The Buick Regal as we know it may only live for two or three more years, which means the Holden ZB Commodore may not have a very long lifecycle either.
Opel’s man in charge, Michael Lohscheller, told Autocar in an interview published Monday that the brand will continue to build cars for General Motors for two or three more years, per a “contractual relationship.” The Opel Insignia became North America’s Buick Regal and Australia’s Holden Commodore while GM still owned Opel and Vauxhall.
In the near future, GM will have to either move production out of Germany or introduce a new global car to fill the Commodore and Regal’s void. GM has said in the past that the sale of Opel does not affect Buick, but we haven’t heard any information on what will become of either the Regal or Commodore. Both Buick and Holden also source the Cascada from Opel as well.
It’s hard to imagine GM abandoning the car altogether in global markets, and it also seems incredibly early to roll out a new vehicle. Time will tell what the automaker’s solution will be as Opel shifts away from GM platforms and technology.
Comments
“maybe two or three years”. Doesn’t sound like a very solid contract. The Cascada is no longer manufactured I thought.
The Malibu is manufactured in South Korea. Assuming GM Korea and GMH will still be around in 2-3 years anyway.
And the Malibu is the Chevrolet version of the Opel Insignia and Buick Regal and Holden Commodore.
After ending the GM based Insignia and its sisters in the Opel plant in Rüsselsheim, the Buick Regal will still be produced in China.
Holden dropped Cascada over a year ago.
in 3 three years, it’s just the time of a refresh an retool the plant responsible of the Malibu production to add the Commodore and the Regal.
Since GM killed the Australian Holden plant (effectively terminating car building in Australia after close to a hundred years of continuous manufacturing) Holden has faced a fatal sales dive that not even the snappy ZB Commodore can turn around. The company is in its death throes as a sales outlet mainly because Aussies took the shuttering of the plant to mean that GM couldn’t give a damn about the country. Payback is a b#tch, ain’t it GM US? There has been a tiny upswing in sales since the ex Toyota exec took over the rains but the brand is on the nose here. Hordes of Astras are being pre-registered to be sold at a discount as “demo models” and the same may happen with the ZB.
The next model Commodore (if there is such a thing) will have to come from the US line up or that in South Korea. Nope…it won’t fly here. Only sales of the Isuzu-based Colorado are doing any good. The rest of the line up is in dire straits. It would make better sense to start manufacturing again from CKD kits. This Australians would see as a mark of trust in the nation and it might…just might bring Holden back to life.
I want a Camaro Based Commodore again. Add RHD tooling to the plants that are LHD only. Grand River in Lansing would be a great candidate for production of a GM Alpha-based Commodore/Ute/Monaro. Of course the shuttered Australia plant could always be renovated as a secondary assembly point and the assembly point for CKD’s of the North American offerings. Keep the AWD and the 4, 6, and 8 cylinder options. Make the FWD offerings RWD, that way they can have more performance feel.