The car that will replace the homegrown Holden Commodore in 2018 will come from Germany — not China — with a choice of four-cylinder or V6 power.
It means there will be no V8 in Holden showrooms for the first time since 1968 and no passenger-car-based ute for the first time since 1951.
Holden has changed its initial plans to source the Commodore’s replacement from China because booming demand in the world’s biggest car market is expected to consume all the vehicles made there.
Instead, Holden will source what is essentially the same vehicle but made by General Motors’ European division.
It means the Commodore will have come full circle: the original 1978 model was an Australianised version of the German family sedan made by Opel.
Holden is yet to confirm the plans but well placed sources told News Corp Australia senior Holden executives have already driven the new generation car in Germany during the early phases of its development.
“We don’t discuss future model plans,” said Holden spokesman George Svigos. “(But) Holden is determined to bring to Australia the right products from across General Motors’ global portfolio.”
Holden is now debating whether or not the new sedan and wagon should be called “Commodore”, or adopt its European name “Insignia”.
Some senior Holden executives want to keep the Commodore badge because, as one said, “from a marketing perspective, it’s easier to say something has changed about the Commodore, than it is to say ‘here is the new XYZ’.”
But diehard fans — and certain people within Holden — believe the new model should not be called a Commodore because it’s a completely different car under the skin.
Every Holden Commodore since 1978 has delivered its power to the rear-wheels (as with similarly-sized BMW and Mercedes sedans), enabling engineers to give it a sporty feeling.
But the new generation 2018 car will drive the front wheels, like a Toyota Camry.
AWD has very little traction (pun intended) in the Australian market. We have virtually no winter snow in inhabited areas, so AWD cars on the market are limited to brands that are seen as specialists - mainly Subaru and Audi/VW.
The extra weight of AWD is seen as little benefit from a safety perspective. I tend to disagree - I owned a Subaru Liberty (Legacy) AWD which I loved and I really wish Holden had stuck with the Adventra into the VE (damn you GM...).
AWwwwwww..... no horse and buggy vehicles for the land of the Kangaroo.
Perhaps it is time that the reality of the world we live in finally reaches those shores and at Cadihack. If you cannot build efficient vehicles with space to seat 4 when you build 'em with 4 doors, then you have no business building rear wheel drive vehicles. It is odd that the Europeans who build rear wheel drive vehicles actually have room to seat four. But at Total Recall Motors that is like asking the company to walk and to breathe at the same time!
What makes them think it'll sell any better than the Opel Insignia they tried selling there last year? Also what about the Malibu? Will the Insignia be built on the Lacrosse/XTS/Impala or the Regal/Malibu/Insignia version? :blink::blink::blink:
So many questions......so little time...........
Holden is certainly NOT determined to bring the right product to Australia, cause if they were, they'd not be pitching this as a Commodore.
That is a good looking Opel take on the A7 though, too bad it's only front wheel drive with a 6'er as a topper. No V8 and no rear wheel drive makes for a terrible Commodore.
Regardless of what it gets called or how decent of car it ends up being I hope it's a complete sales catastrophe. It's one thing to not make the car locally any longer, but an even bigger spit in the face to so fundamentally change such a successful and popular product over the years. A catastrophic collapse in sales for the replacement would be the market reacting properly.
I agree wholeheartedly and I'm a GM defender with G8 in the garage. Stupid dumbass move. I blame it on global warming mental illness fraud and gas prices. Stupid buyers are choosing Korean cars both in the US & AU.by tithe boatloads.
Does this mean say goodbye to the Chevy SS RWD or will there be a replacement on Alpha ?
And what does this mean for the great cars from Holden's performance team?
Opel already has a Aussie lifetime heritage of 1 year, Opel left with their head between their tail after only having spent just 1 year in the Aussie marketplace.
Before Opel arrived in Australia under its own brand German management boldly and naively forecast sales of 15,000 cars within the first three years.
2012 Opel Australia sales 541
2013 Opel Austraila sales 989
2014 Opel Austraila closed 0 sales
Opel money pit $ 20 billion losing knowhow, LOL thats the end of Holden then?
Old GM are returning getting stronger again with every new day.
Nobody buys the Ford Mondeo and nobody will buy the Insignia.
Opel already has a Aussie lifetime heritage of 1 year, Opel left with their head between their tail after only having only just left Australia after spending just 1 year in the Aussie marketplace.
Before Opel arrived in Australia under its own brand German management boldly and naively forecast sales of 15,000 cars within the first three years.
2012 Opel Australia sales 541
2013 Opel Austraila sales 989
2014 Opel Austraila closed 0 sales
Opel money pit $ 20 billion losing knowhow, LOL thats the end of Holden then?
Old GM are returning getting stronger again with every new day.
Nobody buys the Ford Mondeo and nobody will buy the Insignia.
The issue was apparently pricing because Holden couldn't get the cars direct from Opel, they had to buy through GM Europe who added a bigger on-cost to the price than Holden themselves!
This was a foregone conclusion. Though I could see Holden using the Insignia name and let the Commodore name pass-on gracefully into history.
If the rumors have some concrete basis for a small volume rwd Holden SS, then they could shift the die-hard performance enthusiasts from the late Commodore over to the new model.
Condolences to Oz, as you gaze out upon a future with worse weight distribution, handling dynamics, and steering feel, narrower cabins, same weight but with front wheel drive, no V8's, and marginal if any efficiency improvements.
Very sad. End of the line and the same stupid mistake that GM made in 1988 and again in 1996 as it killed off it's RWD vehicle structure. All in the name of increased efficiencies.
The current Opel Insignia is quite nice and will tick a lot of boxes for those that aren't too fussed about FWD/RWD. It will also have the potential for some AWD models.
Let's just hope the is a plan to bring Cameron, maybe even a four door sibling...
Sorry to hear that. You guys will see versions of Alpha on your shores, though it is anyone's guess if it will wear a Holden badge, wreath, or bow tie. I also figure that you might see a version of the Impala too.
I'm still a bit baffled (no surprise there) - the Epsilon II SWB platform currently supports LHD Opel Insignia, Buick Regal, Chevrolet Malibu and RHD Vauxhall Insignia and Holden Malibu while the Epsilon II LWB platform currently supports the LHD Chevrolet Impala and Buick LaCrosse.
So is Holden's replacement for the Commodore, whatever it's called, simply a re-badged Chevrolet Impala built at Russelsheim as that's the only GM factory building RHD Epsilon cars - or is the Opel/Vauxhall getting bigger and switching from the SWB platform to the LWB ?
This. Insignia is a mid sized sedan. Commodore is Full sized.
Next Commodore replacement will need to be LWB E2 or LWB Alpha or Omega.
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