A new badge to differentiate high-performance GM vehicles sold in Australia may have been discovered. GM Inside News has found a trademark application filed with Australia's intellectual property office that may help sate Australia's appetite for donuts.

The trademark shows a simple badge (above) with the letters S and V set in black and white and the words "Specialty Vehicles" under it. Filed by General Motors, the badge appears to be a sign that GM will continue to sell higher-performance (or at least high performance-themed) vehicles in Australia.

The understanding is that GM Specialty Vehicles will pick up where Holden Special Vehicles leaves off when Holden is discontinued in 2021.

The sub-brand was an officially designated performance division established by Holden and racer Tom Walkinshaw in 1987. Famous for its V8 muscle cars, HSV's first car was the Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV, which was largely created for homologation purposes.



HSV's latest project has been converting Camaros and Silverados to right-hand-drive. Just what becomes of the SV brand remains to be seen, though, and GM hasn't been eager to tip its hand quite yet.

"Although it's not firmed up formally, our intent and desire is to stay in the market, albeit in a different format and a different model with the GM Specialty Vehicles," GM International Operations Senior Vice-President Julian Blissett told the media in April.

Things may not be too wildly different, though, as GMSV is expected to be a joint venture between GM and the Walkinshaw Group, which operates HSV. Whatever ends up being the case, the hope remains that this badge will be a promise of engineering, not just badge engineering.