Commodore VE Hots Up The Family Feud

[JoeT]

Commodore VE Hots Up The Family Feud

Paul Gover
03 March 2006
www.carsguide.com.au

The future of the traditional Australian family car is safe and the all-new Holden Commodore VE is the proof.

It's the first totally new Commodore to wear the badge, is directly linked to the latest global large-car developments at General Motors and has enough firepower to rekindle sales in the big-six class.

The VE, due for release later this year, is the single most important car of 2006 and, provided Holden has done the job as well as it has on earlier Commodores, will be a runaway winner in every car-of-the-year contest.
But it will not have an easy run. The Ford Falcon has never been better ... or better buying.

Mitsubishi is fighting as hard as it can with the 380, even taking the price down to $29,990 with a Limited Edition value pack.

Toyota has cut the drive-away price of its four-cylinder Camry to less than $29,000, and unveiled the all-new V6 Aurion that will challenge the Falcon and Commodore from the end of 2006. Bottom line? This year, traditional Aussie family cars are great products and incredible buying.

Even so, higher fuel prices have hit the cars hard and sales have slumped since October. Most agree the sales slump will ease, but no one knows when or how high the rebound will go.

Based on the VE and everything that's happening around it, few would predict the end of the local reign.

Small-car sales have overtaken the big Aussie sixes, but that is down to some incredible value -- for instance, the Holden Barina is now priced from $12,990 and virtually a sell-out -- as much as it's down to the shifting shape of local showroom traffic.

Against that background, GM Holden is into the final months of testing before it releases the new VE Commodore. The basics are obvious: it will be bigger in all the important measurements, fitted with a Global V6 engine with an optional V8, have fully independent suspension and all the safety equipment possible, and will set a new style direction for the Commodore by moving away from the softly rounded shape introduced with the VT model.
The VE is so potent, and so important, that GM Holden deliberately kept it under wraps and away from the Melbourne Motor Show.

The decision was made partly because Holden does not want the VE to hurt sales

of the current VZ -- but also because it does not want to give any of its rivals information about the car they will have to beat.

Yet many CARSguide readers expected to see some sort of VE preview at the show and have many questions about the car.

"The VE is 100 per cent Australian," former head of Holden design Michael Simcoe says.

He helped lock down the final design before being promoted to a top job at General Motors in Detroit, but was nevertheless back in Australia for the motor show.

"All the things that make it work are out of Holden Design. The design was locked in for two years," he explains. "It has to deliver [a number of] things: a new look with new proportions, to satisfy new regulations and fit in globally. It has to fit into the Australian large-car market. It has to be strong and aggressive but not too way out."

Pictures of VE prototypes during testing show the new look of the car.

"It's structural in a way that all Holden stuff is, but with an architectural feel as well," Simcoe says. "It's a lot more aggressive."

That aggression will be matched by the Holden sales team as it fights to keep

the VZ firing through its final months and by the competition among the cars that Australians always call home.

Will you consider buying a VE Commodore?

[mbukukanyau]

tthat looks hot

[GM-10]

That's it...I have to move to Australia...I've gotta have one!

[Bravada]

Show some patience, chances are this is the new Impala/Grand Prix.

[BBDOS CV8]

Here's a prediction - the VE Berlina with a different nose is the Pontiac G8. And I can claim no kudos for that - it's a worst-kept secret.

I did predict a while back you'd see the VE as a GM model in America. And I also said I thought you'd see the Caprice/Statesman as a Buick.

I am a master of putting 2+2 together and getting 6, but I'd back this with my own money.

People who've seen the cars, sat in them and been driven in them say they are extremely refined and incorporate state-of-the-art safety offerings, but handle and ride better than comparable models from Holden. Expect 5-star NCAP ratings.

People will be blown away by what's in them compared to what they cost.

And as they are bigger and larger but better on fuel, they should suit the US market, too.

[silveradam18]

Are all the new Holdens gonna have that cutting-edge 1995 style that the current ones have? We've already seen what boring looks can do to a great car like the GTO.

[BBDOS CV8]

Originally Posted by silveradam18

Are all the new Holdens gonna have that cutting-edge 1995 style that the current ones have? We've already seen what boring looks can do to a great car like the GTO.

You feel free to keep your worldbeating FWD cars with chassis dating back to the 80's. And of course the Camry - the US' topselling car with it's amazing looks, it just so puts Holdens to shame.

Don't worry, unlike the existing GTO, GM US have had their fingers in this pie since long before it was cooked. So the opportunity is there for them to introduce 'styling cues' to suit US 'taste' in auto styling. Hopefully it won't bugger it up for the rest of us......

[asim]

I love the checkerboard paintjob, lol =]

[Stormin]

Originally Posted by silveradam18

Are all the new Holdens gonna have that cutting-edge 1995 style that the current ones have? We've already seen what boring looks can do to a great car like the GTO.

And seen that boring car be the top seller in Australia since it was released. Is there a GMNA car that can claim that?

Don't forget, unlike the USA with the various GM Divisions, this car has to be all things to all people.

[jzEllis]

this thing better 'put out'. gm north america is bank rolling heavily on it.

[Aych Es Vee]

**************** it, I cant wait to see the final product......!!!!!!!!!!!! And even more anxious to see the HSV versions.........

[uvaeeman]

Originally Posted by Bravada

Show some patience, chances are this is the new Impala/Grand Prix.

I really really hope it's the next Grand Prix!!

[DropShadow]

Originally Posted by JoeT

Will you consider buying a VE Commodore?

Yes, yes, and yes. Especially if it's the next G8 nee-Bonneville.

[EGG]

yeah the SS should be pretty **************** nice, never mind the clubsport

hopefully some years down the track they might even be able to wrangle a hybrid turbo-diesel 6 from somewhere into it, that would put a lot of camry's off the road.

[johnny smallblock]

Originally Posted by silveradam18

Are all the new Holdens gonna have that cutting-edge 1995 style that the current ones have? We've already seen what boring looks can do to a great car like the GTO.

He's got us there. The o6 Impala is as visually exciting as a Hyundai.