HSV Reportedly Set To Ink New Five-Year Deal With Walkinshaw
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Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) is reportedly ready to sign on the dotted line for a new five-year-long contract with Walkinshaw to continue producing hopped up Holdens.
However, HSV’s long-time motif of building bonkers Commodores likely won’t be a part of the company’s future. Instead, pickups and SUVs may be the focus in this new deal.
Wheels reports the imported, 2018 Holden Commodore will not undergo any treatment by HSV, its long-time basis for vehicles. The reason is due to the lack of suitable engines for the Commodore’s new platform. This means the most powerful Commodore may likely be the 3.6-liter LGX V6 powered variant, following Holden’s decision to drop the SS factory trim.
Instead, the Colorado ute is a very likely candidate for HSV, as are future crossovers like the Holden Acadia. A hotter Holden Astra is also on the table.
“We have to undergo a transformation in our business because we have had a very stable business with the Commodore platform for a very long period,” HSV managing director Tim Jackson said.
“We are actually pretty intrigued and excited about what the future holds. But we will be true to the brand. It needs to be exciting, inspirational vehicles that we develop.”
Jackson went on to state HSV simply cannot survive if it doesn’t transform its business model, as Holden becomes a full importer of vehicles.
“If we wanted to define our customer as a rear-wheel-drive, Australian-made V8 customer, then we are out of business at the end of the year,” he said. “We can’t define our customer that way. Our customer needs to be that guy looking for an exciting, aspirational vehicle, and that comes in all forms. You only have to look at how significantly the market has changed in the last few years to see exciting vehicles are coming in different forms.”
These new vehicles will be a far cry from what HSV has cooking as a going away party for the VF Commodore Series II. Recently, the performance house was spied loading what appears to be the HSV GTS-R W1, a 6.2-liter supercharged LS9 V8 engine powered Commodore.
However, it may not be the end of the line for the V8 engine for HSV. Walkinshaw has recently become one of the leaders in right-hand drive conversions for Australia, specifically for Ram trucks. Jackson didn’t shut out the idea of an RHD Camaro from HSV, or at least a V8-powered model of some sort.
“Transforming the business doesn’t mean we forget our heritage and passion for certain style of products,” he said.
Holden has also promised it will bring an RWD, V8-powered sports car to market by the year 2020. We’re sure the fine folks at HSV would love to get their hands on whatever that vehicle may be, too.
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