TriShield

Self-parking Commodore brings new hope for the locally produced large car





February 10, 2013 - 11:32AM
drive.com.au

Holden has revealed its "no excuses" Commodore that will form the basis of a $200 million export program and reinvigorate a car that has fallen off the radar of fleet and family buyers.

A self-parking system, reversing camera and touchscreen infotainment system with internet radio apps built in are some of the standard features designed to put the Commodore back on shopping lists.

The new VF Commodore boasts fresh front and rear styling and a new interior that gives the crucial new model a European flavour as well as technology claimed to make it the most advanced locally-produced car ever.

Holden chairman and managing director Mike Deveruex says it will "change people's minds" about large cars, which have seen sales nosediving for more than a decade.

"What is different about today's car is the sophistication, the technology and refinement that makes this a no excuses, no asterisk/star/exclamation point - you can fill in the word - world-class vehicle. This is a world-class vehicle," says Devereux.

"What we have been able to do with this VF is tailor it to be a class above anything we've ever done. It's an embodiment of what you can do in this country if you put your mind to it.

"This is going to change what people think of the large car in this country."

The new VF Commodore will also be exported to the United States in low volumes later this year where it will be sold as the Chevrolet SS performance car and also form the basis of that brand's Nascar race program.

"We have proven with this car that you can export things from this country," says Deveruex, referring to the previously announced plans to sell between 3000 and 5000 in America. "Yeah it's difficult but if you make world-class stuff ... you can sell it in San Francisco, Sydney, Boston to Brisbane and it is world class, you cannot do that if it's not world class."

It’s the latest step in the Commodore’s transition to a global car.

Devereux also used the VF Commodore media reveal event to confirm Holden has begun work on a next generation Commodore - to be produced locally but as a global car rather than one designed and engineered almost solely with Australians in mind.

The doors, roof and windows of the VF Commodore are unchanged. Holden has instead focused its spend on components more noticeable to buyers - and distinguishable from the VE model it will replace.

As well as crash avoidance technology largely reserved for luxury models, when the new Commodores goes on sale in May all models will be fitted with a self-parking system and reversing camera, aimed at increasing the large sedan's appeal against SUVs that are increasingly filling Australian driveways.

While the V6 and V8 engines aren't expected to change much in terms of power output - and there's no four-cylinder engine or diesel engine despite a trend towards those fuel saving technologies - a new lighter body that uses an aluminium bonnet and boot has reduced weight by at least 50kg.

Combined with improvements to the aerodynamics of about 10 per cent, the VF Commodore is expected to lower its claimed average fuel consumption figure by about 10 per cent; the official figure will be close to 8.0 litres per 100km, making it more efficient than some mid-sized cars and some of the SUVs that have been a significant factor in Commodore's decade-long sales slump; from a high of almost 100,000 sales in 1998 it slumped to only 30,000 last year, despite growth in the overall market.

Deveruex won't be drawn on sales of the latest iteration of a car that topped the sales charts for 15 consecutive years, except to suggest it would never return to its peaks.

"The days where one car sold by anybody accounts for one-tenth of the sales in a country, it doesn't happen anywhere on the planet," he says. "That's got nothing to do with Commodore, that's human tastes, it's fragmentation of the market."

As for pricing, that's also a state secret for now, although rises could be on the way.

"I think people will be pleasantly surprised at the value equation given all of the technology, the cut-above textiles in the car, this does feel like a world-class car and we're going to price it accordingly," says Devereux.

TriShield

The car they revealed is the comfort/luxury model of the Commodore called the Calais. They make several different models of the same car including different body styles and wheelbases. Whatever the top dog muscle car model they will unveil will be sold here as the Chevrolet Super Sport.

The biggest change from the 2007-2013 VE Commodore/Pontiac G8 is obviously the front and rear styling as well as a mostly new interior.

One thing I noticed is that Holden's unique switchgear that GTO and G8 owners would be familiar with is mostly gone. All the buttons, stalks, nav screen, etc are all familiar GM stuff used here and globally in everything from the last Saabs to the Chevy Cruze.

Bill00Formula

iTrader: (4)

Looks pretty nice.

RedHotG8

iTrader: (1)

Change the front/rear end and the interior, add a few electronic gizmos and increase the price. No wonder they only plan to sell 3000-5000 here since it will never come close to the number of G8's they were sold in the USA. (Aprox. 38,000)

Under that redesigned skin it's still a G8 which was a bit underpowered with the 6.0 and way too heavy. Drop in the 6.2 and make it lighter then sell it for the same price as the G8 GT without all those fancy gadgets and the car will do well here.

TriShield

It's not some secret that it is a big refresh of a car Holden has been making since 2007 and that was sold here as the Pontiac G8.

It is a little lighter plus the US and global market wants the "gadgets", including people in the US who bought G8s. They don't add a substantial amount to a vehicle's weight anyway, the fundamental engineering to a market pricepoint, physical size and meeting safety regulations affect that much more.

GM is going to have their own reveal for the US export model and hopefully reveal what's under the hood, which is speculated to be the LT1 or LSA.

firebird99

iTrader: (2)

I hope it gets the ls9 instead of the LSA that already leaves some straight line performance to be desired in the zl1. I doubt it would get the lt1 as soon as the vette does but I could be wrong.

RedHotG8

iTrader: (1)

Making it a little bit lighter isn't going to do much, and unless it has a new high tech/high powered motor (like the Coyote) it won't be worth the added cost. It seems to me it won't be a car that the average person can afford, which is why there aren't many people driving a Corvette. If Devereux wants to increase the slumping sales of the Commodore in a global market that's not the way to do it.

TriShield

Halo cars are a bit different than say, Malibus and Accords which this car will not be in the United States. It's a good thing for people like me that drop the coin on it too, I appreciated the killer resale on my GXP. I anticipated that if the production numbers are in line with what GM is saying (a few thousand per year) the resale will be quite healthy on this version as well. The only G8 comparison that is valid to this car is the GXP. The Super Sport won't have any lesser versions like the G8 did.

RedHotG8

iTrader: (1)

Then why is he talking about revitalizing slumping sales of the Commodore if it's not intended to be a halo car? It seems to me he'll never achieve what he's striving for. They already have a low volume performance car in the CTS-V, they don't need another one like that. That's the problem with GM, they can't think straight. Which is why they needed a bailout and Ford didn't, so obviously nothing has changed there.

If they think people look at the SS and settle for a Malibu that won't happen, at least not with me. If I want a performance sedan and I can't afford the SS, I'll head to the Dodge dealer and check out the V8 Charger, not settle for a slow *** V6 powered car.

Tony Corley

I'm waiting to see what the final version/price will look like. Either way, I'm selling my wife's '09 G8 this year and replacing it with something else. Hope it will be a SS, but if it is priced very far above what the G8's were, (allowing for inflation), I will just get a CTS-V, or maybe just put her back in an suv.

Z Fury

iTrader: (1)

At this point I can't see it getting the LSA/LS9. GM is phasing out the old LSx platform and rolling out their LTx platform en masse. New Silverados/Sierras/Tahoes/etc. are all getting the new LTx based direct injection engines the same year as the Vette does. I don't see it being an issue putting the new LT1 into this car if they plan on pricing it as much as the Vette. Maybe they'll slightly detune the engine so the Vette still wins the HP bragging rights, but that's about it.

LEO

iTrader: (3)

We need this!

666ws6

iTrader: (3)

Boring looks IMHO.... Hope the SS is better.

TriShield

The article is talking about Australia, not the US. That is the primary and most important market for this car and that is where it is a mainstream car. We're getting the hot one as a treat in the United States just as we did the GTO and G8, it is not a volume car for Chevrolet here but a halo car. The CTS-V is also not a volume performance car for GM, they struggle to sell a few thousand of those per year since it was released.

TriShield

More renders of the Calais model at home in Australia.

TriShield

The Chevy version's face was previewed on their NASCAR sticker reveal.

RedHotG8

iTrader: (1)

A used supercharged CTS-V is $35K plus with most of them being well north of $40K so they aren't any cheaper than the SS will be. Just keep the G8 unless she wants an SUV.

TriShield

Here's the Chevrolet version wearing camo.



We can see it has a taller hood, like a bulge with vents on top as well as some serious rubber front and back. It also has a really big mouth up front under that cover too, probably for an intercooler.

The photographers say it has a supercharger whine so that would be a pretty good indication it's packing either the LSA or a supercharged version of the LT1 GM has yet to reveal. It also rumored to be using GM's latest generation magnetic suspension that the ZL1 has.

RedHotG8

iTrader: (1)

If it's supercharged it'll cost more than a G8 GXP when they were new, which was around $41K. If that's the case the average person won't be able to afford one.

TriShield

The GXP and this are not average cars for average people.