Barina is much the same. Drives like a Daewoo Lanos from around 15 years ago with about the same level of non-refinement. And the Spark – just plain bloody pointless for anyone with more than one child and even then you’d have to get rid of it by the time they’re three years old as they’d no longer fit in the back.
If either one is gonna be seen sent down under, don’t just slap a Holden badge on it and call it something else like manaro, like Scott said, people import camaros and corvettes and won’t be fooled by a Holden badge.
Both
Using the Monaro name on something that isn’t a real Holden would just alienate Australians.
Corvette could be sold in Australia under the Corvette brand which would justify the high price tag that GM would give it as opposed to being a six figure Holden.
Camaro would only work if sold as a Chevrolet. Camaro is also a retro/throwback to the original Camaro and not the original Monaro’s.
Do they need to reverse the driver’s side going there?
Americans rejected the GTO from there, Pay back is a b1tch.
Payback? GM chose to import the Monaro, Holden did beg to give you guys a new GTO. Holden would rather it be called Monaro too like Vauxhall called it.
Yes, any new car sold in Australia has to be RHD, and anything that’s to be road registered made within the last 30 years also has to be converted. Having said that, you don’t have to convert it if you never intend to register it in this timeframe, or if you intend to race it.
Actually I think you’ll find the people who actually bought the Holden made GTOs were more than happy with them. They were only rejected partially due to the rest of the Pontiac lineup at the time being dated and ugly, much like most of GM’s US offerings. You mob surely don’t know something good (especially when it comes to handling) even when it’s standing right in front of you. It was GM’s idea to put that stupid front end on it instead of using a slightly modified Holden front (the badge would’ve sat perfectly in the middle of a VT Commodore grille and looked magnificent in the process), which is why a few people over there have given them the Monaro/Commodore front end treatment. It was one of these with a 427 in it that won two Bathurst 24 hour races back to back (first win was on debut, mind you, beating a few Corvettes that it was up against). Don’t see any American made GTO being able to do such a thing, then or now!
Also, the G8 (VE Commodore) was another one that was short lived. All GM should’ve done in that case was change the grille over slightly, instead of doing the same thing they did for the GTO and replacing the whole front bumper/nose treatment (some people over there I’ve seen replace this monstrosity with VE SS front end treatments, along with full VE SS bodykits). And those who bought the G8, love them.
They only rejected it for two reasons.
One was it looked like a 10 year old FWD Cavalier to many.
Two greedy dealers over charged on the prices and made it a poor bargain.
Today good used copies are selling well and for a higher than normal price if in good condition and not a 2004.
No pay back here just outdated styling and dumb Pontiac dealers.
I don’t think this stuff will sell down under after GM holden off shoring to asia.. The chit is TOXIC there now. GOOD LUCK.
You cant change the names of the vehicles, Camaro and Corvette are notable vehicles in this part of the world. As mentioned above these cars cost a lot down here. In Australia ,especially as they have to be converted to RHD. This will take a $100,000 cost of each vehicle !! ZR1 Corvette’s were selling for $250,000 to $450,000 !! At the end of it all throw in a Luxury tax !! Supercars cost about half as much in New Zealand. They are a relative bargain compared to Australia. NZ allows 750 ‘ Speciality Cars ‘ into the country every year , must be 2 door , and something special. You must keep them for 2 years, you can drive them in LHD. NZ has very good vehicle import laws, anyone can bring in basically anything. If I want a car I import it from Japan. That will be the source of RHD Camaro and Corvettes in the future in NZ . By the way , Australia is to free up its import laws and imports will be allowed, by anyone. Cars are very cheap in Japan, eg. Mercedes Benz CLS 350, 2007 ( facelift) from NZD 10,000 to 15,000. About 1.30 NZD to 1 USD !! ( kms, about 50 to 80,000 ) from the right dealer !! A NZD15,000 import will cost about NZD 20,000 all up, on the road , includes all costs ( Japan export cost , shipping, insurance, delivery costs , Tax ( GST ) , import documentation, compliance, registration ) I know , I’ve got one, because I cannot buy a Luxury Holden Calais, HSV Caprice , for anything under $40,000. So its half the price for the MB !!
Buy all the service parts from the USA, 2-4 day service, including the oil !! Trans oil is $75 a Qt from the MB dealer !! under $10 USD in the States !!. 5 oil changes cost $400 ( incl freight ) cost to service 7 speed trans here $ 1200 !! But I am looking forward to RWD GM product here . I pick a LT4 engine in the HSV GTS to see the model out, now that will be MY car !!
Just a question , what will all the tradies do without a Holden Ute ? They are the iconic Aussie Sports Car , go figure , 2 door, V8 and if it is a HSV Maloo , bigger V8 and more HP !! ( Kilowatts down here ) 430 in the GTS !!
New Zealand also have a problem with a lot of cars being sent there which were stolen. Australia doesn’t. Import laws won’t be loosened in Australia anytime soon, and part of that is to protect the many free trade agreements made. Corvette is slated to be coming to Australia in RHD, for a cost of about $100,000 and sold as simply Corvette.
Most tradies these days have four wheel drive utes, so not many will miss the Commodore based Ute. These will probably be replaced by a RWD Hilux, Ranger, Colorado, D-Max or BT-50. Although there has also been speculation about GM possibly bringing their full size Silverados to Australia to be sold as Holdens (something they did up until the 1980s, much like Ford did with their F-series, with a brief spell between 1985-2001), which would make things easier for the people who would be in the market for such a pickup (mostly people who transport a lot of horses). Sure the people who currently own Maloos will miss them dearly, much like HSV will miss the amount of money selling them brings them, but there is also news of Ford bringing the Raptor to add to their Australian range, along with the return of the rest of the F-series, which haven’t been sold here since the previous generation. The automotive industry in Australia will be pretty much stuffed, with GM destined to be the biggest loser.
both no ahhaaaaa. GM seems to be like a child who is trying to do business
A right hand drive C7 is already in the works for the UK market so I strongly believe that GM will be taking the same RHD version to AU and maybe even NZ. No RHD version has ever been announced for the Camaro.
FYI the UK RHD versions are supposed to come standard with Z51 and magnetic ride control. Priced around £62000.